Use
When you open Things for the first time you’re presented with a list showing where everything is kept. Inbox is where every new task goes by default. Today is for tasks that are happening or due today. Next is for items that are due. Scheduled is for tasks that have been scheduled. Someday is your stuff that’s not urgent, but you just want to keep it handy. Projects is a folder for batches of tasks that pertain to well… your projects. Finally Logbook is where completed tasks live for your review until deletion.

Things for iPhone works best with its Mac app counterpart. Wireless syncing is easy to set up and offers a huge advantage when it comes to managing several tasks. But even if you don’t have a Mac or don’t want to shell out the $49.95 for the main app, you’ll still have a lot of power and flexibility available in the iPhone version alone.

Features
There are lots of nice little touches Culture Code has added to Things to make it handy for everyday use. There are little buttons you can push in the list views which induce new functionality and sorting power. These allow you to organize new tasks quickly and sort by due dates, key words, and importance. It’s also really easy to move tasks between lists and projects.

The instructions for using Things are on Cultured Code’s website. You should also watch the QT video and you’ll see how easy this app is to use. As I reviewed the webpage and video while writing this, I realized how painfully inept I am at using Things to its full capacity. Yet the simplicity of use is what makes it so good. I’m not forced to use it a certain way. Though I’ll get a lot more out of it by using all of its features, it’s working just the way I want it to, and this makes me very happy. It’s a friendly little app.

Day-to-Day Use
It’s really easy to tap something in quickly and not having to worry about forgetting it anymore. I’m no stranger to the library, and one of my favorite uses for the Things is having a Project labeled Library where I can enter all the books I have checked out and their due dates. I have each book with a due date and a reminder to come up one day before then so that I’ll either take back the book or check it out for another three weeks from my library’s website.

Things is a really stable app. I’ve never had any problems with it and I’ve been using it for a long time. Cultured Code has also been quite regular about updating it with increased functionality. This is especially true when it comes to bug fixes—I’m certain it takes longer for Apple to approve the updates than it does for CC to write the code and submit it.

Finally, there’s a lot of attention to detail that I like here. The flexibility of managing your tasks is astounding. I also really enjoy being able to customize my tags without using the desktop app. I don’t know why this appeals to me so much as I’ve only used this a couple of times, but it’s just kind of soothing to me knowing I have this much control. Muuaahh haaa haaa. If you sync with the desktop app, the syncing screen is really well done too, but this is purely aesthetic, and there’s no practical value to this… other than the fact that nice aesthetics are pretty to look at.

Negatives
I would like to see the email function built into the app so that when you send the email you don’t have to restart Things. I recently downloaded another iPhone app that has this feature, and think it is something available to developers under the 3.0 OS (though I reserve the right to be wrong on this). Other than that, if you’re looking for just a simple task manager, Things might be a bit of overkill for you at $10. Otherwise, the worst case scenario I can think of is a slight case of buyer’s remorse, or getting in trouble with your spouse for spending $10 on an iPhone app. (Man, I hope my wife doesn’t read this.)

Conclusion
As I said above, I’ve been using Things for a long time and am well satisfied with it. Even when I hit times that I don’t use it often, it has earned a permanent spot on my iPod Touch. Simple users (like me) won’t be disappointed and power users will be able to do whatever they want to organize their personal and business lives. Things is a great product and I’m certain will only continue to get better. Go buy it. Now.

Crazy Hotdogs is in the same style as the popular cooking / selling / trading games. You have a product to make, and customers to sell to. You have to make up the correct orders and serve the correct people before they get too angry, or leave (or similar to that). Unfortunately this game just doesn’t seem to be as good as the other ones out there.

About Crazy Hotdogs… The initial opening screen is really wonderful, great animation and music to get you into the excitement of selling these hotdogs. (Can that be exciting?) When you are past that, and into the game you have the options of Game Start, Records, Settings, Instruction, More Games and About. Settings are just the typical sound options so not much to see there. The Instructions area is broken into the different tasks and how to do things. It is all just text info and I’m not sure there is any need to ever refer to this. Besides that, I have played so many of these types of games (and you may find yourself in the same situation) that you just don’t want to waste time on instructions for what should be a straightforward game.

So, once it is launched you can choose to read the game instructions. I choose not to because after a while you pretty much understand the game play, cook something and serve it right? Well, when you launch the game you are taken through a tutorial. I really think this is a mistake of the game. It was so slow and boring that it really put me off the game right away.

I wanted to just get into the game and start playing, not be made to serve a pathetic amount of hot dogs and wait for the next day to begin zzzzzzz. This is the initial ‘mission mode’ that must be completed. Please developers, do not make us sit through boring levels we don’t need to. Let us jump straight in!

Unfortunately, I really did not like the game play in terms of the grill area and customer service screen. You are basically looking at a huge grill area and then you see these circles for heads (which get angry and complain far too fast and too often). You then click them and your grill disappears and the hotdogs are on plates which you serve from. Then you have to click back on the game to cook more. It was awkward and confusing. <--- this probably doesn't make sense, have a look at the image below for a better view of what I am trying to describe.

It’s just plain awkward.

I played the entire first level, which you must complete before you can do Free mode. Once you have unlocked Free Mode the game is much better. In free mode you get a lot of customers and have to serve pretty fast. It is much more exciting and the game play gets miles better. I wish we could just start in free mode. Also, I couldn’t find a way to get rid of any raw or burnt hotdogs, most games have a garbage near by that you can get rid of them. Because there isn’t a way it means that you serve them to customers and your rating goes down.

Also, where is the ketchup and mustard? Fries? Drinks…. the game seems to be a bit too one dimensional at the moment, but the way the screen is set out there really is no where to add this stuff.

If you can get past the first level tutorial I think it is a fun game overall, as long as you get used of the screen. Try the free one and see for yourself before you buy it would be my best advice for you. There are other ‘lite’ versions of similar games that are worth your time.

Be aware that the video from them below, features very little of the actual game play, only a few seconds worth in the middle.

Overall I would give this a miss in all honesty. For this style of game there are now so many out there and so many fantastic ones that you really have to step up your game in order to make a mark. I’m afraid this one misses it.

Most people reviewing an app like TweetDeck are going to be twitter users who have run the gauntlet of various applications and iPhone apps in order to utilize twitter. I started on the iPhone with Twinkle for its nearby tweets, moved onto Twitterfon when Twinkle mostly showed me local male amateur pornography via various twitpics, and finally downloaded TweetDeck earlier this week. I’ve been using TweetDeck on my desktop for a while and like it better than anything else that is available.

TweetDeck for the iPhone is definitely designed to be a companion to the desktop, everything feels similar and the usability comes easy because of the similarity. I had a really difficult time figuring out how to sync the columns from my desktop to the phone app, but a little bit of exploring lead me to the “more” block along the bottom menu. Setting up column syncing and the quick follow button next to it were features I found incredibly useful, even more so if I actually used them. Typically I find other users from searching or from friends, so a quick follow button is somewhat lost on me. As well, inside the New Tweet window, I’m still not sure what the “link” button does. I understand the map and photo buttons, which has a nice link to map feature I haven’t seen in other clients, but am unsure what a link button needs to be present for—mobile users typically aren’t working heavily with URLs unless they’ve already copied and pasted it in iPhone 3.0. Lacking from the New Tweet window is an easy way to include someone you’re following into an @reply. Also missing is a landscape mode for composing tweets.

Power users will find it useful to have their API calls and time to refresh listed in the main window, the ability to use multiple accounts and having the option to use either twitpic or yfrog for mobile picture uploads. These same power users may also find it hard to swallow the recommendation of only carrying six to eight columns during sync versus the ten column limit in the desktop version. I’m also left wondering if push notifications could out do the notification bars.

Besides these minor complaints, TweetDeck for the iPhone is a solid entry into the vast field of twitter applications. Handy notifications pop up when you receive new tweets and a breakdown of the new tweets can be found from the update icon. Columns can be zoomed for a more full-screen viewing effect which also hides the settings icon on the corner of each column. Flipping between columns is easy and very reminiscent of the design used on the iPhone’s home screen providing good usability for novice users. The compose button is large and easy to locate. The updates icon lists the number of updates and touching it shows a more detailed breakdown of where those updates came from.

Overall TweetDeck iPhone will give most TweetDeck users a familiar environment, but it comes with limitations. Some users will find just what they are looking for in TweetDeck iPhone while others will want to stick with apps like Twinkle, Tweetie, or TwitterFon Pro. Being a free app without any advertisements might give it the edge against TwitterFon, but the lack of landscape makes me quietly contemplating dropping some cash on TwitterFon Pro.

The App Store has its first killer franchise, and it’s Rolando. With new gameplay elements and a fresh 2.5 graphics engine, there is really no reason why anyone should not buy Rolando 2.

It seems that an adventurous Rolando has returned from a far off land, but with him he has brought the dreaded Kilgorean flu. He accidently infects the revered sages, and Rolando-land goes into a panic. The only known cure is the fabled Golden Orchid, and just like that the Rolandos are off on a journey to a mysterious island to find the cure. To obtain the Golden Orchid, they’ll have to make their way through over 45 levels spread throughout five different worlds. Levels are arranged in a roughly open world layout, so you can choose which level to play next.

To complete levels, you’ll have to get the required amount of Rolandos to the exit. Standing in your way are malevolent natives, walls, levers, switches, and more. Some switches can only be activated by the Rolandos, and some platforms and other elements can be moved by you, the omnipotent “Finger.” There are a variety of Rolandos with unique abilities to help you reach the exit, and, new in this version, vehicles for the Rolandos. There are heavy Rolandos that sink in water, spikey commando Rolandos that can stick to walls, and the new native Rolandos that can float after consuming chilis. And of course, there are the royal Rolandos. The princess will roll back and forth on her own, and the king and queen are always asleep, so you’ll have to use other Rolandos to push them along. In addition to the normal levels, there are bonus levels with only King Rolandos where you can affect gravity 360 degrees.

One huge improvement over the first iteration of the first Rolando is the level design. While the first Rolando was tedious at times, the levels in the sequel are a perfect blend of puzzle and action. The levels play out like puzzles on a huge scale, as you have to approach a level correctly to succeed. In addition, there is a strong dose of action, and levels like the one in which you have to run from a momentous boulder are pure exhilaration. New gameplay elements like vehicles, the floating Rolandos, and arrows that can kill baddies further add to the game.

Each level has three obtainable medals: saving all Rolandos, collecting all crystals, which are spread throughout each level, and finishing under the challenge time. These add significant replayability, as it is quite tough to get all the medals for all the levels, particularly the challenge time. There also a bevy of unlockable achievements. Rolando 2 comes full integrated with ngmoco’s Xbox Live-esque Plus+ network, which allows you to directly challenge your friends’ scores via push notifications.

Controls, as in the first Rolando, are simple and intuitive. Tilt to roll the Rolandos, and swipe anywhere to jump. To select multiple Rolandos, simply draw a selection box. To deselect or navigate throughout the level, you use two fingers. Considering Rolando 2 is much less annoyingly technically than its predecessor, the controls work much better. The only thing lacking, which should really be a requirement for any games using accelerometer control, is a sensitivity adjustment option. To activate things such as spring launchers, you simply drag with your finger.

The new 2.5D graphics engine is very impressive. Besides the added (half) dimension, the graphics are done in mostly the same style, but the added perspective really adds pizzaz. The in-game music, composed by Mr. Scruff, is really fantastic, and is among the best I’ve heard from an App Store game. Sound effects are top-notch as well.

Mystique: Chapter 1 is the first game to come to the iPhone platform after making its debut on Android (I think). The developer, when telling us about the game, talks about iPhone developers putting their iPhone apps onto the Android platform and having success. Because of this cross platform success, they decided that they would like to try the reverse, having their Android game brought to the iPhone. There were some interesting struggles coming this direction though. While they were working it out the transition out, they did come against and mentioned that there is no trackball on the iPhone (of course not, iPhone rocks and is minimal bliss) and so the way the game functioned had to be completely changed.

The game itself is an immersive 3d experience. You wake in a (locked) room and the idea is that it’s creepy and mysterious. You then search the room to solve the puzzles and move on to the next space.

The thing I liked most about the game wasn’t really about the game at all. I liked that this game was different to the types of games we are currently seeing in the app store. With the success of games like Flight Control and Toki Tori, there is an abundance of “happy jumpy” platform, time management, and retro games going around all our devices. So this was a bit of a different take and I was keen to try it.

Also in its favor was the great sound accompanying it. This is one saving factor on the game. The music does help you feel the mood, enjoy the chills and really improves the game a lot.

Before playing it, I had read some of the buyer reviews. I read that it was really scary, so I was pretty excited to give it a try. I waited until it was very late at night, dark outside and very dark inside. Then I got ready to be scared completely by the game…. couldn’t wait!

Disappointed. Well… Ok. I don’t know who is writing those reviews, saying that it is as scary as some other popular horror genre games, but… I just didn’t find it scary. It just didn’t do it for me. I think my problem was the graphics are just not smooth enough. It all looked really ‘choppy’ so I was reminded that it was a device rendering some pictures. Also, after spending ages finding all the tools and items, I unintentionally managed to turn off my only light source in the room.

Now, playing a game in a dark room, where the image is only a dark room = hardly anything to see, is a perfect recipe for both frustration and headaches. In the end I did just give up.

For me, iPhone apps need to mimic the iPhone aesthetic, the wonderful buttons, the ease of navigation, smooth edges… I don’t have experience with the Android platform, but I’m not sure the applications can so easily be ‘adjusted’ to ‘fit’ the iPhone. The iPhone is a unique device that when designing a game / application for, should be taken into account.

I just found the in-game buttons too unstyled, and the actual furnishings of the room too “un-rendered” looking.

Good effort to want to bring it to the iPhone platform and I hope the styling will get better, but this one is just not for me.

This is a time management game that is up there with the best of them. If you like the pressures of trying to satisfy all your customers and make a profit then this is a great game to play. And NO it is not just for girls, maybe you aren’t up for the challenge~

Sally has been on our devices before in the previous hit Sally’s Salon. That game earned her a deserved following. In addition to that, because the game was on other platforms, notably the DS, (but you can also play it on your computer) she seems unstoppable, which I’m happy about!

So, some good things about Sally’s Salon…
First look at the game you can see how games like these, from big developers, are so polished with their graphics. It is a slick interface, with very user intuitive controls. Sally herself is a real cutie and it was fun to be her in the salon.

The placement of the items in the game, with the waiting chairs at the back and then you move around the screen in an anti-clockwise way really makes great use of the screen size. The game packs a lot of things into that little screen yet manages to not look cramped or disorganized. A real credit to the developers.

The game has a lot of features, from the traveling around the world to set up new spas, to the goals set so you can achieve stars and hearts to better your score. As with all games though, features or no features, the important thing is, do you go back for more? I can honestly say I did not want to put this game down until I had conquered the entire world! That is always sign of a top game for me.

Features as listed on their site are:

* Drag & slide your customers to spa stations
* Use your finger to play micro-games like Hot Stones, Bath Bombs & much more!
* Shop for better upgrades/products for your sales shelf
* Use your power-ups to make customers happy
* Many personalities from busy moms to male models.
* Travel around the world to high-end spas.

There are a good variety of customers which is great, especially when you get the couples who don’t want to be separated so you must be sure to have 2 places everywhere or they won’t go. There is also a good range of upgrades to buy, from hiring staff, to better chairs & facilities. Also special ‘fragrant candles’ that you can get which do different things from calming the customers down to getting them to tip a little higher.

Also after each level is completed you get to restock the items she has for sale for the customers, and you get new products as you sell more and more. This is a nice extra earner.

You can play with different accounts, so the whole family can play which is nice.

The main thing that I don’t like about the game is I’ve finished it. I don’t understand why there isn’t an open-ended version, so I can just play Spa until I am filthy rich. Well, I do understand, I guess they worry they won’t then sell more of their games. Maybe they could release a slightly more expensive version that is unlimited play, or you could pay a small fee to buy upgrades or similar. I really was disappointed when it was over, and didn’t play it again, there was no point. This was why I awarded it such a low score for the replay value. Although you will be playing it from start to finish I’m sure, I just don’t think once you have completed it that you will then pick it up and play it all again. I have spoken to others who have played the game and have said the same.

Overall at the low price of $0.99 there is enough scope and addiction to satisfy, but I really think they have to add some kind of ’survival mode’, because once you have finished it there isn’t a lot to do. I did totally love playing it though, I wanted to play for longer!

What a week in apps. With so many new apps and updates available, I definitely haven’t payed enough attention to the apps that are being announced. I feel like I just went to a movie and showed up too late to see the previews. What a waste! To make up for this, I am going to create a Thursday roundup of everything (well maybe not everything) awesome that is coming soon to the app store.

First off is the greatest mystery in the history of the app store. I had a friend send me a link to this site the other day, and I wasn’t sure what to say. Is it GTA for the iPhone? Is it… not?

I did a bit of research (I scoured the Touch Arcade forums) and found a few different opinions. One clever person, dpmpolo, went to http://whois.domaintools.com/coming-on-iphone.com, and found that the site is registered to Gameloft. DaveMc99 claims that the game is called Gangstar, while another guy CDubby94 said, “It’s called The Cartel. I beta tested it. It’s almost ready for submission.” I love forums.

Admittedly lost, and a bit anxious, I was forced to contact the internet Oracle, who told me that the trailer is actually for Poker vs. Girls 2. Check out the original here, it’s amazing.

With that squared away, my attention turned to Doom Resurrection, an amazing app that we reviewed a day or two ago. After reading the review, I thought, “Wow, that looks awesome. I wonder where the original Doom is?”. Fortunately, the gaming gods heard my plea and told me to hop over to idsoftware.com to check out the “iPhone Doom Classic Progress Report“.

Basically, the article states that John Carmack, the inventor of the modern FPS and the technical director of id Software (he’s famous), wanted to hire contractors to double the original resolution of the game. After seeing the results, and I’m sure the amount of money that he would have to pay to get them, he scrapped the resolution project and decided to keep the artwork the same. It still looks much nicer than the original due to the increased graphics capabilities, (my iPhone today works faster than my $3000 computer that originally ran Doom) but all in all, the game is the same. Expect Classic Doom to come out sometime this summer.

In an interesting twist, while doing an interview with Macworld, (read the Macworld article here) Carmack said that, “from a hardware perspective, the iPhone is even more capable than Sony’s handheld system, the PlayStation Portable (PSP).” This makes me happy.

So while I was having dreams of playing Crysis on my iPhone, my attention was diverted to one of the most graphically intensive genres out there… pinball. Scoff all you want, you fickle fools, this pinball game, made by GameProm, the makers of the newly free Wild West Pinball, looks stunning. Check out the promo video, and be sure to watch it in HD.

Wild West Pinball is expected to be out very soon. Hopefully tomorrow, but I doubt it.

Last but not least in this roundup of roundups is the new Worms game that is coming to the iPhone. PocketGamer.co.uk got all sorts of exclusive playtime with the game (I want to play too guys… hello!), and it looks amazing. The game is going to be a direct port of the PS3 version of worms… just a bit scaled down in the graphics department, but not much. There is also going to be full on multiplayer, which wasn’t really a big deal to me until I got my grubby hands on Baseball Sluggers and learned how nice iPhone multiplayer could be.

In the interview, the Worms team says that, “Alongside ad hoc Bluetooth multiplayer, we’ll also be adding full on internet multiplayer although wi-fi and 3G,” explains lead programmer Matt Bishop. “So you’ll be able to play on the bus against friends and guys in America.”" Hopefully the multiplayer turns out well, because I look forward to destroying you guys,the readers with Team 148. I would certainly hop on over to pocketgamer.co.uk to read the rest of the article, it’s quite interesting.

Judging by the video, Team 148 is definitely going to beat up on Team PocketGamer when the game finally comes out (the gauntlet has been dropped). The app has already been submitted to Apple, which means that the expected release date should be sometime in mid-December. Yup, that sounds about right.

Well I hope you enjoyed it… the roundup that is. If there are any apps that I missed, let me know and I’ll think about doing another roundup tomorrow.

Harbor Master is in the style of (once again) Flight Control. We all know that when a game becomes that popular, there are sure to be clones and others who try to walk the same line. Usually they are poor imitations, or substandard games pushed out to try to get on the bandwagon. Also, many are just not fun, trying to capture an ‘essence’ of a popular game is just a difficult thing to do. There can be so many factors contributing to its success, and a set formulae can be hard to define.

Well this game is actually the best competitor I have seen. It has officially taken me away from the ‘highscores hell’ that has become Flight Control and I am now trying to be the best Harbor Master in the universe!

This app is essentially a game of trying to unload the containers (cargo) on different types of ships. You guide the ship to the port, wait for it to unload the cargo, then have to take it back out of the port, and guide another in.

This game is good is because of that extra dimension of having to unload… it really adds to the pace of the game. Your concentration levels really have to be sharp so you safely divert one out as other ships wait for a free port. Also, there are 2 color ships, blue and orange, and the colors have to be docked at the correct color docks. There are 3 levels to unlock, unlocking though was actually a bit too simple and I did it on my first or second go, this could have been slightly harder challenge, but is a minor point.

The three maps are:

Map 1 Cyclone Island. This is a central docking station with chances for a cyclone to hit any where any time during game play. This is a nice map to play because it really is a chance that at any time it could all go wrong with that ‘oh so dangerous’ cyclone threat.

Map 2 Fishing Bay. This is a typical shore situation. There are two docks, one for each color ship and you guide them in and out quite easily. This is a great level to practice on.

Lastly, Map 3 Sturgeon Creek. I love this level. A lot. This map is basically double of what we play on map 2, fishing bay. You have docks on both sides and again you have 2 colored cargo ships to dock. This level is where I have been living the last few days of my life. Ironically I have only achieved a high score of 122 (so far) even after hours of game play. Surprisingly having not been able to better my score, I still haven’t felt bored or frustrated as you can on some games where you seem to not be able to top a high score.

Each map screen when you select it, has some basic stats for you which is nice. It shows your skill level for that map, best shift, how many shifts worked, and the number of cargo received.

Sound on the game really needs to be on as you play to be more successful. There are sound clues when there are two ships too close to each other, you are notified by a proximity beep alert. Also the sound of diverting off the screen or to successful docking are good so you know you have set the course for that ship and can get on with other ships. And liked the big horn noise of the large container ships as they were coming into port, it was really fun! Also the general in game music was sweet and I liked it being on.

You can pause in game if needed (again a feature every game should have), and from the pause screen you can go to a different map too which I thought was great. (Oh- but if you do go to a different map, you lose that game you were playing!)

Only negatives really would be maybe to add another ship type, there are 3 types of ships with varying amounts of cargo (so longer cargo loading times). This really isn’t a negative of the game, just maybe if you manage to unload 100 ships maybe you get another type or something.

Overall, I really enjoyed this game and it is a keeper on my device. I have had a play every day just to see if I can better my score, and although I haven’t yet, it didn’t even matter, it was just a nice fun to play game. I salut you Captain Imangi for making a top game!

Should you buy this app at $0.99? Heck yes!! Why haven’t you already?!

Overview
Impress is an app that’s easy to use. After installing it on my iPod Touch I quickly grabbed a picture (iPhone users have the option to shoot a picture too) and started painting. I was impressed with how easy it is to change the brushes, and the variety that these adjustments give the user.

When you’re painting you can zoom in and move around the picture with the pinch control. There are about 6 brushes or so which can be adjusted by moving the crosshairs around the screen. The settings are such that you can get almost any kind of effect you want out of a brush. If you make a mistake there’s an erase mode available too.

Pros
It was really easy to start painting with this app. I grabbed a picture of my night stand from my iPod and started working on it. Don’t ask me why I grabbed this one, I’ve just always liked this picture for some strange reason. The way the app chooses the colors automatically is nice. I like not having to worry about that. I also worked on a picture of the old Transformer Jetfire (not the new one) that I found. This was cool too, but I didn’t post it here because wasn’t patient enough for all of the details.

Cons
There are a couple of things I would like to see added as Impress develops. It would be nice to add layers, and the ability to add text. I think these things can be done without ruining the simplicity of the app. Maybe revising the way zoom and painting are handled would be recommended too. Oftentimes I accidentally painted when zooming or moving the picture around, which then required me to move to Erase mode.

Conclusion
Impress, for what it’s designed to do, is quite impressive. It’s no Brushes, but it’s not trying to be. It’s made so that anyone can make a nice looking painting with just a little bit of time and patience. Impress’s aim is simplicity and it hits the mark. It’s a great app and you can’t go wrong for only $0.99.

Impress Gallery: http://marioguimaraes.com/impress/Gallery.html

Id software basically invented the modern first person shooter. So why would they create a new DOOM for the iPhone and make it an on-rails shooter, not even a true FPS. Well, it turns out they actually made a pretty good decision.

The UAC, the largest defense contractor in the universe, located on Mars, has been authorized to conduct controversial experiments. Then, predictably, something goes horribly wrong. A troop of elite marines is sent in to investigate, when again, something goes horribly wrong and you are left as the only marine alive. What starts off as a simple escape mission evolves into something that holds the fate of the world in balance. The story is decent enough, but a little generic. Throughout the game, the story is advanced by dialogue and cut-scenes. For the most part these are fine, but there is no way to skip the cut-scenes, which gets a bit irritating, especially on the second play through.

The game contains eight levels, for a total approximate 2-3 hours (or more, if like me, you stink). This is my main complaint for the game. Making this game a 20 level saga would be a mistake, but two more levels would be a welcome addition. For replayablilty, there are four difficulty levels and a letter-grading system with a full statistical breakdown for each level. In addition, after completing a level in the game, you play that level directly from the main menu.

In each level, your character moves automatically, so all you have to do is worry about shooting zombies and other nefarious creatures… which there are plenty of. Besides the “normal” zombies that simply rush at you and attack you, there are a variety a monsters that require special game mechanics. There are fat zombies that will attempt to eat you, making you have to shake your phone to stave them off, and there are both monsters who will shoot machine guns at you and those that will hurl fire balls at you. The machine gun-wielding monsters start off shooting at a low accuracy, then will hone in on you, signified by a shrinking hexagon that will eventually turn red, meaning the zombies are certain to hit you. At that point, you must duck for cover. For the projectile hurling zombies, you must dodge at the right time to avoid the fire balls. Dodge too early or too late, and you’re dead meat. To either take cover or dodge, depending on the situation, you press a button in the lower left of the screen. These mechanics work well enough, though they are annoyingly overused in later levels.

Luckily, you have a bevy of weapons to fend off monsters. In addition to your trusty default assault rifle, which has unlimited ammo, at different times during game, you will have access to cool weapons such the chainsaw, plasma rifle, and of course, the legendary BFG. All the weapons are really well done and truly distinctive, so you will have to choose a weapon carefully depending on the situation. Cycling through weapons is accomplished by tapping a button in the upper left of the screen, and you can manually reload by tapping a button in the top left. The best control mechanic in the game is the shooting. To aim the small reticule on your screen, you use the accelerometer, and you fire by tapping a button in the lower right corner. The accelerometer is automatically calibrated at the start of each level, and you can re-calibrate at any time from the pause menu. The only option lacking is sensitivity adjustment, though I found the accelerometer to be perfectly responsive. The accelerometer controls are fantastic, and they make the game infinitely more fun than a simple tap-to-shoot. There are also health and ammo packs scattered throughout levels, some hidden inside breakable boxes, and you pick them up by simply tapping on them.

The graphics in DOOM are virtually unparalleled on the App Store. Everything is incredibly detailed, and the zombie illustrations are fantastic. The 3D graphics are all done with a very depressed color palette that creates a creepy ambience, and the lighting is impressive. Creepy ambience sounds and sound effects further add to the aura.

Don’t judge DOOM Resurrection simply because it’s “on-rails.” It’s actually an incredibly engaging and fun game that was truly made specifically for the iPhone. Yes, at $9.99 it’s a bit pricy, but that’s a worthy price to pay for one of the iPhone’s best games.

Ragdoll Blaster is simple game, with simple tenets. In fact the word simplicity sums up its graphics too - that’s not a criticism - they suit the game, and are charming in an L.S. Lowry kinda way. This is the sort of game that could have been planned out on the back of a beer mat - but it clearly has been crafted with skill and cunning.

The premise of this game is this: you are required to aim the eponymous ragdoll at a red circle. The moment your doll comes into contact with the red circle the level is completed. Sounds simple? Well, it starts out that way. But pretty soon more and more obstacles are put in the way of your little man. Blocks, pulleys, see-saws, springs - all combine to hinder or help you to attain your goal.

What makes this game interesting is, firstly, discovering how to complete a level - quite often through trial and error - and secondly, the rag doll physics that the game’s name implies. The stick figures move - all flailing limbs - as you would expect a real doll to move. They have an effect on the whatever object they may land or crash into. Couple this knowledge with a control system that allows you to fling your matchstick man with finely judged strength, and you have a concept that makes for some challenging levels.

For example, you may have a triangle in your way and you may have to hurl your ragdoll with just enough power to just clear the top of the triangle, but still land near the base of the far side of the triangle. Other levels require more brute force: a pile of blocks are in the way - you need to use your ragdolls as cannonballs, blasting clear the obstruction.

Quite often the solution to a level isn’t immediately obvious. Blocks on pivots, rotating contraptions, spring loaded platforms - all need your brain to be turned up to 10. That said, you can just blast off a few ragdolls and see what happens… that’s how I solved some levels.

Some may scoff at the graphics in Ragdoll Blaster. But what do you need? Fancy 3D, fully textured, bump mapped, ray traced graphics would be grossly unnecessary. In fact, this kind of game probably prides itself on its graphical style. In my opinion, the graphics suit the concept perfectly.

There is very little to criticize Ragdoll Blaster about. But one slight downer is that once you complete the levels, you won’t be gagging to play them again. There are, though, 70+ levels, and Backflip Studios promise a further 30+ levels in a future update. This addition will aid the game’s longevity, but I don’t see Ragdoll Blaster being a game you come back to repeatedly.

Ragdoll Blaster is good unfussy fun, and is the kind of game you can play for five minutes without losing any impetus - you’re not going to have any trouble remembering where you were in a game like this. Just pick up and play.

For $1.99 you can’t really go wrong - Ragdoll Blaster is worth that. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Gridlocked: Rush Hour is a casual strategy game where you have you have to control the lights in intersections to be sure the traffic moves smoothly. There are six intersections and, like real life, they quickly get packed with cars. In addition to normal cars, just to make things difficult, there are also emergency cars that you must get through before 15 seconds, creating a monster of a task when you find you have more cars then there is room for!

Gridlocked takes what is becoming a popular format of games of strategy lately: time management. This means you are controlling the organization of the items, in this case cars. The idea is executed quite well in terms of styling. The simple grid layout is really great because you get to see the play area and can guide the traffic through with only a simple click of the intersection.

I have to admit… I kind of really like the mundane-ness of directing the flow of traffic, heck I was a buyer of Rush Hour for Sim City and took it to a whole new level. There is something therapeutic about directing a smooth flow of traffic. I would almost would like to see the developer give us a level where it was management but in a really simple way, so we could just spend endless hours changing the lights, then have the hardcore levels for the folks who really want it to get difficult. I always feel sad when the game ends and I have achieved so little!

One thing that I found a bit annoying about this game though was that the traffic back ups tend to happen off the screen so it’s hard to tell where the traffic is backed up. The cars come in off screen but the light just turns amber to tell you that there is a traffic jam, but it is really difficult to know when it’s happening off the game play area. I think it would be really great if it did a similar thing to other styles of games where after a period of really busy activity (lots of cars) then there is a slight lull so you can catch up with it all and clear the space a little bit. If the entire screen is covered in cars, the game quickly becomes tedious. If it gave you a slight clearing time then back to intense it would be great.

Also future updates of course would be more types of cars (thou I like how they are now anyway) and maybe a few other types of roads / intersections. A highscore area could be popular, but I’m not sure how high the scores are going to be

Overall, for the price of this game, and the potential it has, it is worth it. It’s a nice simple game that you can pick up and play and pause when you need to, making it a nice time waster without commitment. You may want to turn off the sound effects thou, all those traffic sounds makes me angry grrrrrr.

Firemint gotten their hands on an iPhone 3GS and decided to take it for a little test drive. With it’s increased processor speed, better graphics processor, and extra memory, it’s built for killer games. The best way they came up with to test drive the 3GS was to make a special version of their fantastic racing game, Real Racing to stress it. The normal version of Real Racing has 6 cars on the track at once. Their iPhone 3GS test version has not 12, not 20, but 40 cars on the track at the same time! Take a look at the demo video below for the amazing proof — the real fun starts around 30 seconds in.

Amazing, just amazing. Looks like they might have even been able to put even more cars on the track! If you haven’t picked up Real Racing yet, what are you waiting for? It’s the best arcade game we’ve seen yet for the iPhone.

Real Racing

Our Rating:   Read Review >>

Category: Games / Action
Released: 2009-06-06
Price: $9.99

We’ve just heard from QuickOffice, the leading giant who provides office software for mobile phones, that soon iPhone and iPod Touch users should be able to edit their e-mail attachments on-the-go. This a feature that has been lacking on the iPhone natively since day 1.

Currently, Documents To Go can “talk” to mail and retrieve attachments for editing (only .doc and .docx supported at the minute - excel promised soon): however, only through Microsoft Exchange. Whilst this should accommodate many, QuickOffice hopes to accommodate all. For those who do use Microsoft Exchange for their mail, Documents To Go with Exchange Support is available for $9.99 (£5.99). For those who don’t, the best work-a-round at the minute is provided by QuickOffice themselves, who take on an Air Sharing-avec-Office role where a user can add files from their computer onto their iPhone for editing provided that they are on the same wireless network. I spoke to the QuickOffice team, and they said that “we understand the ability to open email attachments is an important feature many users want and [we] are excited to be adding this capability.”

This is rejoicing news for Blackberry users who have long had the ability to receive an attachment, edit it and send it back within a matter of minutes. Whilst the App Store’s “Business” section has been flourishing of late (as has 148Biz), it is surprising to see that it has taken this long for this feature to be available to the public.

We’ll keep you posted as we get more information - and we’ll have a review ready as soon as we can. QuickOffice is currently on the App Store for $19.99 (£11.99) and - of course - the new update will be free.

Note: current review is of an older version.

What is Pano?
A simple application, Pano for iPhone and iPod touch allows you to create seamless panoramic views (or photos), right on your device - or so Debacle claims. I took the app for a test drive, on the new iPhone 3GS (with auto focus) and here’s my experience.

What is a Panoramic View?

“In its most general sense, a panorama is any wide-angle view of a physical space. It has also come to refer to a wide-angle representation of such a view, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film/video, or a three-dimensional model.”

Using Pano
Opening the app, you’ll be presented with the normal ‘camera’ view, ready to take a photo. Pano numbers your photos from 1 to 16, with 16 being the limit of photos you can physically take with the application, to create any one pano. Just like you would on the normal camera application, to take a photo with pano you simply hit the camera button bottom center. The app starts you off in portrait mode, and this is especially good if you want to take a panoramic view of say for example, a waterfall.

However, there will be times when you need to switch landscape, to capture that perfect moment. To do this simply hit the ‘Cancel’ button in the bottom left of the ‘camera’ screen. From here Pano will throw up two further options; Switch to landscape mode, and Resume shooting. Hitting resume shooting is pretty self-explatatory, and the app will continue to let you shoot your pano in portrait. Tapping ‘Switch to Landscape’ does just as it says. The app will swicth modes and instead of taking photos in portrait, will allow you to take them in landscape. This is handy if your taking for example, a panoramic view of a sunset, or skyline.

Once your done with creating your pano, simply hit that ‘Cancel’ button again, and select ‘Create my Pano now!’. The app will then stitch your photos together. The pano I took consisted of 6 photos, and took about 20 seconds to process. While the app processes your photo, you’ll see a progress bar which states ‘Merging’. Every panoramic view created by Pano is automatically saved into your iPhone camera roll, or in the iPod touch’s case, your Photo roll. Once you connect your device to your Mac, your pano is then available via iPhoto, for import - and I have to say, the quality is pretty great.

Here’s one I took earlier:

Aligning
As mentioned before, the app can be quite hard to align the photos manually - especially if you haven’t got the most of steady hands, like me. But, it does help you along. Taking the first photo with Pano will result in the app switching to the second photo view. When it does this, it also overlays (very faintly) the last piece of photo 01. To a degree, this helps in allowing you to perfectly align your photos, for that seamless look - and I’m sure, if you do have steady hands, you probably will get a perfect panoramic, but so far, I’m yet to create one without noticeable photo overlap.

Overall

Overall, what can I say? Pano is a great tool for panoramic shots. Although not perfect, as advertised, Pano’s output quality and easy of use shines through. If you’re a keen photographer, and want to be able to capture a full scene on the move, Pano is for you.

Magnetic Joe debuted in February as a free game, though from the beginning HD Publishing promised that a paid version would later be released; it was well-received, but its simplicity justified the nonexistent price tag. The developers have held true to their promise, and Magnetic Joe 2 was released in the beginning of this month for $1.99. It’s clear that the game has evolved since then, and Magnetic Joe 2 is an innovative little title and a pretty good arcade-puzzler. It has its flaws, sure, and it still doesn’t offer too much complexity, but it’s a good game.

Everything in Magnetic Joe 2 revolves around, unsurprisingly, magnetism. Joe is a delicate little ball who has the ability to magnetize with a touch of your finger. Magnets are scattered around each stage, and when Joe is magnetized, they propel him—the only catch is that each magnet has a direction associated with it, and you have to time Joe so that he doesn’t end up impaling himself on spikes or running into an enemy. If he does, he’ll shatter into a rain of pixels!

Levels are puzzle-like and require various maneuvers to ensure Joe’s safety, but they all boil down to one objective: go from point A to point B. There are other things to take into consideration, too. Each completed level earns you a gold star, but beating the “developer’s time” will earn you an extra one. Stars can be used to unlock special unlockable abilities:

• Cloak: Joe becomes invisible, making the levels even more challenging
• Bad: Makes Joe stronger, letting him destroy walls more easily
• Rerverse: Reverses the controls. Now you have to demagnetize Joe
• Josephine: She is light and floats better
• Bot: Makes Joe immune to robots
• Fire: Makes Joe immune to fires
• Hood: Makes Joe immune to spike balls and green monsters

Additionally, there are four (really three) different game modes. Tutorial is a 10-stage introduction to the mechanics of Magnetic Joe, while Classic consists of 30 levels focused around timed completion. In the 30-level Collect mode, you still have to try and minimize your time…but you also have to collect all of the little baby Joe’s on your way out. And in Enemy mode (again, there are 30 levels) you have to make it to the end in as little time as possible, but this time there are tons of “deadly foes” including spiders robots. Oh my!

All in all, Magnetic Joe has a decent amount of variety, and if you like the basic gameplay, 100 levels (90 not counting the tutorial) should keep you occupied for a little while. Most of the level designs are fairly straightforward, but they’re still fun to play through, and quite a few are challenging.

On a more technical note, the game’s controls are pleasantly simple. All you have to do is tap anywhere on the screen to magnetize Joe. That’s it. There are menus, of course, but the control scheme is just about the simplest one in the world.

Sadly, the graphics are also simple…painfully so, at times. Everything is rather pixelated and not exactly pretty to look at. It’s all functional, sure, but don’t expect much in the way of eye candy. Jagged edges are prime stars in this little play. On the bright side, the audio isn’t anything new, but it is reminiscent of an old arcade game. While that’s nice and all, the sound effects and the music both get on your nerves after extended listening.

Magnetic Joe 2’s gameplay is supplemented by some solid features. You can, for example, choose from portrait or landscape orientation, with screen lock as an option; download your friend’s high scores (my nickname is simply “bonnie”); play your own music; and those extra, unlockable abilities that I mentioned earlier. However, there’s also a built-in ad for Magnetic Joe (the original), and it’s advertised as free. Not so: the original game is now priced at $0.99, presumably so as to not cannibalize sales.

You know, besides the lackluster graphics, I really don’t have many specific things complain about with Magnetic Joe 2. For me, the gameplay wasn’t overly compelling, and the originality of the magnet mechanic wore thin pretty quickly; your mileage will vary. The false advertising of Magnetic Joe as “free” definitely needs to stop, too. I suppose my final conclusion is that Magnetic Joe 2 is simply an ordinary game: a good one, and a solid offering, but nothing extraordinary. There’s nothing wrong with being simply “good;” you won’t be wasting your money if you do buy. “Joe” falls short of demanding the label “must-have,” but it’s still an entertaining, simple arcade puzzle game that will be much appreciated by fans of the previous version and newcomers alike.

TowerMadness is just one of those games that does a lot of things well, but nothing exceptionally. With the high volume of tower defense games in the App Store, TowerMadness doesn’t really do anything to stand out.

Most tower defense games involve some sort of epic story line that involves saving the world or something, but TowerMadness has you saving sheep from aliens. That’s about as far in depth as the game goes story-wise, and even though the story is very strange, it’s fine, because this is a tower defense game.

As with all tower defense games, you set towers in various places to blast those creeps to bits. TowerMadness, at least the main part, is open-field, so your placement of the towers affects the path the aliens follow. If aliens make it to the end, they abduct a sheep; if they abduct all ten sheep, the game is over. The game has four main maps, each increasingly difficult. The main difference in each map is the number of entry points for the aliens. Completing one map unlocks the next. Earlier maps are very restrictive in what towers you can use, but in total there are nine towers. The towers are not terribly distinctive though, and none are extremely creative, just genre standards. There are 16 different types of enemies, including flying ones, and different ones are resistant to different towers. While there is a “fast-forward” button, this simply sends the next wave in early, and I would like to see something that actually speeds up the action. In addition, difficulty settings for each map are lacking.

One distinctive thing about TowerMadness is the online component. By connecting to the towermadness.com server, you can download free additional maps. There are three maps available right now, one of these is even a fixed-path map, which is nice for those seeking some variety. In addition, there are online leader boards, and you can even replay the games of the leaders to see their solutions.

Controls are simple. Tap on an area, and it brings up a circle with options for three categories of towers. Tapping one brings up a choice of three towers, and tapping one of those builds the tower. Tapping on a built tower brings up the option to upgrade or sell the tower. Each tower has five available upgrades. Pinching the screen zooms in.

The graphics, while they are 3D, are actually pretty mediocre. I appreciate the option to view the game up-close in 3D, it’s really just fluff, and doesn’t add anything to the gameplay. 3D aside, the graphics are very rough and lacking in detail, though visual tower upgrades are a plus. Music is decent, though the sound effects are a little high-pitched for me.

In the App Store nowadays, it is tough to make a tower defense game stand out. TowerMadness does have a lot of towers and enemies, and is pretty fun, but ultimately, it does nothing to rise above the rest.

Yesterday we reported on a plan by ngmoco:) to remove Rolando from the iTunes App Store once Rolando 2 had been released. Today, I spoke today with Clive Downie, VP of Marketing from ngmoco:) and we’ve got some good news for Rolando fans.

After reading our article and others relating to the proposed plan to pull Rolando from the iTunes App Store and the response from consumers, ngmoco:) have decided to rescind the plan to remove Rolando. Rolondo will remain on the iTunes App Store and Topple, the original, will be coming back as well.

To understand why this all happened and why the plan was hatched in the first place, it’s important to understand the climate that publishers on the iTunes App Store are currently working in.

The App Store is a whole new environment in which to run a software business. Apple has full reigns over what’s allowed and how you can operate. That’s great for Apple, their app store, and their devices. But it’s non-standard in the software world and not so great for publishers. It’s particularly difficult considering that Apple does not publish full guidelines on what is and isn’t allowed and has even been known to change it’s mind without telling anyone.

Then there is the sheer volume of new apps launched every day in the app store. Currently the app store is averaging over 300 new apps in the store every single day. That’s more new titles per day than most platforms see in a year. Just a staggering number.

At this point, the app store is less than a year old and has had over 57,000 apps approved. Some of the standard practices of marketing software just don’t apply to a volatile and chaotic market such as this. Trying new things, finding what works amid the chaos is the key. That’s what ngmoco:) is doing.

For ngmoco:) the question was become how do they best launch a sequel in the iTunes App Store. There’s very little history on how to do that. One method they wanted to test was to remove the prequel to see what impact that would have on the launch of Rolando 2. What happens if you launch an episodic title into the app store without the predecessor there. It was learning they thought was worth doing.

That was the plan, until they started hearing from consumers. Consumers didn’t like the idea of it. It can be a big concern to a user who has purchased a copy protected digital file when they discover they may not be able to download it again if something happens to their copy. Since all that was really purchased was a bunch of bits, if it’s no longer available, it can seem to the consumer like you’ve lost your purchase.

What the consumers said was the they didn’t care about the test, they want their Rolando and Topple to remain safe. That’s what ngmoco:) have decided to do.

So due to the consumer feedback, Rolando will stay in the store and we will see Topple return soon as well. Since Apple provides no way for customers of the apps, people who have already paid for the app, to get it any other way than for the app to be live in the store, this is what’s required.

I think we can call that a lesson learned. But maybe not the lesson they were looking for.

Mr. Downie made it clear that ngmoco:) will continue to test the market, figure out ways to best navigate the turbulent seas of the app store. In addition, they will continue to innovate, as they remain laser focused on developing the best games for the iPhone OS platform.

As a closing thought, Mr. Downie wanted to remind us all that after the dust has settled over this Rolando issue to remember that Rolando 2 is coming out really soon and it looks fantastic. He’s right about that — we got a chance to see it recently in it’s nearly complete form. It’s looking very impressive.

When we asked if the release date was still July 1st, his response was “let’s hope so.”

Gameloft has put out some great games, from the Oregon Trail to Let’s Golf, and they’ve become one of the major players in the App Store. Unfortunately, not all of their titles are so well-done. Rise of Lost Empires has a cliched storyline, annoying controls, lag issues, and “heroes” who repeat the same irritating phrases twenty times in an average battle. This is one to avoid.

And yet, despite that, Rise of Lost Empires manages to look promising. Just don’t be fooled by the eye candy or the exciting-looking screenshots.

When you begin your quest, you’ll play from the “good” perspective, first as a human knight and then later with other heroes, including an elven archer and a sorcerer. This is the Empire campaign, and your enemies are Orcs. After completing a few “chapters” (battles, in other words), the Raider campaign unlocks and you can fight from the Orc’s point of view.

Each chapter has a varying set of goals, and not all of them are revealed in the beginning. Some goals are optional, but most are mandatory; some must be completed before others. Most are pretty straightforward: Keep your hero alive, defend the gate, kill the Orcs, etc. Others are slightly more complex: Earning the trust of the Orc tribes, for example, requires you to complete the demands of the tribes’ leaders.

The game is really focused on heroes, though. Each “hero” is, as their name suggests, a powerhouse with quite some bite to back up their bark. They can cast spells, have extra health and strength, and lead your units into battle. Better yet, you can have multiple heroes in one chapter, and you control them all at once. Each hero’s portrait appears in the top-left corner of the screen—and, yes, the portraits do serve a purpose. Tapping on your hero’s portrait will select either him alone or him and his forces as well (it alternates with each tap). This is a good shortcut, but it’s not always sufficient, especially because it can get confusing whose forces are whose when you have multiple heroes in play at once.

To some extent, your hero and his or her surrounding forces will attack on their own, but you really do have to control and micromanage; your archers, for example, aren’t smart enough to attack from a distance all of the time, and they won’t retreat on their own (or quickly enough when you order them, for that matter). And sometimes, when you’re attempting a two- or three- pronged attack, for example, this is where the pain really begins.

This is where the game’s controls really fall flat on their face. To select a unit, you tap it and then tap on empty space to direct it to move or on an enemy to order an attack. However, I often ended up selecting another unit by accident or ordering a unit to move instead of selecting a different unit. Also, there’s no easy way to move around the screen. Sure, you can tap your heroes’ portraits to snap to their location, but what if I just send a pack of foot soldiers on a side attack? The “pinch” gesture is used to select multiple units at once (talk about awkward, especially in the heat of battle), which rules it out as zooming control. Zooming is instead handled by a tiny scrollbar in the corner and quick movement requires the use of an equally tiny minimap. Yeah, you can use the swipe gesture to pan around the screen (it’s slower), but there’s a significant drawback: the view stubbornly returns to your hero. Oy. The game’s camera is pretty much chained to your hero, which makes it devilishly difficult to plan ahead or move quickly through the area, especially in single-hero chapters; it always snaps back to your slow-moving hero.

What makes combat most miserable, however, is simply lag. I didn’t make it past the third chapter before my characters started lagging, and it’s frustrating to try and select a unit only to realize that the game isn’t responding properly. Note that I’ve been playing this on an iPod Touch 2G, too—the fastest of the iPhone OS family, save for the iPhone 3GS. I’d hate to see this run on an original-gen device.

Now, I’ve detailed a lot of flaws so far, and trust me: they are significant. But Gameloft could have had a hit on their hands, and that’s what’s so maddening. True, the storyline isn’t anything special, but there are some good, classic bones here. Real-time combat is entertaining when it works, and there are some (though not too many) opportunities to actually use strategy. Buildings can be created whenever you “capture a flag” (no lie!) ranging from farms (gold bonus, provide food to create more troops) and barracks (train soldiers) to forges (upgrade your troops) and outposts (defensive structures). The building aspect is handled nicely, even if the interface suffers from the same lag and abruptness as the rest of the game. There’s a decent variety amongst units and heroes add spice to the mix with their unique spells.

But, honestly, Rise of Lost Empires is just a bloated mess. It was fun at first, sure, but then I began to feel like I was stuck in a quagmire of miserable controls and idiotic soldiers. (Yes, the AI is really that bad.) Hardcore fans of the RTS genre might find something to salvage here, but for me, the headache of managing each individual unit was too much to bear. I’d much rather be able to group, say, nine soldiers into one permanent graphic with a little “9″ hovering over its head, but instead Rise of Lost Empires forces you to take care of every little detail. It’s a shame, too, because it looked so pretty and promising, but in this case Gameloft has dropped the ball.

Blog readers may have spotted the application ‘Wunder Radio’ being mentioned in Glenn Head’s A Day In The Life. This was actually the application that I reviewed that worked towards my acceptance into the 148 writer team, but it was put to the bottom of my mailbox and long forgotten. When I spotted Glenn’s post, I found the mail and formatted it ready for an official 148 review. Sit back - because this is a good one.

Wunder Radio is an internet radio application that streams live radio from the internet directly to your iPhone. It can do this through Wi-Fi, 3G and in some cases EDGE - meaning that whenever you’re on the go and have a connection, you can listen to radio that’s playing (quite literally) on the other side of the world.

On the outside, it has a simple yet effective design that takes full use of the generous iPhone screen. It is very similar to the contacts tab within the ‘Phone’ application (see screenshots 1 and 2) - which is perhaps why it is so easy to navigate and find your way around. There’s no need to fiddle around with advanced settings, and if you really want to dig deep it has its own section within the ‘Settings’ application. Opening this will offer you the option to change the theme, MP3 buffer time and default bit rate (see screenshot 3).

The user has the option to browse for radio channels via category (sports / music etc), genre (type of music) and location. Each of these categories has sub-categories to make for easy navigation. Sport is divided into sections such as “NBA”, “NASCAR” and “Major League Baseball” to name a few. Music genre divides all stations into 18 genres, ranging from “Oldies” to “Alternative Rock”. Finally, location is split into continents and main locations, eg. “Africa”, “North America” and “Antarctica” (I never knew that there were stations in the arctic!).

Once you have found your way through to the correct type of radio that you’ve gone through the categories and sub-categories to the radio that you want to listen to, you’ll be offered a generous choice of stations to choose from - each with their own bitrate and symbol stating how it can be streamed (Wi-Fi and 3G for all, EDGE for some) (screenshot 4). When you are in a station, you then have the chance to edit a few more settings if you wish (Buffer Time, Preferred Bit Rate etc - with explanations telling you which option will do which {lower bit rate more reliable, higher bit rate better sound etc}).

I’ve made this sound like a rather long drawn process, but it isn’t at all. As soon as you click on a station it will start to buffer and play, connecting seamlessly and as long as you’re connection is strong enough then, unless the web stream goes down, you’ll stay connected and listening. It can play when the iPhone’s screen is off, too.

One feature I’d like to take note of is the ability to add ‘favourite’ radio stations. This means that at the touch of a button, you’ll have access to all the stations that you have chosen to be a favourite - handy, as it stops you having to go through the categories again. Of course, there is a search option to reduce time wasting also.

But what sets this above other applications of the same category? There are plenty of radio applications out there, some cheaper than this. Well, apart from its seamless integration with the phone, you are not just limited to radio. You have access to scanners (monitor police bands, air traffic control) and other station directories such as the Internet Archive and Icecast Directory. Everything just works - there’s no messing about and no hassle.

You could call it a real ‘Apple’ application. Wunderful.

Note: many carriers, including 02 and AT&T will charge for excessive data usage and in some cases forbid it. Be gentle. Enjoy radio.

If it wasn’t for the near complete lack of replay value, I would say Bed Bugs is one of the best games out in the App Store. Though, it’s lack of replay value doesn’t mean it wasn’t one of the most unique iPhone games I’ve played yet.

I may have compared Bed Bugs to Devil May Cry or Jade Empire, but don’t expect an adventure-fighting game. What the similarity is between the games is the frantic smashing of buttons (or touch screens) in order to kill bad guys and progress to the end of the level. Obviously unlike Devil May Cry or Jade Empire, this game is 2D instead of 3D, you also don’t control your character walking - all of your attention goes to the killing of the different monsters (or protecting of fairies).

What’s unique about Bed Bugs is that as you progress through each level it adds more monsters for you to kill - each monster must be killed differently. Your goal is, first of all, to identify the correct way to kill the monster and then defend your sleepwalking character from attacks by these monsters. The first few monsters can simply be killed by tapping them, they just attack in different ways. I refuse to explain how to kill any of the others because I feel like figuring out how to kill each one is half of the fun. The graphics and sounds of each monster are unique and slightly childish. The monsters look like something a young kid would draw, which kind of adds to the whole nightmare theme.

The game contains 28 levels, 4 of which are bonus (meaning that the level keeps going until your “dream bar” goes down to 0). After you are finished playing these 28 levels there isn’t much incentive to replay them, which is my problem with the replay value. I beat the game in somewhere between an hour or two and had no motive to go back and replay any of the levels. The only reward you get from repeating a level is that you get a gold star in the corner of the level for completing it perfectly.

Problems, Wishes, and Misses
Problems. The only problem I had was with the lack of replay value. Everything else in the game was basically perfect.

Wishes. My suggestion in fixing the replay value problem is to add a survival mode. Where randomly generated monsters constantly attack you until your character takes too many hits - similar to the bonus rounds but the randomly generated monsters part is important. The difficulty of the survival mode should be selectable, the hardest including every monster in the game. Throw in the ability to post my high score in survival mode online and you’ve got yourselves a perfect game.

Misses. I thought the bonus rounds were a miss because the only thing that they do is boost your overall score, something that doesn’t matter much.

Even though the game will only give you a few hours of gameplay, those few hours are well worth the $1.99. Check it out.

Firemint has just released a 1.3 update for their extremely popular Flight Control game that adds the ability to play cooperatively with a friend over bluetooth. Flight Control has sold over 1,000,000 copies on its way to becoming an App Store classic.

Flight Control is a deceptively complicated game in which you must guide planes and helicopters to their proper landing places by drawing paths with your finger. The game starts out very simply with very few vehicles on screen at a time, but quickly ramps up in difficulty as more planes and helicopters of varying speeds appear on screen simultaneously. If anything collides, the game is over. When Christine reviewed the game, she gave it a perfect five stars.

In previous updates, Firemint has added new maps and online leader boards via the Cloudcell service. Now, in order to utilize the new 3.0 software for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Firemint has added bluetooth play so you can share air traffic controller duties with a friend. No wifi is required, as you simply need two devices with bluetooth capabilities (note: only the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPod Touch 2G can use bluetooth).

In this new mode, you and your friend share a cumulative score for a game. Each person has a complete map on screen (you can either use the same map or different maps), but can only land planes of a certain color. If a plane appears on screen that you cannot land, you have to direct it to the side of you screen, which will cause it to appear on your partner’s screen. This makes the game even more hectic, as you have to manage planes that both normally appear on your screen and those redirected by your partner all while trying to communicate with your partner.

Flight Control

Our Rating:   Read Review >>

Category: Games / Action
Released: 2009-04-29
Price: $0.99

When the release date of Rolando 2 was announced, ngmoco:) also indicated that Rolando, the original, was going to be pulled from the app store when the sequel goes live. It’s an odd move, very smart, and yet wrong at the same time.

I recently asked Neil Young, CEO of ngmoco:), why the original Topple was no longer in the App Store, his comment was “We pulled it, trying something.” Short response and at the time I didn’t think much of it. I assumed they were planning on trying some new marketing technique with it. Turns out they were testing a fundamental business idea in preparation for the Rolando 2 release. Something new, something that really may change the way we think of games in the app store. Apps aren’t forever anymore.

According to our App Store database, Rolando was released originally on December 8, 2008. That effectively puts the lifespan of the original Rolando at 7 months. Is that really all the life Rolando has left in it? I doubt it. One thing is for sure, it’s going to be pulled from the app store when Rolando 2 is released.

While Rolando is their product and they have the absolute right to do with it what they choose, pulling it just doesn’t feel right. Something about the spirit seems wrong. They aren’t doing anything odd with the price to rise up the charts and increase the price to ride the higher exposure as many high profile developers have been doing lately. But they are sacrificing a product and it’s customers for increased expose for the next episode. Maybe I’m just being too sentimental, but I want to see the game stick around.

Back to the original test that ngmoco:) did, removing Topple from the app store. I’m not sure that it relates directly, removing Topple, a free app, to see what it does to sales of Topple 2 at $0.99. But there is something obvious to it. By removing Topple, they see if that increases sales of Topple 2, the more recent game.

By removing Rolando when the sequel comes out, they don’t lose any sales to the original, cheaper version. When users search for Rolando, they will get just 1 result, and 1 price. That makes sense as a certain percentage people would probably choose the cheaper one, and it removes any confusion of their marketing message for the new game.

What doesn’t make sense is why remove one of the best games on the App Store? Rolando may not have been a runaway commercial success, but it is a great game, very well reviewed, and still has some life in it. You know, what about the long tail? What about all those articles that point to Rolando on the app store. They won’t point to Rolando 2 automatically — you’ll just get the error on the app store that the app is not available.

This decision is also bad for people who have purchased the original Rolando. The app store is a digital delivery system. The only way to get Rolando is to download it from iTunes either on the desktop or on the device. If you don’t have a backup, and you lose it, you’ll never get it back if it’s no longer in the store. In addition, there have been weekly updates for a while from Rolando, building up to the release of Rolando 2. If you haven’t updated in a while, and you wait until July 1, you’ll never see those updates.

And what about the people that try Rolando 2 and want more? They know it’s a sequel, why can’t they get the original. Perhaps the original Rolando levels will be available as in-app purchases in Rolando 2.

It seems as though ngmoco:) is willing to live with a little bit of bad customer experience to try to increase the sales of a new game. Not a great thing, but considering the constraints of the App Store and the very limited ways that developers can operate, it might be the best decision. If nothing else, you have to hand it to them for trying something different and thinking about how to best build a business in the maddening chaos known as the iTunes App Store. It will be interesting to see if other publishers follow suit and do the same. Let’s hope not.

I hope we’ll see Rolando and Topple back in the store, re-released as classic versions maybe, at some point in the future. For now, I think I’ll make sure I have the latest version, do a back-up, and play a little Classic Rolando while I wait for Rolando 2.

Related Apps

Rolando

Our Rating:   Read Review >>

Category: Games / Action
Released: 2008-12-17
Price: $5.99

Topple 2

Our Rating:   Read Review >>

Category: Games / Puzzle
Released: 2009-03-11
Price: $2.99 ON SALE: $0.99

Back at E3 I met up with Don Lim from Com2uS, who showed me a few of his upcoming games, one of which being Baseball Sluggers. At first glance, the game looked pretty fun, but certainly nothing groundbreaking. It looked like MLB Slugfest for the iPhone, except without an MLB license and limited only to the home run derby. Being the skeptical gamer that I am, I picked up the game with low expectations, thinking that the game would probably be average at best. But boy, was I wrong.

Instead of showing me all the different menu options and gameplay modes, Don had me just straight into the matchup mode, which is unlike anything else I had ever played on the iPhone. Within a minute of booting up the game, I was engaged in a matchup with one of the beta testers of the game in Korea. The game was easy enough to pick up instantly, but with a variety of pitches and speeds, had enough depth to satisfy my inner gamer. Surprisingly I ended up beating the beta tester, shocking Don… and myself. What can I say guys, I’m just good at sports games.

So a few nights ago, after seeing Will’s review of Baseball Sluggers, I decided to pick up the game. I played the arcade mode a few times just to get some practice before I jumped into the matchup mode. Just as I remembered, with three clicks, I was engaged in a game with some guy in Japan. It turns out that I’m not the prodigy that I though I was after my opponent destroyed me quite impressively. As bad as I got beat though, I kept wanting to play again. The gameplay is just so deceptively simple that I kept playing well into the night… getting beat time and time again.

Never in my life had I been beaten so soundly and wanted more. I thought about it for a bit and decided that Baseball Sluggers may be the ultimate casual game on the iPhone… at the very least, it should be in the discussion. Each game lasts under 5 minutes, there RPG (accessories increase stats) element, and there is always a real person to play against… no matter what time of day you are on.

I’ve been playing for a few days now, and am now on a 4 game winning streak! It’s quite exciting. If you end up getting Baseball Sluggers, look for chris148 in the matchup list. I’ll play anyone, but be warned… I may beat you so bad that you will cry.

So… being an iPhone addict and gamer, I will be continuing my search for the best casual game. It’ll be tough to beat Baseball Sluggers, but I hear that Flight Control just came out with a multiplayer mode. I’ll have to check that one out tomorrow, after I beat some more suckers in the home run derby.

I’m shocked that I’ve been posting these picks for five weeks already. For this week, my utility of the week is the IMDB app - Movie Genie.

Movie Genie is basically just an interface to IMDB (Internet Movie Database). It allows you to search movies and actors and provides you with a ton of details about them. Movie Genie is a well developed and fast app that interfaces with IMDB perfect. The developer promises a lot of features in the feature, but the app is great as-is. Check out the review here.

If you’d like to suggest a utility for my “utility of the week”, visit my thread on our forum here. And below is a list of previous Utility of the Week picks:

Week 1 - Groups
Week 2 - Put Things Off
Week 3 - Stick It
Week 4 - Air Mouse Pro

Movie Genie

Our Rating:   Read Review >>

Category: Reference
Released: 2009-06-03
Price: $1.99