iBlog

Didn't know about the IMDb app. I often hit their website via the iPhone when I'm watching TV and see someone that I think I recognize. The app looks to be much nicer than using the website.

SpiceWare, on Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:07 AM, said:

Well, my blog is here to serve!

And to that end, Need For Speed: Shift is now on sale for $6.99! I just picked it up, and although I've only gone through the tutorial track, it's really amazing. The graphics are first-rate (I still have to remind myself... this is a phone), and the controls are exceptional. This was also the first app I've downloaded directly to my iPhone - which worked great over Wi-Fi.

Need For Speed: Shift has lived up to its hype. It's probably the best racer on the iPhone. One thing I didn't expect: I actually like playing in cockpit view mode. In most racing games, I don't like it, since I never get a good sense of where the boundaries of the car are, but for some reason, in this game, it really works well. Highly recommended.

Less so is Uno™ - one of my favorite card games from my youth (you know you're getting old when you start using phrases like "my youth" and "back-in-the-day"). It's $4.99, and a bit overpriced. Sure, it's about the cost of a real Uno™ deck, and you get computer opponents with the app version, but it just feels a bit cheap. Maybe that's because I'm used to the Gameboy Advance version which includes a better interface, a lot more game options (including changing the background), and Skip-Bo™ (another favorite). Maybe they'll update it someday, or make Skip-Bo™ a discounted add-on for owners of Uno™, but I doubt it. Still, if you want Uno™ on an iPhone, this is good enough.

Well, since I've referenced Domino's in this thread before, I might as well do it again.

In December, I had what I figured to be my last Domino's pizza. They're basically an acceptable means of getting pizza, when I don't want to drive up to Round Table (20 minutes away). The last two orders I had, the sauce tasted... funny. Sweeter or something. Anyway, it was off-putting, and since Domino's was hit-or-miss for the most part, I decided I was done with them.

Then, they changed their recipe. New crust, sauce and cheese.

So, being entirely too lazy to make the drive up the 14 tonight, I ordered Domino's. And guess what? It actually was better. Great? No. But good? Yes. Pretty good, in fact. Definitely "fresher" tasting than previously, although still definitely Domino's (their meats and other toppings appear unchanged). I still prefer Round Table on a good night (they're inconsistent as well), but Domino's has won me back for that too-lazy-to-go-get-anything-else good-enough pizza fix.

Now there's a ringing endorsement.

I'm also pleased they fixed the whole "deliciousness" check problem (which may account for the off-putting taste from before). Now, they check for "perfection".


The breadsticks I got with it though were pretty awful. I should've just had a salad or something.

Yet more iApps. Curse you Apple, and your addictive technology!

There's now a Rotten Tomatoes app, which is free. Free is good. Now if there was just a Box Office Mojo app...

I also picked up Doodle Jump. The reviews on this thing were off the chart, so I risked a whopping 99¢ on it. It's quite fun - a little like a vertical version of Swoops' Splatform (although in hindsight I didn't write a very thorough review of that game...).

More apps. Mostly racing games (one of my favorite genres).

• Raging Thunder 2 - Never played Raging Thunder 1. Anyway, Raging Thunder 2 a pretty-good knock-off of Burnout. I'm hoping EA brings the real thing to the iPhone though.
  
• GT Racing: Motor Academy - Basically, Gran Turismo on the iPhone. While Firemint's Real Racing still has the edge, GT Racing has licensed cars in it. Real Racing's are made up.
  
• Jet Car Stunts - A lot of fun for a mere $1.99. The title says it all: stunt driving in a jet car. What more could you want in a game?
  
• MLB.com at Bat 2010 - $14.99 is a bit steep, and if I lived in Seattle (so I could follow the Mariners on local TV and radio), I wouldn't pay it. But I'm not there, and this app allows me to listen to every game live, from anywhere. Less than a dime a game. That's worth it. Plus, you get pitch-by-pitch stats, news feeds, and semi-instant replays in streaming video.
  
• Oh yeah, I also downloaded the AJA video bitrate calculator. It was free.

Incidentally, Doodle Jump has turned out to be the quite-addictive little game.

The Simpsons Arcade Game is on sale for 99¢. Arcadey goodness!

I don't know if this has anything to do with the original Simpsons Arcade Game or not, but it's quite good. The only problem is since the controls are onscreen, my thumb often covers critical action. But such is life with an iPhone.

Jet Car Stunts has turned out to be one of my favorite games on the iPhone. Very addictive!

I've resisted the urge to buy the MythBusters app. Seems overpriced. I'm a big fan of the show though.

MythBusters emoticon

/:€

SpiceWare, on Mon Apr 12, 2010 10:48 AM, said:

Excellent.

Okay, I bought the MythBusters app. The mini-games on it are kind of silly, but then that's the whole point. If you're a fan of the show, it's a little over-priced, but a nice geek badge to have on your i-Device.

I also downloaded the WRC app. The main reason is that HD Theater seems to have stopped carrying highlights from the World Rally Championship. At least I haven't been able to find them with repeated searches of their website or with my DVR. They never carried the New Zealand rally at all. Anyway, this weekend they're in Portugal, so I can at least find out who's winning.

On my phone.

Rather than going to the WRC website.

Which would accomplish the same thing.

Well... it's free.

The Rotten Tomatoes app has now been rolled into Flixster. So I downloaded that. (Still would like a Box Office Mojo app though.)

I picked up yet-another racing game: Cubed Rally Racer. This could just as well be called "Cute Rally Racer". It's a fun little isometric racer that generates randomly created tracks each time you play. The controls take a little getting used to (isometric racers have always been a little weird that way), and it's a little merciless when you crash into things, but it's still fun.

The winner this time around though is Spectre 3D. If you've been on the Mac platform long enough, you'll remember Spectre as one of the classic Mac games of the early 90's. They've brought it and its sequel over to the iPhone in one nifty $4.99 app, and it's never run so silky-smooth. It just shows how much faster the chips running our phones are now than those running our computers were not so long ago. Well worth picking up for the nostalgia value alone, but Spectre has always been a fun 3D Battlezone-genre run-and-gun game anyway, and it translates very well over to the iPhone indeed.

Now if someone would just revive Battle-Girl.

And as an update - Jet Car Stunts has turned out to be very, very addictive. It's one of those games where you'll play a level over and over obsessively to get it right. Lots of fun!

Two words: Angry Birds.

I'll have to check that out.

I've been playing H.o.G. of late.

AB is quite addicting - working on 3-8.

I just passed 3-13. Very fun Rube-Goldberg-esque level.

Just updated to iOS 4. Very nice. I like the folders feature a lot - I really like being able to organize my games better. Oddly enough, just the simple addition of being able to change the phone's wallpaper is one of my favorite improvements so far. Also, the iPod app works much nicer now - it brings me right back to what I'd been listening to before, instead of the main menu. The double-click to get access the controls is nice, too.

I also downloaded the free Apple Store and Amazon apps, and picked up the very handy Convert calculator.

Oh, and fresh levels for Angry Birds are available! Sweet.

I'm loving the folders!

A friend has the 3G and he doesn't get the wallpaper, just the lock screen image like before.

That's part of the "some features aren't supported" feature.

Apparently it has to do with animating the icons over a custom background not being smooth enough on the older processors. Or something like that.

So a guy walks into his doctor's office and says, "Hey doc, my iPhone stops working when I do this", so the doctor says, "Then don't do that".

I picked up SPL, a sound pressure level (decibel) meter. Mostly for work. I haven't tried it out against a real one, but I'll see if I can do that next week, and see how it stacks up. It's one of the more expensive ones of its type, but seems well-reviewed and well designed. Besides, I'm getting reimbursed for it.

Mmmm... fresh levels available for Jet Car Stunts! Plus they added anti-aliasing which spruces up the graphics quite nicely.

I updated to iOS 4.0.1, and now I only get three bars at home, when I used to get five. Wait... now it's four. No... two. Four. Three.

Whatever. In my office at work, it'll always be zero.