(Insert stupid Blog name here)

<p> </p>

<div>So... there's this funny commercial for ice tea.... wait. Is it "ice tea" or "iced tea"?</div>

<div> </div>

<div>(Google.)</div>

<div> </div>

<div>So... there's this funny commercial for iced tea with superdeformed Darth Maul and Yoda doing battle.</div>

<div> </div>

<div>

<div> </div>

<div>And they mention that you can download a free <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brisksaber/id484293655?mt=8">Brisksaber</a> app for your phone. So, why not?</div>

<div> </div>

<div>Well, think <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fruit-ninja/id362949845?mt=8">Fruit Ninja</a> with lightsabers, and you have the basic idea. Sounds fun, but it's not all that great. Plus, it takes forever to load the first time (or after a content update), and despite me telling it not to send me notifications, it did anyway.</div>

<div> </div>

<div>So, off the phone it goes. Bye!</div>

<div> </div>

<div>Besides... it's mostly just an advertising ploy to try and get people to go see Phantom Menace in 3D, and drink canned iced tea.</div>

<div> </div>

<div>Didn't work.</div>

 

That, right there, is a lovely, horribly broken comment. Think I'll just leave that as-is, and see if I can put in what it's supposed to look like, below.

 

So... there's this funny commercial for ice tea.... wait. Is it "ice tea" or "iced tea"?

 

(Google.)

 

So... there's this funny commercial for iced tea with superdeformed Darth Maul and Yoda doing battle.

 

 

And they mention that you can download a free Brisksaber app for your phone. So, why not?

 

Well, think Fruit Ninja with lightsabers, and you have the basic idea. Sounds fun, but it's not all that great. Plus, it takes forever to load the first time (or after a content update), and despite me telling it not to send me notifications, it did anyway.

 

So, off the phone it goes. Bye!

 

Besides... it's mostly just an advertising ploy to try and get people to go see Phantom Menace in 3D, and drink canned iced tea.

 

Didn't work.

<p>Three words: Midway Arcade.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Umm... Sale.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Yeah, that's three.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Recently, I wrote up about <a href="http://www.atariage.com/forums/blog/118/entry-8862-the-wrong-way-to-do-it/">Namco's misguided efforts</a> to bring their classic arcade games to iOS devices.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Well, it's nice to know someone at Midway reads my blogs (okay... I can't actually back that up), since they've just released Midway Arcade, which does this sort of thing the right way.</p>

<p><br />

First - price is 99¢ up front (introductory sale). For that, you get Spy Hunter, Rampage, Joust, Root Beer Tapper, Defender, Arch Rivals, and four non-video arcade games: Air Hockey, Arcade Basketball, Pool, and Roll Ball.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>For a buck.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Paying attention, Namco?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Then, you can buy three-packs of other games (NARC, Total Carnage, APB and Gauntlet, Gauntlet II, Wizard of Wor), also for 99¢ each.</p>

<div> </div>

<div>The whole thing is nicely presented in a <a href="http://www.cinemarcade.com/arcade84.html">virtual arcade</a> (and it looks like they've left a lot of room for additional games), including a redemption center for tickets you can earn. A nice touch.</div>

<div> </div>

<div>Emulation (presumably) so far is spot-on. Defender and Joust are both excellent, if a bit slow (something I'd attribute to my iPhone 3GS).</div>

<div> </div>

<div>Midway bought out Atari Games, so hopefully we'll get to see even more of their classics added to the mix as well. And while Wizard of Wor is available, it may be too much to hope for Gorf, since it included both Taito's Space Invaders and Namco's Galaxian in it. But maybe we'll at least get to see <a href="http://www.cinemarcade.com/TGTTF/gametime31.html">Kram</a>. </div>

 

Three words: Midway Arcade.

 

Umm... Sale.

 

Yeah, that's three.

 

Recently, I wrote up about Namco's misguided efforts to bring their classic arcade games to iOS devices.

 

Well, it's nice to know someone at Midway reads my blogs (okay... I can't actually back that up), since they've just released Midway Arcade, which does this sort of thing the right way.

 

First - price is 99¢; up front (introductory sale). For that, you get: Spy Hunter, Rampage, Joust, Root Beer Tapper, Defender, Arch Rivals, and four non-video arcade games: Air Hockey, Arcade Basketball, Pool, and Roll Ball.

 

For a buck.

 

Paying attention, Namco?

 

Then, you can buy three-packs of other games (NARC, Total Carnage, APB and Gauntlet, Gauntlet II, Wizard of Wor), also for 99¢ each.

 

The whole thing is nicely presented in a virtual arcade (and it looks like they've left a lot of room for additional games), including a redemption center for tickets you can earn. A nice touch.

 

Emulation so far is spot-on. Defender and Joust are both excellent, if a bit slow (something I'd attribute to my iPhone 3GS).

 

Midway bought out Atari Games, so hopefully we'll get to see even more of their classics added to the mix as well. And while Wizard of Wor is available, it may be too much to hope for Gorf, since it included both Taito's Space Invaders and Namco's Galaxian in it. But maybe we'll at least get to see Kram .

And yes... I once again intentionally left a broken blog comment in place. That is exactly how it posted the first time, so I'm leaving it there, and I'll continue to do this until this stupid blog software gets fixed!

 

(Edit: That sounded a bit grumpy, didn't it? Here, this should make it all better: )

I'm less than impressed with the controls for Midway Arcade, at least on my iPhone 4S. The graphics are nice (although the arcade itself is a little over the top), but the controls seem to be flaky (at least in the default "fixed" configuration, and Spy Hunter in tilt mode).

 

Hmm... if WB/Midway thinks they can make money at $1 on the iPhone, I wonder if they could sell 'em on Steam at a reasonable price.

I don't know if they'll ever get traditional controls to work right on a touchscreen device. The lack of tactile feedback just makes that an uphill battle all the way. I figure if they can get it reasonably playable, that's about as good as we can expect, short of using some sort of add-on.

 

Spy Hunter is pretty-much uncontrollable, I'll admit. But then, it's really hard to replicate its controls anyway (analog steering and gas, gear shifter, multiple weapons buttons, etc).

 

I thought Joust and Defender worked pretty well, except for a sluggish feel (which I can only attribute to my 3GS, without having played it on newer hardware).

Well, it's that time of year. Spring - when optimism reigns, and the cold, harsh realities of life haven't yet reared their ugly heads. Where anything seems possible, and hope springs eternal. Of course, I'm talking about baseball, and my annual purchase of MLB.com At Bat. The app that lets me listen to the Mariners lose wherever I happen to be. (Although at the moment, they're 6-1 in Spring Training, but that doesn't count.) I may be buying an Apple TV soon, so I'm hoping if I upgrade to MLB.tv for the season, I get some sort of discount.

 

There are a couple of apps coming up I'm looking forward to - Burnout: Crash and Angry Birds: Space. I'm a big fan of the PS2 Burnout titles, and Angry Birds w/Space Wars physics - what's not to like?

 

And while not an iApp, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Intuit FINALLY released an OS X Lion-compatible version of Quicken. Admittedly, it's Quicken 2007, but it means that finally, after almost five months, I can at last unplug my old G5 iMac, which I'd kept around solely to balance my checkbook.

This sums up my feelings about Quicken. I switched to iBank last year, a month or two before Lion came out to make sure it would work for me. It did - I'm never switching back to Quicken.

I considered switching and would have, if they hadn't announced they were going to do this. I figured I'd wait it out and see what happened. It doesn't bother me that it's five years old, since it does everything I need it to, and it finally works on my new iMac.

 

That doesn't mean I'm particularly fond of Intuit or how they treat Mac users, but for less than the cost of a pizza (which is my benchmark for spending money, oddly enough ), I figured it was worth getting. It works just like the old Quicken, which is fine with me. That's all I wanted.

 

Of course Mountain Lion will probably break it all over again.

 

I'll give them this much - at least they actually called it what it is: Quicken 2007, and didn't try to pass it off as Quicken 2012.

And then...

 

I picked up MLB.com At Bat for 2012. It's an annual tradition. Plus, if you like baseball it's well-worth getting (and I only sort-of like baseball), and I like having the ability to listen to any game from anywhere.

 

This year, I went a step further though, and also got MLB.TV Premium. This lets you watch almost any game from your computer, iPhone/iPad or Apple TV (and several other supported consoles). For less than a buck-a-game, it's not a bad deal, but it's still pretty pricey. Hopefully the Mariners will make it worthwhile.

 

Yeah... well... hope springs eternal and all that.

 

I also picked up Netflix and got a free trial, because just being able to watch 162 baseball games on my iPhone didn't seem like quite enough video. Although that had more to do with buying an Apple TV than anything else.

 

To further expand my iPhone's usefulness, and because I had to drive up to Fresno and back recently, I picked up a Belkin TuneCast Auto Live, which is a transmitter that plays your iPhone music library through your cheap, factory car stereo via FM, when you don't have an auxiliary input, cassette deck, or any other means of plugging into it. You can also download ClearScan Live, which uses GPS positioning to help you lock in unused radio frequencies, but frankly, the device itself did that just fine without the app. The audio quality is fair, stereo separation is almost nonexistent, but hey - I can now listen to my iPhone in my car, and didn't have to replace the stereo. I only ran into interference once, although I suspect keeping my radio's antenna retracted probably helped. Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with it. At some point, I'll get a proper stereo, but for now, this works.

 

Then, I bought Angry Birds Space. This expands the Angry Birds formula with variable gravity, small worlds to orbit around, and, of course, space. It really adds a nice extra dimension to the game. Some people are complaining that you have to pay an extra 99¢ to unlock extra levels, but all I have to say about that is... it's 99¢ you whiners! You can't even buy a can of Coke™ for that anymore. Get over it. Buy the game and the extra levels. For $1.98, it's good, time-wasting fun.

 

Then, so I could watch even more video on my iPhone, I downloaded the free The Master Golf Tournament app. But that's over now. Anyway, it was free, so keep an eye out for it next year. Leader board updates, live video feeds of Tiger self-destructing. Can't beat that.

 

Kairosoft (makers of the excellent Mega Mall Story and Game Dev Story) released Epic Astro Story. In this RPG, you're colonizing an alien planet, sending out away teams (with characters like James Turk and Jean Vicard), battling aliens, building habitats, drawing in visitors from other worlds... this is a deep sim. I've only scratched the surface of it, but it's already proving to be just as fun as Kairosoft's other games, and even more so because of its sci-fi connection. Check it out!

 

And finally, a game I've been waiting months for: Burnout CRASH! The crash mode in the PS2 Burnout games was excellent. You'd fly your car into a busy intersection or freeway, and smash up as much traffic as you could, using explosions to propel your car around and rack up points. Ah... good times. Good times.

 

Unfortunately, the iOS version of Burnout CRASH! is terrible. The controls (which involve lots of swiping) are all-but-useless. They should have tilt controls, or an optional D-pad. Or something. The graphics are so tiny they're effectively illegible on my iPhone. And worst of all, the game just isn't fun. There are many, many other, better racing games on the iPhone (including ones where you crash into stuff), and this is completely unlike the console Burnout games in every way, shape and form. Avoid, avoid, avoid! Maybe consider picking it up for an iPad next time EA has it on sale for 99¢, but for all other devices at any other price, it's a complete waste of time.

let me know what you think of Netflix. I've just signed up with Amazon Prime and have watched a few things(Forbidden Planet, Sons of Anarchy, Farscape, Mythbusters) so far via my PS3. Picture quality's quite good, though they're letter boxing everything, making people look short & fat. I dropped them a note and apparently it wants to be configured for 720p, but my HDTV only supports 480i, 480p and 1080i via component video (it predates HDMI by a couple years) so it's using 480p. They just added PS3 support and I suspect they wrote it with the assumption that 480 is only found on a 4:3 display while 720 is 16:9. The help desk forward my comments to their video team, so I'm hoping they fix it in an update.

 

Over the air supplemented with streaming video is part of my plan to ditch DirecTV later this year.

I'm going to write-up a separate blog entry for Netflix pretty soon. So far though, I like it. Well worth the $7.99 a month, I think.

 

Just picked up Edge, since it was recently available for free and is well-reviewed. It's an interesting platformer, where you roll a cube around a blocky terrain (think Marble Madness - with a square marble). The controls could use a little work, since I often find myself overshooting where I want to go, but the game has got a very cool look to it, and some neat puzzle elements. Haven't tried the sequel yet.

Midway Arcade has been updated with iCade support, although that doesn't do much for my iPhone.

 

I've had an FM transmitter for the iPod for year (replaced the cassette adapter). The problem I find is the antennas in my cars are too good - they manage to pull in stations which are very weak. This makes finding a quiet frequency next to impossible. There's also regions of the city where we get a lot of interference and some LED traffic lights seem to kick out a lot of RFI. One of the items on the next car wishlist is an AUX jack of some sort (along with parallel park assist).

not yet, but there are new iCade models in the pipeline that'll work with your iPhone. I'm planning to get the iCade Mobile. The iCade 8-Bitty looks slick too.

Three more:

 

Marvel's The Avengers: Iron Man Mk VII. A free app which is sort-of a comic book recounting the various Iron Man armors from the movies, and dropping a hint about the new one in The Avengers. It's free, it's slightly interactive, and it takes longer to read the name of the app, than to go through the whole thing. But again, it's free.

 

TouchArcade now has it's own app. Also free. A handy place to check out iOS game reviews on the go. It's also where I found...

 

Vertex Blaster. If that title sounds like a retro-inspired vector-esque arcade-game-like dual-stick shooter that's an awesome hybrid of Robotron, Tempest, and Astroblast, that you play on the surface of a giant rotating geodesic sphere - then you're right! It's cool. Get it.

 

Now... from the good news/bad news department.

 

The good news is, iPhone 3GS batteries seem to typically last about 2 1/2 years, and I've already owned mine almost 3!

 

The bad news is, iPhone 3GS batteries seem to typically last about 2 1/2 years, and I've already owned mine almost 3.

 

And now the battery drains fast and the phone completely shuts off at 30% charge. So... it's time for a new battery.

 

Or a new iPhone.

 

But I'd really like to wait for the iPhone 5.

 

But I really need an iPhone that works now.

 

So... should I get the battery replacement kit from iFixit? Or spend $79 to have Apple replace the battery? Or just keep the thing plugged into a charger all the time?

All lithium batteries have ~3 year lifespan from time of manufacture (http://www.dansdata.com/gz042.htm). That being said $20 isn't a bad temporary fix. Watch / read the instructions so you know what it will take to open & close the iPhone so you can decide whether you can do it yourself or want to pay Apple the $79 instead.

Picked up Canabalt, because it was highly rated, and on sale for 99¢.

 

Basically, you just run and jump. The only control (near as I can tell) is that you tap the screen to jump. Miss, die. Simple as that. Reminds me a little bit of Reindeer Rescue, actually. Anyway, it's not a bad game. I bet a pretty-good port of it could be done for the 2600.

 

Oh, and for some reason, you're apparently Michael Jackson. The pasty version with white gloves and socks from the "Black or White" video. Go figure.

That is a fun one.

And then, there was...

 

Temple Run: Brave - It's Temple Run + Brave. So you run and you shoot arrows. Worth 99¢ anyway. The visuals are nice.

 

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing - Lots of crashing, and I don't mean the karts. The game barfs just about every time I launch it. I think I've been able to actually play it twice, and at that, I wasn't all that impressed. It's a kart game with Sega characters, and I'm sure there are other, better kart games on the App Store which don't crash all the time. I picked it up because it was a "free app of the day". Or it was on sale for 99¢. I forget which. Obviously, this won't be staying on my phone very long.

 

Asphalt 7: Heat - Yeah, I know. I bought another racing game. And Asphalt 7 is basically just another racing game. It's a good one, but not any better than the Need For Speed series. I never even played all the way through Asphalt 6, actually. But this is only 99¢. Of course they'll get you with the in-app-purchases, but I just ignore them and play the game in the traditional non-cheating way.

 

WarGames: WOPR - Okay, this was a surprise. I expected a WarGames tie-in to be absolutely terrible. Mainly because MGM all-but ignores the film - no Blu-ray release, no CD soundtrack (except as a limited collector's edition through Intrada), and an unwatchable remake/sequel/follow-up/cash-in direct-to-DVD movie. I say "unwatchable" because I haven't watched it, and refuse to. So that counts.

 

Anyway... WarGames: WOPR is an excellent game. While the game isn't really based on events in the film, they manage to do a good enough job taking a strategy/puzzle game, and making it fit the theme of the film very well. It's a shape-matching game, where you drag your finger around to connect adjacent matching pieces (including diagonals). The different pieces have different functions - you can collect money to buy and use add-on weapons, collect health, launch missiles, or collect specialty items. The goal is to destroy your opponent's missiles, which are also in the grid, before they can be launched at you. You each take hits, and the first one to get nuked off the map, loses. In a twist though, you aren't playing against the computer, you are the computer. In this case, the WOPR (War Operation Plan Response), and your opponents are various characters in the film, from NORAD workers to David Lightman playing a game against you while he's trying to impress his girlfriend.

 

Fine... you do that, and I'll nuke Hollywood and see how you like it.

 

A couple of variations include a "Poker" level, where the shapes are different, and the goal is to get your opponent's missiles to the bottom of the screen (instead of destroying them), and levels where they'll send a "Mega Missile" at you, which you can't destroy, so you have to race against time to wipe out your opponent before the missile can be launched.

 

WarGames is one of my all-time favorite Cold-War-themed, videogame-centric movies from the 1980's. Admittedly, that's a pretty small genre, but I still really like the film. I was part of that whole computer nerd, videogame junkie, Seattle native, 7-11 Big Gulp buying demographic. Except for the getting arrested for hacking into NORAD part. I only ever got as far as Bulletin Boards and the UW Vax.

 

WarGames: WOPR is a great throwback to the movie, but more importantly, it's a really fun, addictive game on its own. Well-worth picking up.

 

Edit: Spoke too soon. The WarGames Blu-ray is coming out August 21st.

Eek... my iPhone is now shutting off at around 60% charge. I'm wondering if it'll last until the iPhone 5 comes out, or if I'll have to cough up the $79 for a new battery before then. I was hoping it would last until I got a new phone, then I could buy the cheap battery kit for my 3GS, and experiment with swapping it out. Now, I'm not so sure.

Have you tried "The Act"? It was originally created as an arcade game in the style of Dragon's Lair - interactive cell animation. But now it's been ported to the iPhone. The animation is impressive, and the story is amusing. (Although I haven't finished it yet.) The control scheme is interesting and somewhat frustrating. I also don't know why they included the lives element. The hints also seem to end after the first few scenes.

I've seen reviews of it, but that's about it. Maybe if it goes on sale.

 

I took my iPhone to the Apple store, and before doing a swap they first have to run a diagnostic on it. They said that something was apparently wrong with the software, so they suggested to do a factory restore on it, and see if that improved the battery life any. The diagnostic showed that my iPhone hadn't gone into standby mode at all since last being charged - so it was draining all the time. So we'll see if this helps. If it keeps me up and running until the iPhone 5, I'd be quite happy with that. If not, I'll pay the $79, since they just give you a new phone of the same model, rather than replacing the battery.

There are a bunch of games on sale for the 4th of July. Some from EA, Capcom, Firemint, Warner Bros., etc. Check the front page at TouchArcade for details.

Well, I went ahead and replaced my iPhone. It was still draining fast despite the restore. In standby mode it drained 26% without doing anything, and while being used, it plummeted 36% in only 13 minutes. Depending on what I was using it for, it would shut off in less than two hours after a full charge, at just under 40% battery remaining.

 

So, a few minutes in the store, $79 later, and I have a replacement 3GS that's completely fresh. (Well - plus the couple of hours it took to restore from backup, once I got home.) I was so used to my old iPhone dying, I kept expecting this one to behave the same way - but it didn't. I drained it all the way down to 1%, and it gave me warnings along the way, and after recharging it, it stayed in standby mode all night without dropping a single percent. Nice. Well worth the money. Now I can hang onto this until the iPhone 5 comes out, or longer if needed, and when I do get a new iPhone, this one will be more usable for someone else.

 

Since there were some sales over the 4th of July, I stocked up on a few more games:

 

Dragon's Lair - Since Eric mentioned it the other day, I thought I'd check out the original. And it plays just like the arcade game: Move too late, die. Move too late, die. Move too late, die. I remember now that I was never any good at Dragon's Lair. So off the phone it went.

 

Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed - Yes... another racing game. My favorite genre - what can I say? But it's another good effort in the Need For Speed series. A little less arcadey than the Asphalt series, or some of the other NFS games, but still a good racer, and the price was right at 99¢.

 

Batman: Arkham City Lockdown - Warner Bros. dropped the price to 99¢ for this, so I thought - why not? Well... the problem is that at the moment I don't have enough room on my iPhone for it. So after I clear some other games off, then I'll install it and report back on it later.

 

Meanwhile, Wargames: WOPR is still addictive. As you progress through the game, it gets a lot harder, which means you have to strategically buy and use power ups just to keep pace with it. Very well thought out and nicely balanced puzzle/strategy game.

 

And finally, this is such a cool idea for a video game trailer:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXUiyK1olZ8