With so many radio apps to choose from, how can you pick just one? Well in short you probably can’t, but depending on how and what you want to listen to TuneIn Radio may be ideal. Similar to SparkRadio and comparatively priced, TuneIn Radio features many (not all) stations from around the world. Listeners can browse stations by location, music genre, or show. Though you won’t get anything revolutionary, TuneIn Radio does feature a very smooth design, easy navigation, and in my experience so far, more than acceptable stream time.
One of the more interesting features of TuneIn Radio over some similar competitors is the ability to record, fast forward and rewind. Granted, live radio can only be recorded and rewound, but recorded shows can be fast forwarded.(…) Read the rest of TuneIn Radio for iPhone Makes the A-List
Today Eyedip announced that they would be releasing a lite version of their popular Pocket Devil app, but the real news is how the free version of the game would be supported. Rather than following the traditional model of throwing up an ad before every round or locking away content and asking players to buy the full version, Eyedip is opting for an entirely different approach.
According to the company users will be allowed to play Pocket Devil until they summon and torture 50 Mugat2s (the game’s name for the demonic imps). At this point the game will stop, a video ad will be shown, and then 20 more Mugat2s will spawn. The development team equates the situation with the way Hulu approaches TV shows, and claims that this setup will be less annoying to players than traditional models which continually interrupt.
“We took great care when crafting our Lite implementation of Pocket Devil,” said Jeremy Adelman, Co-Founder of Eyedip. “We wanted to bring a free solution to market that was substantial enough to be fun as a stand-alone app, not just a funnel that guides people to the full version.”
So will consumers embrace this approach? It’s hard to say at this point. On the one hand it’s nice to have access to genuine edition of the game and a good amount of content rather than simply one or two levels. At the same time, will players tolerate being interrupted in the middle of a game to watch a commercial? The concept works for television because it’s a passive medium and we’ve been conditioned to expect a commercial break ever 6-8 minutes while we’re watching. Television shows are structured so that there’s a natural break for the insertion of advertising, a concept which doesn’t work as well for games given their interactive nature.
While we support new approaches to the ad-supported game model we’re also fearful that this approach may actually be more intrusive rather than less, but we’re willing to reserve judgment for now. Perhaps Eyedip is onto something here, or then again they may have done little more than find a new way to irritate gamers. Let’s see how this all shakes out.
Developer: EA
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.3.3
Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 4.43 out of 5 stars
Interactive novels are really the “Choose Your Own Adventures” of the 21st century, and it’s only right for these new age novels to be on the iPhone. The interactive novel genre certainly isn’t new to the App Store, but Cause of Death is the first truly ambitious one, and is also the first (to my knowledge) interactive novel to come from video game powerhouse EA.
The novel experience itself is very well made, and quite original, but the real point of interest is that EA is planning on releasing the Cause of Death series in weekly installments. I’m not entirely sure how the pricing will work in the future, but as of now the system works (and is modeled after) television programming. Each week you can tune into the newest chapter in the “Now Airing” section, but if you want to play another chapter you have to purchase it in the “On Demand” section. Each chapter costs 99 cents if played out of order or ahead of time (they are available a week early, but are free if you can wait), and if the first chapter was any indication, they will take a few hours to get through.
Aside from the plot (which you will like if you like CSI type shows), the “game” finally gets the interactive experience down right. Instead of relying on gimicky pattern matching or beat tapping, Cause of Death forces you to use your noggin to solve crimes. The dialogue trees all contain right and wrong answers, and at the end of the mini chapters give you a total score. While you can get through parts of the game without paying attention, some of the final puzzles require you to type out answers that could only be derived from clues that you find. If you do well throughout the game, you’re also treated to bonus scenes that set up the following weeks chapter. The combination of the smart, diverse dialogue and the ability to earn your teaser trailer made the game command attention without relying on the strange fast twitch mechanics that some of the other interactive novels use.
While it probably won’t be of much interest to those who aren’t interested in reading, Cause of Death is definitely the best interactive novel that I’ve come across in the App Store. It’s fairly smart, flows nicely, and most importantly, is fun. If you enjoy a good read or are a fan of crime stories, be sure to check out Cause of Death.
TeamLava has just announced the launch of their newest game, Treasure Story. As the sixth game in the “Story” franchise, Treasure Story allows players to explore a virtual island hunting for buried treasure and rare artifacts which they can trade for in-game prizes. The game is also set up to allow users to create islands of their very own and then share their progress with friends via Facebook Connect. If this all sounds suspiciously like Farmville then congratulations, you understand exactly what the game is all about.
The freemium title is free to download, but in-game boosters are available for purchase for those who want to progress through the game a bit faster. Also, treasure hunters are rewarded for sharing with friends, so expect to start seeing a lot of Facebook messages pop up about how your buddy Dave just dug up some fake rubies and wants you to help him get a better metal detector. Just when you finally stopped tending crops and milking cows another game comes along to crush any hope of spending your free time actually interacting with other human beings face-to-face. Don’t sweat it, the whole idea of actually to talking to someone in person and not via Facebook is totally overrated anyway.
TeamLava is promising new content for Treasure Story every week, so once the apps has its hooks into you it’s going to be very hard to get them out. In a way, we almost feel evil giving you the iTunes link so you can got and download what’s sure to be a massively addictive game, but then we never claimed that we weren’t evil so I guess there’s no need to apologize. So go ahead, click the link. You know you want to. No one’s going to know, it can be our little secret…
Developer: Revolution Software
Price: $6.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4
Graphics / Sound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Replay Value Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 3.88 out of 5 stars
Point and click adventures seem to have found a great home on the App store. Recent hits like Gobliiiins and Broken Sword 1 have shown that there’s clearly a market for well told point and click tales. Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror, much like its prequel Broken Sword, offers a hugely entertaining adventure that’s bound to enthral.
George Stobbart, the charismatic but foolhardy hero of the original, is back again. He’s in even more trouble as he uncovers an ancient artifact alongside his unrequited love Nico. As they discover more and more about the artifact, they’re thrust into a world of intrigue and must travel all across the world from Paris to London to the rather quirkily named Quaramonte city. If you loved the original Broken Sword like I did, you’ll adore this. It’s more of the same with a sharp sense of humor and plenty of conspiracy theories and fascinating story development. The return of a few old ‘favourites’ such as Andre Lobineau and more are there too.
The point and click controls are spot on as was the case with the original game. Holding your finger on the screen also reveals what can be interacted with which is rather handy, especially on the small iPhone screen. There’s no doubt that this game would look particularly nice on the big screen of an iPad but I didn’t feel like I was suffering on the iPhone by any means.
The Remastered suffix in the title mostly relates to minor improvements more than anything else. Unlike the original release, there’s now a built in hint system which you can use as often or as infrequently as you like. A comic book style interface pops up during conversations with some appropriate character animations to boot. There’s also the kind addition of Game Center achievements which are rather snazzy. One very convenient feature is that you can upload your save files to a DropBox account which takes seconds to set up, you then need never worry about losing your save file. Even better, you can always pick up where you left off if you’re lucky enough to own both an iPhone and a iPad as this is an universal app.
Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror is a fantastic game. The story feels as fresh and as entertaining as it did back in the day, and the slightly improved graphics are much appreciated. Many hours of entertaining storytelling lie ahead.
With so many radio apps to choose from, how can you pick just one? Well in short you probably can’t, but depending on how and what you want to listen to TuneIn Radio may be ideal. Similar to SparkRadio and comparatively priced, TuneIn Radio features many (not all) stations from around the world. Listeners can browse stations by location, music genre, or show. Though you won’t get anything revolutionary, TuneIn Radio does feature a very smooth design, easy navigation, and in my experience so far, more than acceptable stream time.
The novel experience itself is very well made, and quite original, but the real point of interest is that EA is planning on releasing the Cause of Death series in weekly installments. I’m not entirely sure how the pricing will work in the future, but as of now the system works (and is modeled after) television programming. Each week you can tune into the newest chapter in the “Now Airing” section, but if you want to play another chapter you have to purchase it in the “On Demand” section. Each chapter costs 99 cents if played out of order or ahead of time (they are available a week early, but are free if you can wait), and if the first chapter was any indication, they will take a few hours to get through.
George Stobbart, the charismatic but foolhardy hero of the original, is back again. He’s in even more trouble as he uncovers an ancient artifact alongside his unrequited love Nico. As they discover more and more about the artifact, they’re thrust into a world of intrigue and must travel all across the world from Paris to London to the rather quirkily named Quaramonte city. If you loved the original Broken Sword like I did, you’ll adore this. It’s more of the same with a sharp sense of humor and plenty of conspiracy theories and fascinating story development. The return of a few old ‘favourites’ such as Andre Lobineau and more are there too. 
Comments