Angry Birds developer, Rovio Entertainment, will begin publishing mobile titles under the name Rovio Stars. In a press release, Rovio’s EVP of Games Jami Laes says “Rovio Entertainment has positioned itself as one of the powerhouses of mobile entertainment, so moving into publishing is a logical step for us at this point”.
Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage will be the first game published by Rovio Stars. Pocket Gamer reports that Icebreaker has players slicing ropes and hacking big blocks of ice to help the Vikings return to their boat. Players will also face enemy trolls and traps throughout 95 levels. Release date has not yet been set, but it’s expected soon.
Newt Gingrich may be a bit past his prime, and one could even think a bit out of touch. While he seems to know what a cell phone that takes pictures is, but he does not know what to call it. While twirling around an iPhone and talking about what it can do, he seems unwilling to call it a “handheld computer.” He needs your help to come up with a good name. I’m going to suggest “wonderbox,” I think just might catch on.
Take a look below at Newt’s call for help. And if you have any suggestions for what to call these mystical devices obviously derived from alien technology, please give Newt a call at (703) 678-2231 or leave us a comment below and we’ll pass it on.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 13th, 2013 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
I am MT: Card Battle has been in the App Store for only a week and already broke into the top 10 paid games. Well, after the successful sales of the game, it’s now free-to-play. Those who already purchased the game will receive $5 dollars worth of runes, which is enough to purchase a premium card.
Locojoy’s marketing manager, Adam Tesluk, said in a press release that “We really had no idea what kind of demand there would be for I am MT: Card Battle in the United States. We went with a paid app at launch to be sure we could cover our costs,” Adam Tesluk, Marketing Manager, Locojoy said. “After we saw the huge number of gamers willing to purchase the game we knew there are enough U.S. gamers to make free-to-play work.”
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 13th, 2013 iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
According to AppShopper, Amazon Cloud Drive Photos allows users to automatically upload and store photos to the Amazon Cloud from their iPhone and gives users access to saved files that have been uploaded from other devices. With an Amazon account, users get 5GB of free storage which can be upgraded to 20GB, 50GB, or more for a yearly cost.
Recent versions of iOS have made your voice a much bigger part of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch usage experience. Now, it’s possible to use your voice to do many commands with Siri, and to type things out with your voice. Here’s how to use iOS’ voice actions, available on iPhone 4S & 5, iPad 3, 4, & Mini, and iPod touch 5th generation.
Siri is very easy to use. Call up Siri by holding down either the home button or the play/pause button on your headset remote. Siri can respond to a variety of commands, most of which can be seen by tapping the (i) after the “What can I help you with?” text. This shows all the commands that you can speak to Siri, including actions as diverse as sending tweets and getting sports scores.
Siri’s options can be configured by going to Settings->General->Siri. Here, it’s possible to change the language, the default info that Siri will work with, and to enable Raise to Speak.
The other big feature is the ability to type with your voice. Just tap the microphone button next to the space bar, and say what you need to say. Enunciate clearly for the voice recognition to be more accurate. If a word may have multiple possible interpretations, a blue squiggly line will appear underneath the text. Tap the word to get alternate suggestions.
Now, saying the name of a punctuation mark will generally add that in to the sentence you’re speaking. This is especially annoying if you want to talk about how awesome the Jurassic period was. In many cases, using the word “period” in a sentence will default to the punctuation, but if you see that blue squiggly line underneath the preceding word and the punctuation, then you can tap that and a new suggestion that includes the actual word “period” should be suggested. Sometimes the voice recognition will intelligently actually put down the word “period” but it varies on a case-by-case basis.
Finally, do you want to use large capital letters to get people’s attention, but just don’t have the heart to convey your anger through your fingers? Just enable caps lock by double-tapping the Shift key before enabling voice typing.
Hopefully these tips have helped you use the speech-to-text functionality of iOS.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 13th, 2013 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Heroes and Castles receives the biggest update yet, says App Advice. The update to the popular strategy game adds three more heroes, including a female assassin that can sneak in, kill, and sneak out. There is also a campaign that features a new environment with new enemies, though you must first beat the previous campaign before you are able to unlock this one. Additionally, there’s a new versus and co-op map along with new ally units and upgrade levels for units and buildings.
• New hero added: Barbarian – Get in the fray and build your strength to untold levels!
• New hero added: Druid – Use the power of nature to support your allies and destroy the enemy!
• New co-op and versus map to battle on!
• New ally units! Destroy the enemy with a Dwarven Tank, hit long range targets with the Hunter, hold the line with armored Dwarven foot soldiers, or achieve victory with the powerful magic of 2 new Wizard classes!
• 3 powerful new upgrade levels for units and buildings! Take your units to new levels to match your high level heroes!
• Dynamic, real time shadows added to high gen devices for even better graphics!
• Evil units in versus mode now scale up slightly along with the the Evil hero, to help compensate for additional Good unit upgrades
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 13th, 2013 iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
Pocket Gamer reports that 8-bit beat ‘em up game, Trigger City, is now live on the app store, featuring 16 levels to punch, kick, bash, stab, and shoot your way through. Pull off special moves while punching and kicking through 5 unique gangs, each with their own style of combat.
Hey, that iPad of yours has a nice big screen. Why keep it all to yourself? Grab some friends and play some games together with them! Here’s four of my favorites.
Fingle: It’s time to get intimate with this two-player iPad game. It starts out simply enough: each person moves their finger to the dashed box on screen. Sure, we can do that! Then multiple fingers get involved. Then the target boxes keep moving. Then the targets move in and out of the other person’s hand, and action is getting incredibly touchy-feely here. Oh, and the game’s use of innuendo means that it knows what’s up. So grab a friend and be ready to become really close…or make things really awkward. Great memories or terrible memories are sure to come.
iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2012-01-12 :: Category: Games
Bloop: Some of these games are fun for just two people, but here’s one for up to four people. The objective? Each player picks a color on the screen, and when the action starts, they need to tap it whenever it pops up. Oh, and the colors are rapidly popping up all throughout the game, so reacting quickly to where colors are coming up is extremely important! Expect to be shoving others’ arms out of the way all while playing this. It’s got the best facets of an iPad multiplayer game: an easy concept to pick up on and plenty of chaos that creates for memorable moments.
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2012-04-26 :: Category: Games
Monkey Boxing: Sure, abstract competition is great. But sometimes friends just need to beat each other up by using simian avatars. That’s exactly what this game provides, with two players on one iPad. The two-button gameplay is easy to dive in to, and there’s enough variety to keep things from ever being monotonous. Don’t just jump in to the game, though. Make sure to customize your monkey’s outfit before fighting. Half of success is looking good while doing so. That’s a fact.
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2013-04-18 :: Category: Games
Hundreds: This is something of an out-of-left-field choice in that it’s not really a multiplayer game, right? Well, what you made you think that it was explicitly a singleplayer game? Given that the game is very much based around multitouch, get some other people and try to solve some of the fiendish challenges that the game throws out. However, more independently-working fingers means more opportunities to screw up, so it really just brings a different approach to the title that can really change the game.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 13th, 2013 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
RPG Aeon Avenger has its price dropped to $0.99 cents for a limited time only, falling from its original price of $8.99. This RPG is a story of revenge as Lake, the main character, sets out on an adventure that includes time travel to find the person responsible for killing everyone in his home town.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 13th, 2013 iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
Days – Your Visual Photo and GIF Diary provides users with a casual way to share their daily life by snapping photos and creating animated GIFs. Take pictures without worrying about filters and store them in a visual diary that can be shared with friends. There is also a commenting system for easy interaction with friends and family.
So many apps, and so little time! Just look to 148Apps for the best app reviews on the web. Our reviewers sift through the vast numbers of new apps out there, find the good ones, and write about them in depth. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Want to see what we’ve been up to this week? Take a look below for a sampling of our latest reviews. And if you want more, be sure to hit our Reviews Archive.
Ace Patrol is the latest title from Sid Meier and the team at Firaxis Games. Set during World War I, it’s the player’s job to guide a squadron of pilots in strategic turn-based gameplay. The free-to-play version features one stage from the British campaign with six single-player missions for players to engage in. If they want to play and beat the full campaign, which is three additional stages, they’ll have to purchase it for $0.99 cents. Players are given a choice of three missions to choose from at the start of the game. Missions have a wide range of objectives, such as having players attack an enemy train, protect a surveillance plane, attack an enemy bomber, and dogfight in ace vs ace action. Players are able to decide on what mission to select based on the objective or how many points it offers. Those points are multiplied depending on the four available difficulty levels and help provide better scores for the leaderboards. –Andrew Stevens
A particularly situational app, some users will look at the feature set of Infuse and wonder just why they need it when the built-in Videos app does everything they want. Infuse is for those users who want to play videos from other sources, without the need for conversion first. That covers quite a few different needs, from those wanting to watch family videos taken on a different device to those wanting to watch their converted DVD or blu-ray collection, while on the move. It’ll even allow users to view video attachments that have been emailed through. Regardless of one’s needs, Infuse is an attractive and useful app. Covering many of the more important bases, Infuse offers support for over 14 file formats, such as AVi, M4V, FLV, MOV and OGM. Plenty of audio formats are catered for too, such as the increasingly elusive Dolby Digital Plus format. Infuse works smoothly too, with little significant slowdown noticeable during my time using it on either my iPhone or iPad. –Jennifer Allen
One of the biggest constants in casinos is also a very simple concept: the house always wins. Sure somebody might hit the jackpot or win a few Blackjack hands against the dealer, but statistically (and by an overall average) the house always come out on top. Not so with Las Vegas, Ravensburger’s iOS port of the board/dice game. In this particular casino the player always wins, even when they lose. The rules of Las Vegas are fairly simple; players (and possibly AIs) take turns rolling right dice. The numbers each one lands on represent one of six casinos on the board, each with a range of cash values up for grabs. They then have to “bet” their dice by placing them in their casino of choice with the highest bid earning the pot. Conversely if there’s a tie all matching bids cancel each other out. Naturally larger bids have a better chance of winning but the toss up is that it means fewer and fewer dice each following turn. There’s a certain amount of strategy to placing each bet and it’s possible for savvy players to sneak in and grab a 90,000 casino with a single die while other players vie for the top spot and negate each other. After four rounds all the cash is added up and a winner is declared. –Rob Rich
Star Command is a sci-fi simulation game that clearly takes cues from Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek universe. Although the game takes a few missteps in parts of its design, the whole package is so charming that it hardly matters. Anyone wanting a good Trek-like combat experience should stop reading this review and go buy it now. For everyone else, here’s how Star Command plays: Players begin by choosing a captain and a ship to command. From here, an in game tutorial gives just enough information on hiring crew members, building rooms on your ship, and how combat works, and then promptly throws you into the thick of it. Before you know it, you’ll be commanding your engineers to put out fires by sick bay while your weapons crew has to abandon their battle stations to combat enemy aliens that have beamed aboard. –Campbell Bird
Other 148Apps Network Sites
If you are looking for the best reviews of kids’ apps and/or Android apps, just head right over to GiggleApps and AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews these sites served up this week:
Little Red Riding Hood by Nosy Crow is a universal app that I have eagerly been anticipating for quite some time, and I can say with much excitement that this app is worth the wait.
This is a re-telling of the classic story with a few great twists along the way. A special app, Nosy Crow has added some wonderful new elements to a classic story, specifically allowing children to choose one of many paths they would rather take as Little Red travels through a forest on her way to Grandma’s, collecting numerous objects along the way as well as meeting new characters. –Amy Solomon
Zoe’s Green Planet is an interesting universal application about diversity. This is the story of Zoe, an inhabitant of a green planet with a demographic of entirely green people, seen vividly with the use of illustrations with heavy paper mache elements creating a subtle 3D effect, as well as a tactile, slightly distressed feel that I find appealing, as I do the numerous shades of green that make up the palette of this app. One day, a red space ship lands on the green planet. Inside is a red family who would like to visit other planets and makes a home on the green planet. They have a daughter who is Zoe’s age, and they go to school together and become friends. –Amy Solomon
Brains My Body is a very nice interactive app for children which teaches about basic anatomy and diversity and includes fun facts about the body. The look of this app is crisp and clean, with colorful, textured woven fabric used as the background for these activities. Also of note are the layered ambient sounds heard throughout, consisting of a beating heart, blowing wind and wind chimes – interesting choices I have enjoyed listening to. –Amy Solomon
Goomy: to the Rainbow Land is an interestingly styled platform running game with a unique set of characters. Goomy came personified as ball that took nine different forms. Legend has it that he wants to make it to the mythical, happiness-filled Rainbow Land. However, the journey is not without dangers but of course, how could we have expected anything less? The playing area was an expansive end-to-end platform, with Goomy traveling from left to right. The traveling area was irregular in design, with land masses of different heights interspersed with deep, lethal canyons. The graphics were rich in color, with playful artwork highlighting the elements of the game. The animations were smooth, and did a good job of adding to the fun factor. A lot of time seemed to have been put into creating the six or so different playing environments. –Tre Lawrence
One of my favorite games of 2012 was undoubtedly Punch Quest. Rocketcat Games’ endless puncher’s only flaw? It wasn’t on Android yet. Well, Noodlecake Games, in their first published title after the launch of Super Stickman Golf 2, have rectified this situation. And oh how sweet it is to be playing this amazing game on mobile. Unlike most endless runners where there’s little to no combat, this is all about punching one’s enemies. It’s more of a beat ‘em up with automatic running instead of an endless runner. The fighting is surprisingly complex despite there only being three different inputs: forward punching, uppercutting, and blocking, though each has different functions based on different situations. For example, uppercutting in the air is actually a dive punch. Upgrades can tweak the way that punches work, or give them special functions. But it’s the interplay of the attacks and the way that each enemy has a particular strategy that works best – and ones that don’t work quite so well – that players need to learn and master in order to do well at the game. –Carter Dotson
Snake is one of those games everyone knows. It’s popularity was forged in the mall arcades of the 70s, and it has been ported to almost every platform. Ever. Everyone has redone it, and so any developer that touches it best come correct. Modern Snake, at the very least, excels in the area of minimalist design. I liked that there were no extraneous elements; it kept enough familiar designs, like the segmented snake, and tossed in colors and touchscreen compatibility to differentiate it from the original forms. The green worked well on the stark white playing area. The developer did well to add options to spice up what would otherwise be a one-dimensional game. There were options to speed up or slowdown game speed, to have a two-player local game, to play with or without walls and to play with on-screen directional buttons or by swiping. –Tre Lawrence
Birds will fly through portals in the upcoming Angry Birds Seasons update, scheduled to release next week on May 16th. Pocket Gamer reports that the update, named Abra-Ca-Bacon, will feature 30 new levels with an additional 6 stages for players to unlock. The new stages take full advantage of the portals as players will fling their birds into one end and watch them come flying out from another.
Check out the video below to get an idea of just how awesome this could be. Also, bacon.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 10th, 2013 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
The Dish.fm Guide shares with you the best dishes, drinks, and desserts based on the results of reviews that have been pulled from sources like Yelp, Foursquare, and more in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. You’ll also get to see photos and an overall ranking of each dish. Dish.fm has recently analyzed over 8,000,000 million reviews, with hopes to expand across new cities.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 10th, 2013 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
The Pocket Scavenger is a new app that encourages people to use their phone or tablet to interact with their surroundings. The app asks users to find and photograph specific items that are around them, such as something miniature, something form the year they were born, and more. Once a scavenge is complete, users can upload it to a map and will see what other scavenger hunts are going on around them.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 10th, 2013 iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
Zynga just released a new app called Running with Friends. In this game, it’s the players’ job to outrun and outscore their friends while remaining one step ahead of charging bulls. It’s not just the bulls that players need to dodge, but speeding cars, flying barrels and more, all while running down the streets of Pamplona, Spain. Watch out!
*Jump off ramps and soar above buildings.
*RIDE bucking bulls for bonuses.
*CHALLENGE your friends or run with new ones.
*RUN as a ninja, ballerina, or zombie.
*COMPETE to be on top of the leaderboard.
*EXPLORE cool locations.
Pixbits announces new title, Junk Jack X, which is currently scheduled for release in Q3 or Q4 of 2013, depending on the development process. The adventure begins on the same planet as the original Junk Jack, except this time you will be able to find portal pieces that, when assembled, will let you travel to brand new worlds full of different blocks and materials for your crafts. Your character will be far more customizable than the previous title and also adds attributes such as speed, health, damage, and defenses. Junk Jack X is also said to have 2 player multiplayer through Game Center, with 4 player multiplayer available locally.
Check out Pixbits announcement for complete details.
With the arrival of Mothers Day, children everywhere will be scrambling to show their appreciation. Perhaps consider one of these iOS options as well. Not that they’d replace quality time, of course. By all means go and treat your mom to a nice dinner, give her a call, or whatever else you were planning to do. We just ask you to consider adding one (or all) of these digital possibilities to your Mother’s Day plan.
Flower Garden
Who doesn’t think of getting their mom some flowers on Mothers Day? Nobody, that’s who. Flower Garden allows users to grow their own flora, as well as acquire new seeds for more exotic (and in some cases fictitious) examples. After some TLC they can then harvest their flowers and create a bouquet. A bouquet they can send to anyone on their Contacts list. And if the price seems a bit steep don’t fret; there’s a possibility (nothing official, just guessing) that it may go on sale like it did last Mothers Day.
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2009-04-10 :: Category: Games
Let’s create! Pottery HD
Mom always likes it when you make her stuff. She always held on to that hideous ashtray you made for her back when you were in first grade, even though she doesn’t smoke. Now you can shower her with a ton of virtual ceramics without the hassle of any cleanup. Much like Flower Garden it’s possible to send photos of a piece to anyone you want, including mom. Unlike Flower Garden it’s also possible to give a particular favorite physical form through a little in-app purchase of some 3D printing.
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-07-16 :: Category: Entertainment
Cards
Moms also like to get cards. Not just on Mothers Day, either. Downloading Apple’s official custom card creation app is practically a no-brainer for such an occasion. And as an added bonus you can send her customized greeting cards of the family/kids year-round. Think about that: the ability to send your mom personalized (and physical) greeting cards whenever you’d like, for any occasion. All without having to browse through the paltry selection at the store.
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-10-12 :: Category: Lifestyle
ComicBook!
Giving your mom some eFlowers or making her a card is cool and all, but putting together a comic book that chronicles your adventures fighting crime (or even something a bit more tame) is just plain fun. I dare any moms out there not to laugh, or at least crack a smile, when their sons or daughters present them with the first issue of The Incredible Mom, Spidermom, or even Iron Mom.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 10th, 2013 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Three new planes (Horten Ho 229, Yakovlev Yak-9, Aichi D3A) are now available to take to the skies in the latest Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders update. There is also a new weapons hanger available for customizing your weapons on every plane. Furthermore, for those who enjoy a good show, you now have the ability to use acrobatic smoke to express your flying skills with style.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 10th, 2013 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
New additions have been added to DragonVale, including new giant habitats that are available to raise your dragons in. The update also adds the ability to place egg pedestals in the strange tower and allows you to view cleared items that show up as decorations in the market.
Kedlin’s popular luggage scanning game, Airport Scanner, powers a TSA study at Duke University. Airport Scanner is a casual game where players take the role of a TSA baggage screener and operate a life-like X-Ray baggage scanner to quickly identify illegal items such as weapons, liquid containers, and more, all while getting legit passengers through security on time.
Keldin has teamed up with Dr. Stephen Mitroff of Duke University by providing him with anonymous gameplay data to answer questions about real-life baggage screening that can’t easily be tested in a lab. Mitroff, with funding from TSA, has tried to understand what makes someone a better visual searcher than the next, information that could lead to better airport security.
Dr. Mitroff said in a press release that “It’s vital to understand how individuals learn these skills best and what factors lead to accurate performance, and the data collected from Airport Scanner enable my team to assess and learn from hundreds of thousands of individuals on accuracy, response time, false alarms, the ability to avoid distraction, the ability to multitask and more.”
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 10th, 2013 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Asphalt 7: Heat is Apple’s App of the Week, making the game free for the next 7 days. Now there’s no excuse not to get your hands on this racing title that’s full of speed and fun. It recently released an update as well, adding new cars and a raised level cap. Gameloft also plans to bring “a lot of new cars” your way, coming soon.
Gameloft and Fox Digital Entertainment team up to release the official video game for the upcoming animated movie, Epic. The gameplay will have players building their own forest kingdom and fighting in action-packed battles filled with acrobatic combat. Epic will be released in time for the film’s debut this May.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 10th, 2013 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
For one day only, today, Carmageddon is available for free. In our review, Rob Rich mentioned, “Carmageddon is an older game, and it shows even on a mobile device, but people don’t always love old games purely because they’re old. Sometimes they love them because they’re fun. And despite the slippery controls, this bit of nostalgia is still very, very fun.”
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 9th, 2013 iPad Only App - Designed for iPad
Autodesk announces that 123D Creature is now available for free. This opens the door for even more artists to create and share their monstrous ideas in real life with the 123D Creature app.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 9th, 2013 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Jim Dalrymple of The Loop just launched The Loop Magazine, which will serve as an enhanced extension to the kind of great topical curation as on The Loop website. You’ll find plenty of great long-form articles here, in the style of Marco Arment’s The Magazine, a noted inspiration for this current venture. Dalrymple’s new mag will be published bi-weekly for only $1.99 per month. We wish Jim and his collaborators the best of luck on this new project, not that they’ll need it.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 9th, 2013 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
The Netflix app receives an update and makes it easier to watch episodes of your favorite TV shows, back-to-back, without having to manually start the next episode. The app now cues up and starts the next episode for you. The update also adds a list of the three best movie recommendations that is displayed at the end of a movie, and “enhanced second screen options,” whatever that is.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 9th, 2013 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Blitz Brigade – Online multiplayer shooting action! released today on iOS bringing forth first-person shooter action. Players choose between 5 classes with over 100 different weapons to use in an online battle of up to 12 players. There are also 120 training missions to complete offline, should you choose.
√ 5 classes: Soldier, Gunner, Medic, Sniper, Stealth
√ Control the battlefield in Domination mode
√ Frag everyone in sight in Deathmatch
√ Use 3 different vehicles for a tactical advantage
√ Unique taunts and kill phrases for each character
√ Voice Chat to plan in real time with teammates
Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 9th, 2013 iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
There is a new type of word game available on the App Store where friends win together by guessing the same word. From the band OK Go, Say the Same Thing is a turn-by-turn game where you and a friend begin by selecting a random word. Once the words are in play, the two who are playing must find a common word that connects the two words together. You both win by saying the same connecting word in the same round.
The app was hand-coded and beta-tested by the band, which is pretty fantastic and unique. For a limited time, you have the opportunity to play live against members of the band by logging in to the app.
Moms and video games. I know there are always exceptions, but, at least for my generation, more often than not the two just don’t mix. I’ve spent over 25 of my 31 years playing them, and my mom has spent almost as much time expressing her distaste for them, specifically, she said, “all that bloody, gory, gooey violence.” I decided to take the time to really talk to her about it; to figure out exactly why she had a tendency to turn up her nose at my hobby-turned-career, why she eventually stopped scrutinizing my pastime, and what iOS games (if any) she could even end up liking. It was interesting, to say the least.
A Bit Of The Old Ultraviolence
As it turns out, my mom’s disinterest/distaste for video games stems from a fairly common issue: violence. Not just the concept behind the acts, but the increasingly realistic depictions. When I was little and playing something on my Nintendo it never really bothered her since she and my dad could simply nix anything they thought was too much for me. Not that it happened often since very little from that era was all that graphic. However, as I got older, I tended to play more violent games. I personally attribute it to the industry increasing its mainstream focus on violence as it grew into itself, along with coincidence. I mean, sure, I played Resident Evil and Silent Hill, but I also played Intelligent Qube and Jet Moto which probably wouldn’t have bothered her at all if she’d ever seen me playing them. This is when it really started to bother her. She was legitimately worried that my constant exposure to video games would alter my personality. As time went on, she realized I was doing just fine, but she still wasn’t too crazy about all the gore.
Even after I graduated college and moved out of the house, video games continued to bother her. As a teacher, she had begun to notice a shift in her students as more and more of them began to make video games a larger part of their lives. “It’s much harder to keep kids’ attention,” she said. Many of them required more and more visual stimuli in order to keep their focus. She also noticed that many of the younger or more impressionable kids started to act out things they saw on TV and in video games. “It seemed like they thought they were invincible,” she told me. One group of boys she’d taught years before went so far as to murder a 25 year old cook as he walked home from work simply out of boredom; an act that some claimed was inspired by a video game. I now realize why my success at getting her to accept the medium has been so difficult.
However, she hasn’t written games off entirely. She’s come to appreciate the technology behind it all, and can definitely appreciate the imaginative visuals found in many of the more offbeat titles. With my increased interest in all things iOS, I’ve managed to have even more success in convincing her that the industry isn’t all headshots and zombies. In fact, I’ve managed to find a few iOS games she’s even curious to try on her own.
Easing Into It
First I asked her to take a look at Triple Town. I figured a turn-based game with no timer and some cute, if oversized, cartoon bears might be okay. I mean it’s a fairly adorable game with some really addictive puzzles, so why not? And I was right for the most part. She didn’t have a problem with it since the only vaguely troubling imagery is “just angry looking bears.” She also thought, “(It) sounds exciting. Build a city. ‘Plot’ against the bears. Looks like something ‘I’ may even be able to handle.”
Next up: Spaceteam. Both because it’s family-friendly fun and because I freaking love it so, so much. Although it can get pretty frantic; I wasn’t sure how well she’d respond to it. “I remember watching you and dad play this one,” she said. “It looks and sounds like a great time.” And really, who wouldn’t like to try and desperately keep a lone starship functioning by shouting commands at their friends while simultaneously trying to follow their own sets of instructions?
After that, I decided to show her Paper Titans. Since my mom has an art background and actually teaches art, I figured there was a good chance that she’d appreciate the visuals. I mean it’s flippin’ gorgeous to begin with but it also does a fantastic job of capturing the look of a paper world with paper inhabitants. I was right again. “LOVE the bold graphic style,” she said. “Looks like my kind of game; fun, colorful, sounds easy (low stress). So far (this is) my fav.”
Getting A Little Retro
I didn’t want to focus entirely on new releases, though. I also thought there might be some worthwhile considerations from the App Store’s past. Hence my next choice: Zen Bound 2. “Very, very appealing,” she said. “[The] graphics look excellent.” It’s the kind of reaction I was hoping for. The entire game is meant to be serene and calming with no timers or real possibility of failure. It’s almost more of a relaxation exercise than a game. “This is my top choice,” she enthused. “I want to wind the rope!”
Moving right along, and in keeping with the visually inoffensive, I brought up Tiny Tower. Nimblebit’s first major iOS success still has quite the following today, and it’s managed to last this long without resorting to any sort of violence. My mom liked it right off, saying, “Everyone looks HAPPY!” This is true: I’ve yet to spot a bitizen who doesn’t look like they’re having the best day of their life at all times. “My kind of game,” said mom. “I would try this one.”
After some thought, I figured I’d also show her Heads Up!. Not because she’s my mom or there’s much of a chance she watches The Ellen Degeneres Show, but because the game itself seems right up her alley. It’s a party game that requires interacting with other people, it’s goofy, and there’s a good chance that several laughs will be had. “Yes! Looks like fun,” she said. “My kind of game.”
Last, but not least, I tested the waters with a slightly more complex game that keeps things cute: Cut the Rope. I wasn’t entirely sure if the more involved gameplay mechanics would be off-putting but I was willing to bet that the adorable mascot would win her over. “Probably wouldn’t keep my interest at all,” she said. Ouch; I was totally wrong on this one.
The Heart Of The Matter
So why go through all this effort? Why try so hard to show my mom examples of iOS games that don’t fall under the rather broad viewpoint she used to view the medium with? For two reasons:
First, video games have been a significant part of my life for close to its entirety. It’s something that I’ve enjoyed immensely, but was never able to truly talk about with her due to her previous experiences. Since I began writing about them professionally they’ve become even more significant in my life, and I wanted to be able to find some way of sharing that with her. I think introducing her to the casual market is a great way to accomplish that and I’ve already found a few titles she’s interested in checking out. Say what you will about casual games, they’re still a great way to introduce non-gamers to the medium.
Second, I don’t want her to keep worrying. I know she understands that I’m an adult and that none of the virtual violence I’ve taken part in over the years has had any sort of negative effect on me, but I also know there’s still a part of her that worries. Both about me and about what the industry may or may not be doing to children. I wanted to help her to understand that, despite all the media attention and tendency of AAA releases to rely on violence, it’s a very diverse field that’s grown immensely ever since I first tried to get Mario past that first walking mushroom.
I suppose in the back of my mind I’ve always been concerned that she had the wrong idea about what I do and what I write about. This was my chance to finally address that concern and I feel like we really made some progress. Granted, I doubt I’ll be excitedly discussing Star Command or Robot Unicorn Attack 2 with her any time soon. Still, I can finally, really, talk to her about one of the major facets of my life for the first time. It’s a great feeling.
As TUAW reports, Kevo by Kwikset is a new lock that recognizes your iPhone as a key and lets you unlock the door just by touching the lock. There is no need to pull out your keys to unlock it, though it does come with one as well. Instead of letting someone borrow a copy of your key, all you need to do is send them an eKey through the Kevo app and they’ll be able to unlock the door. The Kevo lock operates on two AA batteries and is scheduled for release this summer.
gMusic: A Google Music player is in the process of being updated to support Google’s All Access streaming music service. The All Access subscription service isn’t currently available on iOS through any app, but the developer of gMusic has already submitted an update to Apple that will bring the service to the iPhone or iPad, [...]
Bloop: Some of these games are fun for just two people, but here’s one for up to four people. The objective? Each player picks a color on the screen, and when the action starts, they need to tap it whenever it pops up. Oh, and the colors are rapidly popping up all throughout the game, so reacting quickly to where colors are coming up is extremely important! Expect to be shoving others’ arms out of the way all while playing this. It’s got the best facets of an iPad multiplayer game: an easy concept to pick up on and plenty of chaos that creates for memorable moments.
Flower Garden
Let’s create! Pottery HD
Cards
ComicBook!
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