Tag: Showtime »

A year ago today a massive earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand, leaving 185 dead and the lives of thousands in shambles. The country's second-largest city was horrifically damaged, and to this day aftershocks and unstable buildings have caused large sections of the city to be rendered completely uninhabitable and unsafe. It is a major tragedy, and one which has sadly been too quickly forgotten by the international community.

But out of this darkness comes a light, as at least one publisher is taking action to support those affected by the earthquake. Polar Bear Farm founder Layton Duncan has penned a heartfelt letter on the company blog stating that all Polar Bear Farm apps are going on sale for today only, with 100 percent of the proceeds devoted to earthquake relief. The money will be funneled into a charitable trust with the sole purpose of restoring and rebuilding downtown Christchurch so that the city's inhabitants can have their city back.

For those unfamiliar with Polar Bear Farms, they make a variety of neat utilitarian apps like Showtime, Face Match, Convert, and many more. For a full list of the company's apps just pop them up in iTunes and have a look.

If you're looking to pick up a few new apps this week and also want to do a little social good then this is your chance. Also, please spread the word to friends and loved ones so we can help the people of New Zealand and show them that even a year later they're still on our minds. I mean, the apps are already on sale AND all the money is going to charity, what more reason can you possibly need to contribute?

I want to preface this by saying that I love the show 'Dexter'. Its blend of drama, suspense, and comedy make it one of those gems that grip you and never lets go until the end of the season. It's so good that I unraveled the whole mystery of the Ice Truck Killer (season 1) in a single marathon weekend.

Sadly, my love for TV shows, and movies for that matter, rarely translates into good video gaming. Off the top of my head, I can think of very few adaptations that have worked. It's just hard to capture the essence of a show in a game. Between clunky controls, bad stories, and odd graphics, there is always something wrong with media adaptations. Knowing this, it seemed to me that Mark Ecko Entertainment and Icarus Studios had their work cut out for them.

Tucked away in a small corner of the convention center, I met with the Dexter team to see how the game was turning out. To my surprise and delight, the game looks really good. The game is your basic stealth game where you, as Dexter, sneak around finding clues to legitimize your serial killing ways. Feeding Dexter's "dark passenger" is the main point of the game, but there is an overarching Ice Truck Killer story line, complete with the characters involved. To make things more realistic, Icarus Studios built all of the sets from plans from the show (the police station looks amazing!), and got actors from the show, including Michael C. Hall, to do the voices.

Video after the jump.