Tag: The Portable Gamer »

How has the App Store impacted my life? Well, if you give a mouse a cookie...

It started when I first decided to give the iPod touch a whirl: I had heard about the App Store launching, and I picked up a discounted first-generation model of the iPod touch as the second-generation launched. I figured, hey, this might be the future, I'm gonna get onboard now. The store was exactly what I expected it to be: a collection of interesting and occasionally odd games from a wide variety of developers. It was, and still is, an endlessly-fascinating world.

The App Store was also indirectly to blame for me getting hooked on Twitter. Apps like Tweetie from Loren Brichter helped me on my way to become the Twitter addict that I am today, especially once I got an iPhone proper. I've met many great friends from Twitter, and most importantly, it's why I'm here on 148Apps today.

It was through following someone on Twitter who recommended following The Portable Gamer that led me deeper down the rabbit hole. One day, they posted that they were looking for new people to record iCasual segments for them. I took them up on their offer, as I figured, "hey, why not - might be fun to do on the side while getting some free games to play."

Soon, scripting and recording those audio reviews turned into written reviews. It turned out writing about games was pretty fun, plus, I was halfway-decent at it! I was made managing editor of the site a couple months after I joined, and for the next year, it was a regular part of my life. I got to feel important in helping to arrange and post new content on the site, and even got printed in iPhone Life magazine at one point. That was pretty cool.

A little over a year after joining The Portable Gamer, that was when 148Apps advertised that they were looking for a new paid writer. I decided to go for it. For a while, it was just a hobby, albeit a really cool one.

Eventually, I decided: why not try to make writing my career? I love doing it, it was giving me more of a sense of purpose than my college studies were giving me, and hey: I was already getting paid for it. So I ramped up my game. I spent more time writing for 148Apps. I started looking for other writing gigs, which came through connections and just reaching out for other opportunities, with my work here at 148Apps playing a significant role in proving I could be a good and trustworthy writer.

And a year ago, it finally happened. I was able to support myself on my writing work and I moved to Chicago. It was all thanks to the App Store. Sure, there were a lot of steps in between, but I honestly don't know what my life would be like if it didn't exist.

It's been a pretty sweet ride so far, one that I hope continues on for a long time.

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Written and Recorded by: Michelle Lopez

Hello everyone this is Michelle from The Portable Gamer with your iCasual Report for Doodle Dive from Romper Games Inc. for all devices running current iOS software. In Doodle Dive you get to play a cute little guy who, for what ever reason, jumped out of a plane. Tilting your device you will control, or try to control his fall through randomly generated friendly and not so friendly skies. There are items to collect as you descend and of course items to avoid as well. One wrong hit and it could be game over. The collection items are unique and whimsical. You have gold which is typical, where when you’ve collected 100 you’ll get an extra life, but than you have the odd power-ups. An umbrella which will slow your fall and then a roll of sushi which will balloon you up to be invisible. Not even the flying toasters will ruin your day then. The only addition could be some social competition, though there are online leader boards to keep track of your high scores. The game play might not be very different from other games in this genre, but the fun extras make this $0.99 game Simply hallarious!

Continue reading iCasual: Doodle Dive at The Portable Gamer »

Today I'm very happy to make an announcement about the future of 148Apps. Rob LeFebvre and the staff of The Portable Gamer (TPG) have joined forces with us at 148Apps!

The Portable Gamer site will join the 148Apps network of mobile blogs and help us build out our mobile gaming coverage on 148Apps. Together we will be able to continue to focus on apps as well as games on 148Apps and focus even more closely on games at TPG.

In addition, effectively immediately, Rob will become Editor of 148Apps and help us continue to build the best iOS blog possible. He'll also help us build out our network of blogs to cover new topics and existing areas even better than before. Rob founded TPG and Games Are Evil and has built them into well read online gaming magazines. His experience will greatly help take 148Apps to new places.

For the immediate future, TPG will continue to operate as normal with the addition of cross-posting some content to 148Apps. By the end of the year, we hope to relaunch The Portable Gamer as an even bigger and better mobile gaming site. Keep watching, we'll have more to announce on that in the coming weeks.

A huge welcome to Rob and the entire TPG team!