Tag: Video »

We've been keeping an eye on Earthcore: Shattered Elements, the upcoming game from Polish development house Tequila Games. The collectible card game is due out next year.

To help us all with the wait, the developer has released a new trailer. The trailer further explains the gameplay mechanics, as well as the new risk system the developer hopes will set this title apart from other collectible card games.

The trailer is below and the game is scheduled to drop early in 2015.

Instagram, the internet's favorite photography app, has just released Hyperlapse, a time-lapse camera for your iOS device.

Hyperlapse shoots footage and auto-stabilizes it so you can take video even while running, jumping, flying, or falling. You can film up to 45 minutes if you have an iPhone 5, and the video can be sped up to 12 times its original speed. Hyperlapse does not require you to sign up or create an account and the app will let you save your videos to your camera roll or share directly with Instagram and Facebook.

You can download Hyperlapse for free on the App Store now.

MuseAmi has just launched a new, social app based on the ability to take, edit and share video called Hook'd.

The app incorporates MuseAmi's proprietary technologies, one of which is real-time audio processing, which allows for users to create and share content directly from an iOS device. MuseAmi also offers authentic backing tracks, including licensed music from Warner Music Group, and says it will announce additional licensing deals in the coming weeks.

MuseAmi chief Bob Taub mentions the partnership with Warner Music Group. "In Hook'd, we've created a fun, addictive and totally new way to capture moments through music, and share it with one person or with many," he says. "We're proud to have the support of Warner Music Group at launch. They've been a real champion of our technology, and their incredible catalog provides our users with authentic master recordings that make Hook'd like no other app on the planet."

Hook'd is available for free (with optional in-app purchases) on the App Store.

Ever want to create slow motion replays of your most amazing moments? Now you can with ReplayCam. The app was released by LuckyClan on July 5, and to celebrate it's gone free on the App Store for a limited time.

ReplayCam allows users to record video and then replay a section at 60/120 Frames Per Second. It automatically smoothes out the transition from Slow Motion to normal speed after replay. Users can also zoom, set the focus/exposure point, and create a second video while the first is rendering. Videos are saved to the Camera Roll for easy access and sharing.

You can check out ReplayCam on the App Store right now for free.

It's always easy to be way too cynical when it comes to free-to-play games, and when Tony Hawk's Shred Session was announced there was certainly some thought that it could be a cheap licensed affair. Well the game has soft-launched in New Zealand, so I put on my helmet, grabbed my board, and found out this is a more casual game - but not a cash-in.

The game is set up as a lane-based runner a la Subway Surfers, but it truly is just a Tony Hawk game set up in that vein of being friendly for mobile and casual play. Levels include ramps, rails, and even half pipes. Tricks can be strung together through the gesture-based system for grabs, flips, and grinds. Extended gestures exist for more complicated tricks. These complicated tricks can be unlocked and bought with coins over time as players level up, or unlocked instantly with bucks (the hard currency).

The game takes place in two modes: Shred Session and Survival. Shred Session is a level-based mode where each level tasks players with short-form goals to chase after. Some levels involve scoring a certain number of points before the timer or level runs out. Others involve collecting a certain number of orbs, collecting time tokens, and participating in trick-offs with other skaters where the prescribed tricks must be matched. All are managed by a three-star system, with higher scores or more collectibles necessary to get more stars.

While the game is free-to-play, and more advanced tricks will help with combos, it does a great job at not letting the monetization get in the way of playing the game. There are boosts to buy along with new boards and skaters, but purchases largely feel optional instead of necessary. Having no energy system helps out a lot, too. Given that style is a huge part of skating culture, I can see cosmetic upgrades contributing to the game's moneymaking - particularly as hard currency is needed to unlock many of the skaters and cooler tricks early on. But there's no replacement for skill.

While certainly the monetization could change, it seems as if there's a really interesting core here; one that could appeal to those who like skateboarding games, but want a mobile-friendly experience. We'll see how the world reacts when Tony Hawk's Shred Session eventually goes worldwide.

King is releasing a sequel to the game that got them started on mobile, thus becoming the behemoths that they are today: Bubble Witch Saga 2. The game has soft-launched in the Netherlands, so I busted out my wooden shoes for this edition of our soft-launch series: It Came From Canada, Holland Edition!

If I were to sum up the experience of Bubble Witch Saga 2 in one word, it would be "polished." The visuals are shiny and detailed; the animations are fluid; even the controls are exceptional. This Bust-a-Move-esque bubble-bursting game's controls use a simple touch-and-drag method to aim upward from the bubble launcher, with tapping on the other bubble in the launcher to switch to that one. The aiming is accurate for even small movements, making it easy and pleasing to use - because the game will take a turn for the difficult.

There are a variety of levels to mix up the bubble-bursting: the primary ones are levels where players must use a limited supply of bubbles to pop six of the bubbles on the top-most row. These levels scroll, though there's no way to scroll upward to see which bubbles are off screen. There are similar levels with encased animals, who must be freed by having no bubbles above them. Finally, there are ghost levels where all the bubbles that encase a central ghost must be eliminated, with the twist that the level, well, twists around with each bubble hit.

There's the standard King array of midgame power-ups and lives that slowly recharge, with the ability to request more from friends on Facebook. The distribution of bubbles seems to be not particularly weighted around making sure players can beat a level: if a color gets eliminated, it won't appear any more, but don't assume that the game's going to ensure that you get all the bubbles you need; it won't necessarily be that generous. Any miss should be treated as a potentially grave sin - a damning step toward failure. Of course, there's the ability to buy more bubbles. This feeling kicks in after about ten levels or so. The game starts to mean business, and it punishes players who aren't very careful and calculating.

Of course, this is pretty much the formula for King's success so far: extremely playable games with a brutal streak that keeps players coming back, spending more money or spreading the word about the game for their personal benefit. Bubble Witch Saga 2 is expected worldwide soon.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2's remastered version is especially notable for its recreation of Hidden Palace Zone, once only accessible in leaked beta versions. Well, it's recently been discovered by the Sonic hacking community that this original beta version of the level still exists.

To access it, go to No Save Mode. Access the level select by tapping S-E-G-A on the SEGA logo in that order, then tapping and holding with two fingers on the title screen. Go to the Sound Test, and play tracks 01,09,09,02,01,01,02,04 to unlock debug mode. Then, play 03,03,03,0B,10,10,10,04 in order to unlock Proto Palace, which is accessible by playing the Hidden Palace Zone from the level select. You only get one life and the level eventually warps out as it is incomplete, but now you can explore this beta level for yourself -- and with the advanced exploration abilities of Tails and Knuckles. We also have hands-on video of how to enter the code and unlock the level below.

Infuse version 2.3 is now available. This video app from Firecore (known for their Apple TV jailbreaking work) now has UPnP and DLNA streaming for easily watching video from a media server on iPhone or iPad from XBMC, Plex, and other similar utilties. As well, handy gesture-based controls for playback are now available, along with a variety of other tweaks meant to make the experience better. See the whole list here.

You can download the latest version of Infuse for free right now.

Soccer Rally 2 from IceFlame Games officially releases on Thursday, bringing perhaps the most realistic car soccer action to the App Store since the original released. David Deacon of IceFlame Games will join us on our Twitch channel to talk about the game, how they tried to improve it over the original, and perhaps playing their game in real life with actual cars and giant soccer balls.

Join us at 4:15 PM EDT (3:15 PM CDT, 1:15 PM PDT, 9:15 PM BST) for the live stream. Feel free to watch the embedded live viewer below, or watch on our Twitch page to chat with us and the developers. Be sure to hit that follow button to know when we go live, and to also gain our undying affection.

[twitchlive 148apps]

Missed the live broadcast? Catch the recap with highlights after the show right here.

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Today on our Twitch channel at 3:15PM CDT (1:15 PM PDT, 4:15PM EDT, 9:15 PM BST), Breakfinity from Phil Hassey will be the featured game. But not only will it be played with commentary, but I and Phil will be competing for high scores live against each other. Watch the embedded viewer below, or click here to watch and chat with us. If you miss the live broadcast, the archive will be embedded below after the show. May the best brick-breaker win!

[twitchlive 148apps]

Need something to watch in the meantime? Catch up on our Wayward Souls preview streams.

On our latest Twitch stream, we'll be playing a pair of minimalist arcade games, one that just got a big content update in Pivvot, and another that was inspired by it in 15 Coins. Whitaker Trebella, creator of Pivvot, will discuss the new modes added to the game and the challenges of designing them. As well, Engaging Games' Blake Johnson will discuss his studio's own 15 Coins, and how games like Pivvot helped inspire it.

Watch the embedded stream below when it goes live at 7:15 PM CDT or click here to watch on Twitch and chat with the developers. Highlights will be available after the show.

[twitchlive 148apps]

The problem with Carousel, the new app from Dropbox released today to organize, present, and share photos isn’t the app itself, it’s what it’s built on.

Carousel is a fantastic app for mobile presentation of photos. Quick and easy to find old photos and show and share them. It's really one of the better cloud photo apps I've tried. The real problem is that it’s build on Dropbox, which is a service created for cloud storage of documents and not for media. And that service is still priced for documents and not media.

Let me back up a second. Dropbox is an amazing service. I’ve used it and paid for it for years. But I’ve never considered it a great place to store photos, video, or other media files. The problem is that is is really expensive right now. In a time where Google is charging $10/month for a terabyte, and Flickr gives every user a free terabyte for images, Dropbox is charging 10x what Google is, and without upgrading to a business plan users can’t even get more then 500GB in an account (for $50/month).

Media piles up quickly. Especially so with photos since every reader of this blog likely has a camera with them at all times of the day, every day. I myself have well over 700GB of images that I’ve stored up from 10+ years of digital photography. I’ve just now started scanning old family photos and there are thousands of those waiting to be completed. All in all I’ll probably need close to a terabyte for just my images to store a “lifetime of memories.” And that doest even count the birthday, vacation, and all the other special occasion videos. This type of media is easier and easier to take and edit, but they will also fill up a Dropbox account very quickly.

So for now, Carousel is a great app, if you have a few hundred photos, but it doesn’t really fit the first selling point that Dropbox is touting it as, it doesn’t allow a lifetime of memories. That is unless you don’t have a lot of memories.

I think Dropbox will be forced into dropping their prices soon. Perhaps they are ready to do it now but didn't want to take the focus away from the new features. Cloud storage is a commodity, and Dropbox is way overpriced right now.