Posts tagged with "iOS"

MacStories Weekly Game: Samurai II

For this week’s “MacStories Weekly Game”, I needed a good ol’ action game to talk about. You know those hack & slash type of games, where you usually wander around levels focusing on killing enemies and making combos? I grew up with them. Then God of War came around and the new kids got a new concept of hack & slash. But Samurai II is different: while clearly inspired by the post-God of War generation (the level schemes, the rich graphics, the bosses, the upgrades, the roll), it retains a somewhat old-style feeling that I was missing on the iPhone.

Samurai II: Vengeance is the sequel to last year’s Samurai: War of the Warrior, featured by Apple in the Best Games of 2009. It was indeed a great game, packed with stylish manga-like graphics, swipe-based controls and good action. Quite possibly, the original Samurai for iPhone is still one of the best action games out there. With Samurai II, though, the developers enhanced the whole system, create even better graphics and took away a few things. Read more

PBS Grows Up with Redesigned Website, New iPad App

PBS has launched a redesigned website with a new online player, a new iPad app, and they are targeting toward their grown-up viewers. It’s all part of a bigger plan to bring more local content to wider national audience.

Welcome to the new PBS.org. We’ve redesigned the site to provide users with a richer experience by highlighting content from local PBS stations, as well as the best of your favorite national programs. PBS.org now gives you easy access to videos, blog posts, articles and more from your community, and makes it easier to find TV schedule information and content specific to your stations. Visitors from more than 80 different communities across the country will be able to see links to locally produced content while browsing the site, with more areas coming soon.

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Typo Base HD for iPad

If you’re a designer that occasionally gets a hard-on for accentuated rounded curves in the letter G, or an iOS developer eyeballs deep in PDF documents detailing the available fonts on the iPad, get yourself a copy of Typo Base HD.

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The History of Trainyard→

The History of Trainyard

I tried a variety of mini-marketing escapades, including spending $50 on AdMob, $50 on Project Wonderful (Axe Cop, specifically), and $50 on Google Adwords. None of that worked. $50 is almost too tiny an amount to spend, but it became immediately obvious that any ad campaign within my budget would have no effect on sales whatsoever.

I should add that I definitely wasn’t disheartened. I knew it would take time, and that I had a great game that would eventually be successful. I just really wasn’t sure how to get there, but that was part of the adventure.

Great story, and congrats.

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MacStories’ Weekly Game: Circuloid

[We thought it was about time to start our own feature of games worth a mention on MacStories. Even though MS is not exactly a game-focused publication, some games for iOS are just too good and addictive to not cover them. So there you have it, MacStories’ Weekly Game.]

Circuloid is a recently-released game for iPad by Polish developers Macoscope (the same guys who developed the Nozbe apps) which sports great graphics, interesting control methods, lots of levels and a great old-style difficulty. Circuloid is a classic Arkanoid / brick-breaker style game where you have to well, destroy bricks on screen. What impressed me, though, and convinced me to feature the app on MS is the extreme attention to the iPad’ unique features the developers put into this game. Read more

Should Apple Allow Installation of iOS Apps From Other Sources?

The Mac App Store won’t be the only way to install apps on a Mac. As Steve Jobs confirmed at the “Back to the Mac” event, the Mac App Store will be the best way to discover and install apps, but not the only one. You’ll still be able to purchase apps directly from developers’ websites and run installers or .DMG files just fine. Can you imagine what could ever happen if Apple turned the Mac into an App Store-only “closed” system with no possibility to download software from other sources? After 20 years of regular installations?

So in a matter of a few months you’ll be able to install apps on your Mac in two different ways, and one of them will likely take over the other one in a very short period of time. If Apple understands the natural differences of the Mac from iOS and consequently adjusts the Review Guidelines in a way that developers won’t be forced to water down their apps, the Mac App Store will be huge. Both for users and devs.

Should Apple do the same on iOS? Read more

An iOS-Powered Massage Chair

Who wants to use a wired analog remote when you can use a sleek, retina-displayed iDevice to do it? The Acutouch HT-9500 massage chair is being sold for only $4,999 (iPhone not included). After you drop $5K on the chair, head on over to the App Store and download the FREE (it better be) HT-Connect™ app to start making your iDevice your personal masseuse. It uses Bluetooth to send the controls/settings to the chair and grants you “instant access to a world of resources, massage programs and expertise designed to improve your wellness and life.”

Wow, my back feels better already, it’s my wallet that’s hurting now. Read more