CSI: Miami Review

    Gameloft, one of the leading iPhone/iPod Touch game developers has a smash hit with the app CSI: Miami. The game features one crime case where you travel around the city of Miami searching for clues, solving puzzles and mini games, questioning suspects, and talking with your fellow CSI co-workers. The characters in the game are all from the show including the most popular character Horatio. As you play a new game you can play on three difficulty levels and try to achieve the highest score in each. The game has beautiful graphics as well as cut scenes taken directly from the show which lack in quality but are still a good addition to the game. The characters in the game also have voice acting which is always a plus for any game of this type. The character’s voices are different then those from the show but are still nicely done. The game is a little too short lasting only around two hours or so. But after you complete the game you can play many mini games that were featured in the main storyline for some additional fun.

The game is well made and very fun to play. You need to search for things like guns, blood, water, broken glass, and fingerprints. Once you find the evidence you need to use a specific tool such as a glove, x-ray, pipette, and swab to collect it. Then you can take this evidence to the CSI lab and test them with other evidence and collect DNA samples that match your suspects. Once you have found a suspect you may question them, you will only get the information you need by questioning the suspect a certain way and showing evidence that you have collected to coax them. The storyline is great and you will want to play straight through to find out what happens. I thoroughly enjoyed this game and really recommend it for anyone who is a fan of CSI or any type of crime strategy game.

The Loop Blog gives CSI: Miami a 8.3/10 stars

CSI: Miami is currently in the app store for $.99 on sale from its original price of $4.99.

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Star Defense by ngmoco:) Reveiw

As you probably know, ng:) and Star Defense were showcased at the WWDC Keynote as part of the iPhone OS 3.0 demonstrations. Stephanie from ngmoco :) showed the audience the new in-app purchase API’s available in the soon-to-be-available 3.0 software update.

Star Defense falls under the genre of Tower Defense. Tower defense games are usually 2-D in the sense of the playing field. Star Defense’s playing field, however, takes place on 3-D planets. The interface is intuitive and it uses iPhone OS’s standard multi-touch.

First, the icon. Although this is not part of the app, ng:) did an absolutely incredible job with it. It is basically an eagle and a star combined. The texture is rugged, and there is a bezel on it matching the color of the eagle.  The color choice and texture is very good, and it makes me want to buy the app without even reading the description to make my home screen look better.

Let’s get into the interface. You launch it and are greeted with the familiar ngmoco:) splash screen. You then see a standard loading bar and the Star Defense Main Menu. The options in the menu are Galaxy Map, Challenge Log, Commendations, and Options. Galaxy Map is the choice of planets, but more on that later. Challenge Log shows tweets by the game for accomplishments in Challenge Mode, but, again, more on that later. Commendations are accomplishments such as defeating all waves on all planets on all difficulties, etc., etc. Options are the settings and comprises of Sound FX on/off, music on/off, reseting the game, credits, and Facebook Connect and Twitter.

If you go to Galaxy map you are greeted by planets in the shape of the Big Dipper constellation. Here you choose the setting of gameplay. You see one unlocked planet and six other ‘locks’ indicating a locked planet. If you tap on that first planet, it gives you the options of difficulty. You tap on one of those, and you tap proceed to go onto gameplay. On the right you have the five turrets. You can choose Start Wave to start the first wave. To move around the planet you just drag your finger around. To zoom in, you pinch two fingers. To pinch out, you double-tap. Overall, the interface is intuitive and it is familiar to iPhone users.

Finally, we move on to gameplay. You drag your turrets out, and you press Start First Wave. Out of the enemy’s, or S’rath’s, ship come creatures trying to attack your planet. Your turrets immediately start shoothing, and the S’raths basically explode. As the waves go on, the creatures get harder to beat, and you really have to think about where you put your turrets. As you kill S’raths, you get money to get more expensive turrets. You can upgrade them and such, but my one gripe about it is that you can’t move your turrets around. You have to sell them for a lower price than you got them, re-purchase them, and then put them where you wanted to move them. Overall the gameplay is very good, and that little kink won’t ruin your day.

In conclusion, ngmoco:) did an incredible job with Star Defense. The interface is intuitive, the gameplay is good, and it is a fun game. The replay value is medium-high due to the fact that the differences between planets not much except for the look. You can get Star Defense in the App Store here http://bit.ly/mwvup for $5.99. The Loop Blog gives star Defense a 8.75/10.

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Tap Tap Revenge: Lady Gaga

Tapulous has yet again put forth another Tap Tap Revenge premium application this time featuring Lady Gaga. The game features Lady Gaga’s hit songs such as “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” as well as several other songs and remixes. As soon as you open the application you know you are in for a treat. You are graced with a picture of Lady Gaga and a news feed for all of your Gaga needs. You can then choose to play one player or two player modes. Choosing one player lets you play through songs on many difficulties and unlock boss tracks. When you play a song you are greeted with a very Lady Gaga like theme. It takes place in a city backdrop and the tappers roll down from a billboard that sports your score. Tap along to Lady Gaga’s fun beats and watch the background react to your taps. Hit the left and right lanes and the diamonds/gems on the side will flash. Tap the middle lane and the city will pop out at you.

When you play and your multiplier streak gets higher Aces from a deck of cards will pop up on screen to notify you of how well you are playing. As you continue to play and keep your streak going to 50 notes, shake and enter revenge mode to turn the plain tappers to diamonds/gems themselves. These gems look like they are tumbling down the screen and add areally neat effect to the game. Play through the game and challenge yourself with multi-taps, hold notes, and shakes.

Enter your scores on an online leaderboard and compete with the many Tap Tap masters. Then you can also challenge a friend via email to see who is better at Tap Tap Revenge: Gaga!

Once you unlock the boss track in a given difficulty by completing the other tracks you are really in for a treat. These boss tracks add a new style of game play never introduced before in the Tap Tap Revenge series. This new method is landscape mode. Not only is it in landscape but there is one additional lane or rail to make it four all together. This brings on a whole new level of gaming in the series. Once you get used to the change the boss tracks are fun and challenging as well as stunning graphically.

This game is a very high quality game that will make you give you hours of fun at a time, it is just that addicting. The mix of Lady Gaga’s unique style and the brilliance that is Tapulous creates for some outstanding and unbelievable enjoyment. This game is recommended to not just fans of Lady Gaga or fans of TTR but for anyone who wants to have fun. The replay value of this game is indefinite and you will always feel the need to play it.

The Loop Blog gives Tap Tap Revenge: Lady Gaga a 9.9/10 stars. You can buy TTR: Lady Gaga for $4.99 in the iTunes AppStore.

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Appy Entertainment FaceFighter Review

From Appy Entertainment, the creator of Appy Newz, comes a new exciting application called FaceFighter. Gameplay for this game was directed by Emmanuel Valdez who is known for creating the popular game Ready 2 Rumble. The game is simple yet very creative and fun for everyone.  You can choose to fight Big Ben, an in game character, or choose to create your own characters using your stored photos on your device or your built in camera. It is extremely easy to create a fighter, all you have to do is choose an image and resize it within the guidelines given. Once that is complete you can start fighting! Select a difficulty anywhere from “Apply Slappy” to Hard and its time to fight!

The gameplay is simple just tap any of the four options given including punch, kick, and block to fight your opponent. When you damage your opponent funny graphics will appear on their face such as bruises, missing teeth, and a broken nose. Everytime you throw a punch or kick you get those famous comic book type sayings like kapow flashed in the background. The graphics are funny especially if you are using a created character. The gameplay yet simple is very fun and addicting. As you continue to play and hurt your opponent you will gain a special ability which is indicated at the bottom of the screen. Press the glowing circle to enter that special ability and use a tool such as a wrench to KO your opponent. The health gauge is located at the top under the fighter’s name and once you or your opponent’s gauge is drained the game is over. Your score is then saved to try and beat later.

The game is fun  but could use some more features even though the ability to create a character is endless there is still some things missing. There should be more of a selection of in game characters and not just Big Ben as well as more then just tapping a button to fight. But for the price the game is well worth it. You will be spending plenty of time making characters and beating up your friends while laughing doing it. This game is fun and very creative.

The Loop Blog gives FaceFighter an 8/10 stars. You can buy FaceFighter in the App Store for $.99

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WWDC 2009

Yeah, its that time again, WWDC.  The time of the year Apple fanboys and developers love.  Tomorrow (Monday) is the keynote opening to the event being led by Phil Shiller speaking on 10.6 Snow Leopard and iPhone OS 3.0, along with some product announcements.  Rumors have been spreading around for the past week or so on the new iPhone.  They are as followed.

-Name said to be the ‘iPhone Video’ or the ‘iPhone 3GS’

-Chrome bezel replaced by a matte iron

-Front facing camera (for video chat)

-Higher-up speaker

-Matte black backing (and most likely white too)

-High MP video camera

We won’t know for sure on any of these until the Apple WWDC keynote starts tomorrow at 10AM pacific time.  I was supposed to be at the keynote tomorrow blogging here, on Twitter, and Tatango, but could not go for a few reasons.  I will most likely be at the September iPod event as well as WWDC 2010.

I do know of one thing that may or may not be coming out at WWDC tomorrow, but I can say that I am really looking forward to it!

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Interview with Tapulous CEO, Bart Decrem

TLB: What is Tapulous?

Bart: One of the most successful pure-play iPhone/iPod touch companies!  We’re all about building fun and social apps for the App Store.

TLB: Upon starting Tapulous last summer, what was your vision of apps you would be making?

Bart: We imagined that we would mostly be making fun social apps - things like Fortune Cookies and Collage, with a small dose of games (Tap Tap Revenge). The surprize has been that Tap Tap Revenge has been such a massive hit that it’s overshadowed everything else we do.

TLB: Where do you see the Tap Tap revolution going in the future?

Bart: For 3.0, we’re focusing on (i) letting users purchase premium content directly inside of a paid version of the game, (ii) the community and online portions, including a big push on making Live play more fun and engaging and also a push towards user generated content (specifically, theming contests and opening up our music catalog to more independent artists).

TLB: When Tapulous makes Tap Tap’s for large band (Coldplay, Nine Inch Nails) are you in close contact with the band members or just their agents and recording studio?

Bart: It depends.  Our head of business development, Tim O’Brien, has worked in the music industry for over a decade.  We work with record labels, publishers, band managers, and artists directly - sometimes we reach out to partners, sometimes they reach out to us.  In the case of Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor, who’s a pioneer in music and technology, was very closely involved.  We had several meetings with him. In other cases, band management or the label are more in the drivers seat.

TLB: If you could re-transform Tapulous and they’re type of apps, what would it be?

Bart: More and more, I feel that we are not in the business of building apps (or even games), but in the business of offering great services, and a key part about how the user engages with those is the app (the game).  That’s the future and that’s where we are focusing our energy.

TLB: What app has been the most fun for you to work on?

Bart: Tap Tap Revenge is a blast to work on, because the game is so much fun and because there’s such a huge community of gamers that give feedback every day.

TLB: What can we expect soon from one of the largest iPhone app companies in the world?

Bart: We expect to stay on the leading edge of the App Store.  Expect us to continue to focus on building on the success of Tap Tap Revenge. We want to be the leader in music gaming on the App Store, with a big focus on the network and social aspects.

TLB: Will we ever have the functionality to make our own songs online or in a desktop app?

Bart: We are definitely going to offer more ways to allow independent artists to make their music available in Tap Tap Revenge.  We are constantly looking for more ways to offer users access to a broader range of music.

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