The Geek Bros

A friend of mine finally got an iPhone today.  I am jealous yes because I still have the iPod Touch, but that is all the complaining I am going to do.  I felt this topic was particularly nice coming right after the 1 year anniversary of the Apps Store.  So if you only want to spend $10 but you want to have some quality fun on your device, here are my recommendations.  (A few of these are sales so it would be best to jump on them!)

10.  Pocket God- This game by Bolt Creative really isn’t religious like it may sound.  You control everything on an island, so you can take the villagers and boot them into the volcano, feed them, knock them in the head with coconuts, or feed them to the shark.  This one has amazing updates but really is mostly a time waster because it is not like it builds up to anything.

9. Word Warp- This is the cheap version of Text Twist by MobilityWare.  It gives you a bunch of letters and you have arrange them into words.  You can hit the warp button and they rearrange.  Longer words are worth more.  That is basically the game, but it keeps you thinking about words.

8. Flight Control- Firemint has said this was only a side project but now they have made tons of money off of it.  Basically you take the role of an air traffic controller and plan the flight paths of big planes, little plans and helicopters, they move and different speeds and you have to make sure theirs paths don’t make them run into each other.  The support on this has been good as well with new updates allowing you to play at different airports.

7. Mecho Wars- This is basically Advance Wars for the iPhone.  I have to admit, Oyaji Games did it well.  It is basically turn based strategy where you have to win either by producing more or having better strategy.  The multiplayer on it is quite nice too, but I don’t have enough people around me that own this one to play it with.

6. Hero of Sparta- Gameloft has made an awesome adventure game, this one is on sale so get this one quick at this price.  They said it was just for the weekend but it is still there.  Definitely one of the best adventure titles for the platform, it kind of seems like a simplified God of War.  I highly recommend picking this up even for the amazing graphics that it pulls out of the device.

5. Topple 2- You knew ngmoco would be in here somewhere for me.  Basically you have to use different shaped blocks to build the highest tower you can.  There is tons of playtime in this game as you try to build it faster, higher, etc.  There are several different modes and lots of online leaders\ boards so you can compete globally.

4. Flick Fishing- It is a simple fishing simulator by Freeverse that is amazing to pass time with.  There is a sort of story as you have to bring the old man in the shack different types of fish.  This one also excels in the multiplayer mode where you can compete with your friends to catch the biggest and most fish.  Multiple fishing spots keep it interesting just be sure to hold on to your device when you cast.

3. The Creeps!- Super Squawk Software only has one entry on the Apps store which I think is sad.  Tower defense games are way to plentiful on the Apps store but this is one of my favorites.  You are defending the kid in the bed from the approaching monsters.  Some of the super towers are tilt based which is a nice use of the accerometer.

2.  Stone Loops of Jurassica- This is really just a Luxor clone published by PlayCreek.  This one might be higher than it deserves to be, I will admit that, but I never said these were necessarily in order.  It is currently the game that is taking my attention, I mean there are 150 levels that get quite tough, plus 24 achievements.  Yes, it is a Luxor clone, but it is a really good one, especially for the price.

1. Toki Tori-  Published my Chillingo, this is also one of the ones that is considered a sale.  I bought it at $4.99 and thought it was worth the money.  The game is simple but it is also deceptively cute.  You will be challenged by it, and you will be happy you bought it.

Do you have other apps that are worth my buck?  Let us know and we will check them out as we find the cash.  Maybe I can go raid the couch cushions!

Well it is Wednesday again and time for the top 10 list of the week.  I feel this list is useful because some people haven’t yet accepted the fact that they have the beginnings of a geek.  Please note if you exhibit multiple items on the list it is time to accept your own geekness.

10.  Other people call you to fix their computers- This is the early sign when suddenly your teacher is having problems with their computer and you are the one that goes ahead and realizes that the printer isn’t plugged in.  These problems seem obvious to you but elude everyone else.

9.  You follow conversations that include such words as USB, SATA, RAM, ROM, Terrabytes, and HDMI- Sorry but there are certain words in a normal person’s vocabulary and then there are a huge list of words that aren’t.

8.  Someone tells you about a new gadget they found and you are mentally comparing if yours is better- So your coworker just picked up a new computer and you have to compare whether your video card is better.  If you toys don’t measure up you have to find other things that are better or else start thinking about how you can overclock your processor just to make it really beat the new one.

7.  You have spent your entire paycheck without ever entering a store-  You know what I mean, Amazon, Newegg, or Buy.  You know where to find the deals on what you like, and since you just spent it all upgrading your hard drive you will be eating Ramen for the next two weeks.

6.  You in fact did Catch ‘em all!- I will admit, in the first game I had all 151 Pokemon.  But this also applies if you have games with all the trophies earned or you ever leveled up your characters to 99 w2hen you only need level 60 to beat the game.  Or how about getting all the achievement points, well this is a strong indicator.

5.  In real life, you analyze the situation afor what you would do if you were playing a game- if you walk into a plaza and think where the bad guys would be hiding that is a definite sign that you are a geek.  Or if you are in a train station and you flashback that is another strong sign.

4.  If you have ever suddenly realized that it is 4 AM and you haven’t slept because you were playing Diablo 2-  I only use Diablo as my example because I remember the night that I was playing a huge amount of time to get a little farther in the game.  Suddenly there was a strange spider on the screen and no matter how I clicked on it, my character wouldn’t attack it.  Suddenly I realized it was a real life spider and I needed to get some sleep.

3.  Modding your (insert name of gadget here) sounds like a lot of fun-  I do this one, I am all into figuring how to make my stuff do even more than it was meant to do.  I really like having a hard drive hooked up to my Wii so that I don’t have to shuffle discs anymore.

2.  You have suggested in your group of friends that you should play a round of Halo, Starcraft, or any other game as a group activity-  First, and double your points if your friends decided it was a good idea.

1.   You own multiple systems from the same generation- You realize an average person would have an XBox 360 or a PS3 or a Wii, but in your living room you have all three.  Or in the handheld market you have an iPod Touch, NDS, and a PSP even though carrying all three around ruins the idea of them being very protable, you are definitely a geek.

If you have more ideas feel free to share them by commenting on the post.  Hope this helps you define whether or not you fit into the geek group.  If so welcome it is nice to have company!

As a follow up to last week’s Top Ten list telling you how to try and get new people into gaming, I thought I would write up a list of games that The Wife plays that perhaps others would be interested in.  Or perhaps that a gamer might be interested to introduce to a friend.

10. Dizzy Bee 1&2 (iPod Touch)-  This game by Igloo Games is probably my favorite one to watch her play.  You play a bee that has to free his friends without being squished.  You use the accelerometer to move around the screen.  The Wife though finds it works better if she leans her entire body to go with the bee. 

9. Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure (NDS)- It is funny because she has a complete love hate relationship with this game.  She loves to play it and the gameplay but she is hopelessly stuck in a few places so she takes breaks from it often because some of the levels are too hard.  I have done a full review of this game so I won’t dwell on it more.

8. Wii Fit (Wii)- This one she used regularly for a while.  I think she liked to play with the yoga and balance games the most.  Everyone is pretty familar with this game that seems to be in the tops sales every month into eternity.

7. Dr. Awesome (iPod Touch)- Another mention of an ngmoco game she likes to try and play a few rounds.  If you aren’t familar with this game if you think of the old Qix game you are pretty close.  you have people with infections and you move your cutting device with the accelerometer.  Also funny because it gets the names of your patients from your contact list so suddenly she has to try really hard or else someone she knows will “die,” because she didn’t take the infection out.

6. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)- What can I say?  The driving with the Wiimote feels extremely intuitive with this game and so she likes to race through the game.

5. Soul Bubbles (NDS)- A game that sadly came out as a store exclusive for Toys ‘R Us.  Usually you can assume store exclusives are terrible, but this one isn’t.  You collect the souls and navigate the courses and she loves it.  You can probably only find used ones of it now, but it is a good game.  She is stuck on the very last level and we can’t figure it out, any help would be appreciated.

4. Boom Blox Bash Party (Wii)- It is amazing that this one is so new but made it clear up to 4th.  She is particularly fond of the pulling games, but she will do the throwing and shooting with me.   I’ve talked about this one enough lately though so I will move on.

3. Harvest Moon DS Cute (NDS)- She kept joking with me that she wanted a Brown Jersey Cow, so I got her this.  Come to find out brown cows are pretty hard to get in the game, usually they are only black unless you get lucky. 

2. Sneezies (iPod Touch)- This game by Antair Games and published by Chillingo seems to be the quick play of choice.  If she gets the chance she loves to play this one and continuously try to get a higher score.  It is extremely simple as a game where you release sneezing power and the little sneezies sneeze.  Any that sneeze release more sneezing powder and you have to try take down as many as you can.  It think she likes the cute characters and cute sounds.

1. Super Princess Peach (NDS)- She always says this is her favorite game, she will go back and play it again every once in a while but she never beats the final enemy because she can’t do it without my help.  The Wife of R actually suggested this game to me and it was the first one that I gave to My Wife with her DS.  It is a simple platformer that has great replayability.

I hope this is helpful to someone and feel free to leave comments of what the non gamers around you are playing.  I am open to any suggestions that she might like to play!

You have met someone special that you enjoy spending a huge amount of time with.  But you have a secret that you don’t know how to share with them.  You are a gamer.  Well if your aim is have them join you in playing, here are a few ideas.  Please note that I have personally tested many of these as when we first started dating The Wife was not a gamer, but is now sometimes the one that suggests we play games together.

10.  Be careful about the quantity of time you are spending playing. For someone who is not a gamer it is not appealing to go on a date with someone who has been playing Halo for 10 hours that day.  If you present it as something you do for a short period of time it is much easier to adopt.

Sorry the Halo marathon is not impressive to non gamers!

9. Supress gaming references in conversation- Having to explain game references will likely turn their sympathies against your gaming ideas.  Clear gaming references include fragged, overdrive moves, and mushrooms making you grow bigger.

8.  Find a game with simple controls. There are certain games that are absolutely epic with incredible battles and tons of things that you can do.  This is not the type of game to use if you are trying to get a person into gaming.  Find something with intuitive controls.

7. Be quick to help- I’m sure everyone has played a game where some player doesn’t know what they are doing and continuously are running into the wall.  Help them out, plus wrapping your arms around them to show them how can be an be an excellent excuse to get close.

6.  Look for games that are interactive. Some games just lend themselves better to talking and learning more about each other.  I know hardcore gamers will cringe, but this is what Wii Sports did.  It gave you interactive experiences that made it appeal to a massive group of people.

High Interactivity=Good for our purposes!

5. Come on slowly- When I was introducing my then girlfriend to gaming, when we went into a store I would often say I wanted to stop by the gaming section.  I would spend a couple minutes looking and then leave.  It is bound to start conversations, she would ask me about some things and we would make jokes about the Barbie and Bratz games.

4.  Make sure the first game isn’t too long. Find a game that you can play through a level in under 15 minutes.  Don’t worry I know that your last game of Civilization IV took just under 20 hours.  I thought it was fun as well.  But for someone that doesn’t game it is just to much to take on all at once.

3.  Give them something in gaming that can be their own. It could be a controller or a game.  The Wife had her big change when I gave her a DS Lite in her favorite color and Princess Peach for Christmas.  It didn’t take long and she was hooked!

The game that got The Wife to start gaming

2.  Choose a special occasion to plan some gaming time. For example, it is your birthday, when they ask you what you want to do, perhaps say you would just like to relax and play some video games.  They are doing you a favor so they will go along with it, and hopefully if you are successful they will enjoy the gaming as well.

1. Be Patient!- Not every game you select will be appreciated.  Give another game a shot.  In addition, don’t be upset when you have to explain the controls of a game several times and help them through tough spots when they get a bit better.

I wish you all luck in your path to sharing your love of gaming!  Let us know how it works for you or if you have more ideas to share!

We know, being a gamer can take a toll on the pocket book.  Especially where there are always new peripherals and games coming out.  A few recommendations to help you save some green without making you stop playing.

10. You don’t have to own everything- Here is the thing, the vast majority of games if you play them hard you can beat them in a week.  If this is the case, consider checking them out from your local Blockbuster.  Sure you will have a few that you decide after you want to buy to replay, these you will end up paying slightly more for in the long run, but you will save on all the ones that you decide you don’t need to own.  If you need longer, consider Gamefly which offers 2 games out all month for $22.95.  If you don’t like one, send it back and play the other.  A pretty good deal.

9. Give it back to a trade in shop- The only reason to keep a game that you don’t think you will ever be interested in again is if you want to prove to your friends that you have a bigger collection than them.  Good trade in shops give you in store credit so you can buy more games without shelling out so much cash.  Amazon.com while they don’t accept nearly as many games they do generally give you more money for them.  Shipping them in is free, and free is good!

8. Sell it online- This is what to do if you are getting out of the video games and need cash to buy other things.  There are several sites that allow you to sell your games and you set the price that it takes for you to to part with your favorite Mario.  My personal favorite is www.half.com, but Craigslist works well too.

7. Swap games- I don’t own an XBox 360, but I really wanted to play Blue Dragon.  I asked my brother if I could borrow his XBox 360 for a week and he took my PS2 to play some Final Fantasy 12.  It worked out well and I didn’t have to invest more money.  While I don’t recommend console switching unless you really trust a person, trading something you are done with for something you want to play works out really well.

6. Buy Older Games- Most of these have not applied to the iPhone but this one definitely does.  It seems like every developer likes to run 2 major sales, one shortly after release of a game to get an install base and start word of mouth and the second when sales start to lag.  You have plenty of other things to play, wait for a price cut before you click the buy button.  This is what I use AppSniper for.

5. Buy Used Games- Used games play just as well as new ones.  Sometimes you will hear about an old classic on this site and you can pick it up for much cheaper than you would have new.  This is why you will see some older games reviewed from me.

4. Set goals on Achievements- So many games now have Achievements or Trophies, or Completion Points.  Make a point of continuing to play a game until a certain percentage of the Achievements are done.  This may be 50% for some people or 80% for others.  My brother took Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga and wanted to get 100%.  He hasn’t yet but he has gotten a lot more entertainment from the title then he would have had he just beat the game.  Plus those sometimes strange challenges really make the game interesting.

3. Shop around-  If you absolutely have to have new games be careful about being to commited to one place for all of your games.  When Punch-Out! came out last month you could save $10 at Amazon.  That doesn’t mean they will be the low price always, look at The Munchables a newer game that I am currently interested in.  Sure Amazon has it for $29.99 but you can also buy it in their marketplace for $19.99 with $3.99 shipping and you still leave with $6 more in your pocket.  In addition, you can legally not pay tax often when you buy from the internet which can also add up.

2. Research your games well- I know this has probably happened to everyone.  You buy a new game that you have saved your pennies for you get it home, pop it in and play for a hour when suddenly you realize this isn’t fun to me.  Here is the thing, don’t buy a game on impulse, even great series have ones that you wouldn’t ever want to play.  (For me Final Fantasy 9!).  Read our reviews, ask questions and try to play a demo so that you don’t flush money down the toilet.

1. Finish your games!- I know this one seems obvious, but the The Wife can confirm that I have a pile of games that I haven’t played for more than 20 minutes each.  I plan to get back to them, I just haven’t yet.  So I’m going to go and play a few games from the pile while I save my pennies!

Hope this helps!

E3 is going full strength with lots of great game announcements it is looking like it will be an excellent year to be a gamer.  We are a day late on the top 10 list because we wanted to make sure we got everything and it was a good thing we did.  Here is quick run down of things that are getting us excited:

10. Project NATAL- This one would be higher if there wasn’t so much leakage ahead of time.  Microsoft is trying to one up the motion sensing capabilities of the Wii by releasing a camera that will make it so you don’t have have a controller at all.  I have to admit I am skeptical that they could make this work in several different environments.  For example what if you want to play at night?  In addition, it is not like we have any clear idea of when this will be close to released.

9. PSP Go!- Again it would have been higher had not everyone known about it way ahead of time.  I really think that downloadable content is the way media will be distributed in the future.  It really saves the consumer so much money and wastes less space.  Sony seems to be trying to move that way quickly with this announcement.  The big downside is I really thought it would come out at a lower price point.

8.  Mario Brothers on the Wii- Again lower ranked because it was leaked but no one ever predicted that there would be 2 new games.  New Super Mario Bros. Wii uses the art style New Super Mario Bros. for the DS and seems to have a co-op/competitive playforming game to it.  Mario Galaxy 2 looks like a revisit to the Mario Galaxy world with tons of new levels.  I will be playing both!

7. Final Fantasy News- I asked for this and I got it.  Final Fantasy 13 will be released Spring of next year and Final Fantasy 14 will be next years also, exclusive to the PS3 and an MMORPG.  I guess Final Fantasy 11 has a true sequel finally.

6. Assassin’s Creed 2- Okay so this one isn’t really an announcement because we already knew about it.  But here is the thing it was something that was coming but we didn’t really care and now suddenly we care.  It looks amazing!  Of course, this is more for older games that are a bit more hardcore but the graphics look really great.

5.  Downloadable PS1 games coming to PSN.  First they start with an amazing title in Final Fantasy 7 and they said 50 will be coming.  I hope to see a few others of those classics like Front Mission 3 or Chrono Cross.

4. Metroid Other M- While not quite as good as a Zelda Wii announcement, I am excited that Metroid is coming back and hopefully it will be good especially with Team Ninja helping on the project.  Zelda Wii was said to be in progress but nothing to show yet.  Too bad!

3. Full game downloads for XBox 360- This one I didn’t see coming as much.  It is going to take a lot of bandwidth to download any game you want on your XBox, but on realease day you could just start your download in the morning, go to work, come home and get your game on without going to the store.  That would be nice.  It will be interesting to se how much of the library can be obtained this way.

2. Golden Sun DS- Sorry I have to mention it again.  I think this was the best RPG on the GBA and the news that we will have a sequel just makes me happy inside.

1. New Castlevania- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow announced for PS3 and XBox 360.  Konami had the last press conference and I am glad that they didn’t allow Microsoft or Sony to announce this for them.  The Castlevania Series is generally great and it will be great to see another entry into the series.

Sadly it is unlikely we will ever get to play another Duke game

8. New Wii Zelda- Let’s be honest, Twilight Princess was great but it has been a few years and it really was just a really great Gamecube game with a few improvements.  I want one completely designed for the Wii with no worries about making it compatible for other systems.

 7. Clear Sony Strategy- At this moment I think Sony needs to decide clearly who their target audience is.  I have seen things from their leadership that says they are the best party console and that women love them.  Most of the people I have seen playing the PS3 and the PSP however are not women.  They seem to be hardcore gamers.  Right now in this phase of the console I think it will be awfully hard if they don’t decide one way or the other.  Included in this are the issues with the pricing of the PS3 that seems to always have a rumor going and some actual answers on system revisions.  (Example: PS3 Slim? PSP GO!?)

6. Firm Final Fantasy 13 information- We are now at nearly 3 years from the release of Final Fantasy 12, and so far we don’t know very much.  There was a preview released in Japan that a few people have imported but we still have no idea when we can expect to see anything over here.  I’ll admit it, I am completely a geek that loves this series.  Let me know what is happening!

Some details would be nice!

5. Virtual Console on the DSi- Something that is in Japan but I hope so much that it comes across the Pacific.  I mean I would love to load up some of my old favorite GBA games on the DSi.  I mean the GBA gave us Golden Sun and which rivals the graphics of the NDS games.  In addition some of the old Gameboy games like Bomberman I would love to have whenever the whim hits me to play.

4. Third Party Support on the Wii- I know there is already a few complaints to Nintendo here.  It just seems like on the best selling console of the generation we should get more sweet titles from Third Parties. Sure Nintendo puts out some great stuff but I believe we need more than 2 or 3 great titles in a year.

3. Increased support for Downloadable Content- I hate to bring up the economy but it is relevant.  I think the average gamer is looking to get more game time for the buck and I think this is the best way for developers to increase interest in their products.  I am willing to lay down $15 if it is going to extend the amount of time I can play a game significantly.  Also games released with the digital download come cheaper because you don’t pay for packaging and distribution.

2. Ghostbusters- It has now been 3 years since we first started hearing about a new Ghostbusters game for lots of different systems.  It quite nearly died until the fans demanded it back with enough support that it is now in active development again.  Here’s to hoping it doesn’t become the next Duke Nukem.

Who you gonna call?

1. A Return to the E3 of yesteryear!- This one appears to have already been granted.  Years ago there was always a huge build up to E3 and then when it came you had tons of surprises about new games that were coming and you just got so excited about being a gamer.  Ever since they changed the format it has been kind of boring.  I know it costs a lot of money but it also brought a lot more hype.  With the return to the format of old, I just hope that it holds the same magic that I remember.

I sure hope it comes back from the dead!