Author Archives: Chris Morris

App Review: Find My Friends

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The risks that accompany any location tracking app are present in Find My Friends, but to Apple’s credit, the company has taken several steps to mitigate risk. That said, the app is still not a wise choice for children, unless parents want to use the iPod Touch or iPhone as a tracking device for their kids.

The free app allows people to track where their friends are, but uses a permission-based system. No one can track you unless you give your consent first. (Kids, though, might let anyone track them in an effort to build a large cache of online “friends.”) It’s easy to stop broadcasting your location, but given people’s tendencies to sometimes forget simple tasks, it’s inevitable that users will sometimes inadvertently announce where they are when they would rather not. Functionality-wise, it’s not dramatically different than other location sharing services, but it does the job well and includes enough additional features (such as temporary location sharing) and controls that it might be worth checking out — if the user is age appropriate.

Read more at Common Sense Media

App Review: FIFA Soccer 12

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Previous FIFA soccer games in the App Store have been good, but not great. FIFA Soccer 12, though, is absolutely fantastic — and may be one of the best sports games available in the App Store. The entire game, from the controls to the graphics, has been overhauled — and the improvements are vast. The game makes excellent use of the touchscreen without slowing down the pace of the game. The graphics are quite smooth, and there’s even a manager mode, letting you experience soccer from the other side of the sidelines.

The addition of a changing daily challenge will keep core players hooked, but this is a title that even non-soccer fans will embrace. It’s a huge game, taking up over 1 GB of space, but its quality and depth indicate that’s not an unreasonable size.

Read more at Common Sense Media

Study finds violent games ‘emotionally desensitizing’

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Video game industry critics have long held that people who play violent games become less affected by real world tragedies. Now they might have some science backing them up.

Researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany say a new study finds brain activity from heavy gamers is noticeably different than that of non-players — and that violent games could be “emotionally desensitizing” after extended exposure.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

NPD: Game sales bounce back in September, hardware down

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After setting five-year retail sales lows for the past three months, the video game industry finally showed signs of life in September — although those vitals weren’t as strong as some industry observers were expecting.

Year-over-year sales were down 4 percent overall, but game software sales (the most closely followed statistic) were up 3 percent, the first positive growth in months.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Spotify hits the quarter-million mark

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Less than three months after formally bursting onto the scene in the United States, streaming music service Spotify has established an impressive foothold.

Reuters reports the company has signed up more than 250,000 paying customers here since its launch. The company revealed last month that its worldwide paying customer base has topped 2 million.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

App Review: Jelly Defense

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Jelly Defense is a perfectly serviceable entry in the tower defense genre, but it doesn’t really add anything that other titles haven’t already. The enemies and defenders are, admittedly, much cuter than in most other games of this ilk, but the gameplay is fairly basic: Waves of enemy troops come marching down the road and you attempt to stop them with a series of defensive weapons. The controls handle well, though, and the game’s overall look is certainly eye-pleasing. It currently carries an introductory price of 99 cents, which is certainly fair, though we’re not sure we’d pay more for the game and still feel as good about it.

Read more at Common Sense Media

App Review: Shadowgun

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While Shadowgun has been accused of borrowing a bit too much from the Gears of War franchise, there’s enough in this app that differentiates itself from the console hit. The shooting elements that dominate the game certainly follow the same pattern — enter a room, then fight your way through it, using cover to protect yourself. But the inclusion of puzzles and pattern recognition games are nice breaks to the fighting. The controls handle well, which is a relief. And the graphics are incredibly well done. This is certainly one of the best looking iOS games to date.

It’s an expensive title, though, and one that gets repetitive after a while — but that won’t be enough to turn away core fans of the shooter genre.

Read more at Common Sense Media

September brings relief for video game sales

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The holiday season has kicked off for the video game industry – and not a moment too soon.

Retail sales of video game software were up 3 percent in September to $630.2 million, a welcome change from the record setting lows of the past three months. The increase was welcome news, though not as strong as some industry observers were hoping for.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

The 10 Biggest Videogame Movie Flops

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There’s no dancing around the fact that the vast majority of movies based on videogames stink. Absurd plotlines are attached to games that barely had a story to begin with — and those rare games that do have a strong narrative typically see that jettisoned by filmmakers for a different story line.

Being a bad movie isn’t necessarily the kiss of death at the box office — need we remind you of Paulie Shore’s cinematic career? Sometimes, however, the audience is just too smart to be fooled and the film tanks.

Read more at CNBC.com