Spinlight Studios, the developers of the 
wonderful number-learning TallyTots, turn their attention to the alphabet in this creative and educational app. Learning isn’t something that’s viewed as a burden, but rather transformed into a game, which makes young kids want to use this app again and again. All letters are always on screen, letting kids explore where they want — and accessing the familiar A-B-C song is just as easy. The interactive elements, which kick in after pronunciation on the letters is made clear, are very clever and engaging. Navigating alphabetically is a snap, but if the user wants to jump from, say “A” to “Z,” they’ll have to press that letter for 3-4 seconds, which might be beyond the attention span of the target audience.
Author Archives: Chris Morris
App Review: Storm in a Teacup
Storm in a Teacup is a good game, but 
it falls a bit short of being great — though it’s hard to say why. The app has a very unique look, like something from a child’s imagination, and has plenty of good puzzles to solve and items to find. Perhaps what’s missing is the lack of a story tying things together. There’s a narrative on the iTunes store page, but nothing’s built into the game. While Storm, the teacup-riding hero of the game, will charm you, there’s never a real emotional connection with him, so you don’t feel a sense of loss when you fail. That said, the controls respond wonderfully, an essential quality in an arcade game, and you may find yourself playing for long stretches without realizing it. For 99 cents, it’s a no-brainer.
May Video Game Sales Likely to Be Weak
After spending a week looking into the 
future, the video game industry must once more face the reality of the present.
May sales figures are expected to be announced after the market closes Monday – and they’re not likely to add any sort of boost to the goodwill that often accompanies the E3 trade show. Analysts expect sales, at best, to be flat compared to last year.
Report: Arrests made in PlayStation Network attack
Police in Spain have arrested 
a trio of hackers who officials say could be a part of the recent attacks on Sony’s PlayStation Network.
Reuters reports the three suspected members of the loose hacker alliance known as Anonymous are being charged with cyber-attacks against Sony, governments, businesses and banks.
Seven Video Games To Watch 2011
E3, the video game 
industry’s yearly convention, is the ultimate tease for gamers.
They’re shown well-polished bits of upcoming games that whet appetites and ramp up their enthusiasm, then told to wait – often for a couple of years. It is, in some ways, rather cruel.
Investors Overreacted to Wii U: Nintendo Chief
While some E3 show goers 
might be willing to wait five hours or more to get a few minutes of hands-on time with Nintendo’s recently unveiled next-generation console, investors were less enthusiastic about the Wii U.
The company’s stock fell 5 percent the day it showed off the system—and was down another 7 percent on Wednesday. In an interview at the E3 trade show, Nintendo’s global president Satoru Iwata said he felt investors were overreacting.
Scenes From E3
Games themselves are only part of 
the story at E3 , the video game industry’s yearly gala . To get a real sense of the carnival-like atmosphere at the show, you need to look beyond the carefully coordinated demos and presentations.
The E3 convention is often called a circus – but there are a lot more than three rings. With everything from celebrity cameos to multimillion-dollar booths to scantily dressed models, E3 is a constantly moving, nearly organic being. Capturing all of the show’s eccentricities is impossible, but here are a few snapshots of the video game industry’s annual party/trade show to give you a taste.
Weird gear: The craziest gadgets from E3
E3 is a three-ring circus — and 
like any circus, it’s filled with spectacular sights and things of wonder. (And, thanks to Twisted Metal, it also has a few freakish, scary clowns.)
But it also has a slew of attractions that are just downright weird. We didn’t see any lines of dancing poodles at this year’s show, but here are a few of the less common things on and around the show floor.
E3 2011: Snoop Dogg talks piracy, video games
E3 is a magnet for c
elebrities each year. Steven Spielberg regularly shows up. Robin Williams has been seen sneaking into demos. And earlier today, Snoop Dogg was at the YooStar booth to promote the company’s latest game – “YooStar on MTV”.
Before going out to shill the game, the rapper talked with me about his thoughts on piracy after the Sony data breach earlier this year as well as his favorite games.
E3: US PlayStation Chief Addresses Hack Attacks
Jack Tretton has 
been in an unenviable position for the past month-and-half.
As the president of Sony Computer Entertainment America, he is one of the most recognizable personifications of the PlayStation brand – but throughout the extended drama surrounding the hacker attack that resulted in the theft of personal information from over 100 million accounts, he has been forced to sit on the sidelines and remain silent. At this year’s E3, though, he’s finally getting a chance to address the situation.
Chris Morris: Journalist 