Tag Archives: iphone

Interview: Sony’s Tretton Addresses Hackers, Downplays iPhone Threat

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[In this interview with Gamasutra editor at large Chris Morris, SCEA CEO Jack Tretton talks candidly about April’s PSN security breach and outage, and how low-priced mobile titles aren’t necessarily “training people to pay $5 for games.”]

While Sony would probably argue otherwise, the rest of the world tends to agree that the company’s public handling of April’s data intrusion was a textbook example of PR fumbling. After waiting what many consider to be too long to address the problem, the company finally apologized, but the sentiment seemed rehearsed — and less than sincere to many.

But when Jack Tretton stepped on stage at this year’s pre-E3 press conference and addressed the issue for the first time, he did so without a script or teleprompter, choosing instead to speak from the heart.

Read more at Gamasutra

App Review: Storm in a Teacup

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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.

Read more at Common Sense Media

App Review: The Heist

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It takes a unique game to unseat Angry Birds from its roost at the top of the sales chart — and The Heist certainly qualifies in that regard. While most games — especially puzzle games — gently ease players into the game and take a long time to ramp up difficulty, this app offers no instructions and hits you with some hard puzzles pretty quickly. After you start the app, a “call” (actually a pre-recorded element of the game) on your idevice explains that you’re there to assist breaking into the imposing vault on the screen. From there, you’ll have to figure out what the goal of each puzzle is and how to achieve it. It’s not a game for the light-hearted, but it is a lot of fun and will test your puzzle-solving skills.

Read more at Common Sense Media

App Review: Stupidness 2 PRO

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It would be easy to accuse Stupidness 2 PRO of living up to its name, but that would be lazy and misleading. The app does include some good brain-teasers — and it smartly includes hints for people who can’t figure out a solution (at the cost of IQ points). However, many of the puzzle solutions are random and seem meant only to showcase the iDevice’s abilities (like the gyroscope or multitouch).  Additionally, it’s a very short app. Some users can breeze through it in 10-15 minutes, which makes the price tag — even at 99 cents — questionable. Unless you’re hopelessly addicted to these sorts of puzzles, the free version should suffice just fine.

Read more at Common Sense Media

HBO Go headed to iPad on May 2

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HBO is teasing – if not outright announcing – its imminent arrival on the iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices.

The cabler has posted a YouTube video that shows its HBO Go streaming service running on a variety of tablets and phones, including Apple’s iconic brands. At the end, the HBO Go logo is shown with the date 5.2.11 shown underneath, presumably the mobile launch date for the service.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Apple sues Samsung over Galaxy phones and tablets

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Apple’s legal team is certainly off the leash these days.

On the heels of suits filed against HTC and Nokia, Apple has filed suit against Samsung, accusing the company of using Apple’s intellectual property in several of its devices, including the Galaxy S 4G phone and Galaxy Tab tablet computer.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Handheld Gaming: Forget Apple, What About Nintendo vs. Sony?

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As the iPhone has stolen the media spotlight and been touted as the sole competitor for Nintendo’s dominance of the mobile gaming market, Sony has been somewhat left in the shadows.

That’s understandable, to a point. The company’s first handheld gaming system – the PSP (PlayStation Portable) – never quite lived up to its promise as a true rival to Nintendo’s dominance of the market. And despite the company’s efforts to refresh the PSP brand over the past six years, it never hit the cultural zeitgeist that many expected.

Read more at CNBC.com

Potshots over portables

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For the past four years, Nintendo and Apple have been grappling for control of the mobile gaming market — but last month, the stakes got higher.

The 3DS, a handheld system that presents games in stereoscopic 3D without glasses, hit shelves March 27, representing one of Nintendo’s biggest bets in years. And early indications are it was a winning one.

Read more at Daily Variety

10 days, 10 million downloads for Angry Birds Rio

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Maybe this will make those cranky canaries happy.

Rovio, developer of the hit “Angry Birds” series, has revealed via Twitter that its latest title – “Angry Birds Rio” – has hit the 10 million download mark in just 10 days.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

App review: Angry Birds Rio

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New Angry Birds levels are never a bad thing — and Angry Birds provides plenty. With 60 initial levels and commitments from developer Rovio for additional updates in May, July, October and November, this will keep fans of the runaway hit franchise happy for a while. Veterans of the game, though, might be disappointed with how easy half of the levels are this time around, although there are other elements, such as hidden fruits and new achievements to keep them busy. The marketing parts of the game are relatively tame, which is refreshing as well. While the visceral thrill of the game is still there, the gameplay is starting to show very early signs of aging. Angry Birds has been around for a while now and there are lots of clones on the market. It’s still a lot of fun, but Angry Birds Rio is noticeably less addicting than Angry Birds.

Read more at Common Sense Media