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- OpenFeint Has Been Acquired By Japanese Company GREE for $104 Million [Updated]
- SoundTracking Review
- Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Returns to its iPhone and iPod touch Home
- The Official Ferrari Opus For iPhone Review
- Blink Mobile Application to Help Electric Vehicle Owners Find Charging Stations
- NBA Jam for iPad Review
- Fruit Snatch Review
- Enjoy The Easter Break With Hot Cross Bunnies
- Celebrate The Royal Wedding With The Royal Wedding By NBC News
- Tap The App Review
- Sega Puts 4 Games On Sale For Easter
| OpenFeint Has Been Acquired By Japanese Company GREE for $104 Million [Updated] Posted: 21 Apr 2011 06:06 PM PDT
[Updated 7:00pm, PST] Reportedly the acquisition shouldn’t change either company drastically. Users shouldn’t expect any immediate chances to the OpenFeint system, and both parties are positioning this acquisition as a one plus one equal three kind of thing, the sum is greater than the parts. We are all very familiar with the little green leaf of OpenFeint with it’s social gaming network already integrated with over 5,000 iOS and Android games. GREE, is a Japanese social games company much like DeNA, the company that acquired ngmoco last year. They develop massively social games for the Japanese market. For OpenFeint, the investors get over a hundred million dollars, and validation of the network that they have built, the largest mobile social gaming network. For GREE, they get quick access to the US, and the iOS and Android platforms. GREE will also seed some more money to help OpenFeint accelerate and grow. A good sign that they are interested in building the company and not just absorbing them. In an open letter to developers who use the OpenFeint platform, Jason Citron, CEO & Founder of OpenFeint tried to assure developers that this change will be good for the platform as it will increase the speed of updates and new features. OpenFeint have also posted a FAQ with answers to some common questions on the deal. In my opinion, most acquisitions seem have a negative side to them. One company gets the short end of the stick. But thus far, this acquisition seems to be a win for both parties and will allow OpenFeint to continue to do the great work that they do while letting GREE better benefit from that. Time will tell. A big congratulations to all at OpenFeint! Read the full press release and note from Jason Citron below, after the jump.
Below is the press release from OpenFeint, released earlier today, April 21st.
[ OpenFeint Has Been Acquired By Japanese Company GREE for $104 Million [Updated] is a post from 148Apps ]  |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2011 12:04 PM PDT  SoundTracking ReviewBy Jennifer Allen on April 21st, 2011Our Rating:   :: SOUNDLY USEFULiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad SoundTracking offers a great way of tracking your musical memories with a social networking twist
Developer: Schematic Labs Price: FREE Version Reviewed: 1.0.3 Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4 iPhone Integration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 3.92 out of 5 stars How many times a day do you hear a song and it instantly brings you back to a great memory of a time gone by? I had that earlier today, walking along the street I heard a song that immediately reminded me of a happy Summer’s day about 10 years ago. It’s a nice feeling. SoundTracking captures that sentiment by enabling you to share your music memories as they happen, in a similar vein to other Social Networking apps.
Besides adding your SoundTracks, SoundTracking also provides a few different social networking options of its own. You can add friends of yours that also use the app and check the Feed section for what they’ve been up to. You can also see what music is currently trending which makes for a great way of getting inspiration as well as seeing what’s popular in the world at the moment. Looking at what’s trending, I suspect not as many people are using SoundTracking as it deserves but there’s certainly the potential for lots of growth. As a free app it feels a little cruel to criticise SoundTracking too much and admittedly it does mostly everything you could want. It would however be nice to be able to send messages to other people and to be able to delete your posts. Other than that though, SoundTracking is a great idea with the potential to be huge. It’s certainly essential for music fans. [ SoundTracking Review is a post from 148Apps ]  SoundTrackingiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Buy Now: FREE Our Rating: Released: 2011-03-11 :: Category: Music :: SOUNDLY USEFULRead Our Full Review >> Apps mentioned in this post: SoundTracking |
| Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Returns to its iPhone and iPod touch Home Posted: 21 Apr 2011 11:30 AM PDT
This is the same pixel art themed adventure game as its iPad cousin, although there is now an advisory at the beginning of the game to take care when tweeting lines, as many people overtweeted lines from the game (which were automatically tagged #sworcery). Owners of the iPad version who also have iPhones and iPod touches are not out of luck – the iPad version has become universal, in a situation identical to World of Goo’s iPad version becoming universal. This is a trend that I definitely hope that other developers and publishers catch on to, as it is the fairest possible solution for multiple device owners. With this model, multiple device owners don’t have to choose between a version that would run on all their devices (but scaled up on the iPad), or on a version that looks great on the iPad but doesn’t run on the smaller devices. This is definitely a first world problem, but it still is a nagging issue with the version split between iPhone and iPad apps. Both the Micro and Universal versions of the game are available now, along with the fantastic soundtrack composed by Jim Guthrie, which is available on both Bandcamp and iTunes.   Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EPiPad Only App - Designed for the iPad Buy Now: $4.99 Our Rating: Released: 2011-03-24 :: Category: Games / Adventure :: A TIME OF MIRACLESRead Our Full Review >> [ Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Returns to its iPhone and iPod touch Home is a post from 148Apps ] Apps mentioned in this post: Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Micro |
| The Official Ferrari Opus For iPhone Review Posted: 21 Apr 2011 11:04 AM PDT  The Official Ferrari Opus For iPhone ReviewBy Jennifer Allen on April 21st, 2011Our Rating: :: CLASSYiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Offering some stunning visuals, this is a must buy for Ferrari fans.
Developer: Opus Media Group Price: $0.99 Version Reviewed: 1.0 Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4 iPhone Integration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 3.83 out of 5 stars You love Ferraris right? Your friends call you a petrolhead, yes? If you have to say no to either of these then The Official Ferrari Opus app is not for you. It’s a luscious collection of photographs demonstrating the extraordinary history of the Ferrari. It’s very impressive to look at if you’re a fan of the car and the name.
There’s over 1,000 unique, rare or previously unpublished photographs to gaze at ranging from photos of the beautiful cars to photos of various people associated with the firm. Each image is appropriately reproduced in high resolution and you can zoom in and examine each photo if you so wish. There’s a plentiful supply of captions and other information too. While some of this is a little fiddly to look at on the iPhone, the zoom function helps a lot. Imagery isn’t solely stationary either, with the ability to watch video clips from the Ferrari archives too. While, The Official Ferrari Opus is clearly not going to be of any interest to non-petrol heads, fans will adore this. For many, it’ll give them an insight into the world of Ferrari that they couldn’t have had before without paying a lot of money. Of course if you do want to pay out a lot of money, this app does come with a special discount on the full Opus. What a bargain. [ The Official Ferrari Opus For iPhone Review is a post from 148Apps ]  The Official Ferrari Opus for iPhoneiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Buy Now: $0.99 Our Rating: Released: 2011-04-11 :: Category: Books :: CLASSYRead Our Full Review >> Apps mentioned in this post: The Official Ferrari Opus for iPhone |
| Blink Mobile Application to Help Electric Vehicle Owners Find Charging Stations Posted: 21 Apr 2011 10:45 AM PDT
However, as an EV owner, you might be afraid of your car dying somewhere with nary an electric charger in sight, because gas stations are still far more common than EV chargers. ECOtality is hoping to lighten up this “range anxiety” with their upcoming app, Blink. This app is designed to show where nearby chargers are according to either your current location, or according to a location of your choice. Users can also check the current status of Blink chargers, to see where chargers might be in use, and can get notifications of when the status of chargers change. As ECOtality CEO Jonathan Read puts it, “ECOtality has long maintained that EV adoption is a viral activity, [ Blink Mobile Application to Help Electric Vehicle Owners Find Charging Stations is a post from 148Apps ]  |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2011 10:38 AM PDT  NBA Jam for iPad ReviewBy Carter Dotson on April 21st, 2011Our Rating: :: ON FIREiPad Only App - Designed for the iPad NBA Jam comes to the iPad in a native version, with all the high-flying jams and over-the-top announcing intact.
Developer: EA Mobile Price: $9.99 Version Reviewed: 1.0 Device Reviewed On: iPad 1G Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 4.38 out of 5 stars Nothing has been lost in the transition from the smaller device to the larger iPad – the game still looks great, and details pop out even more than they do on the smaller screen, even with the Retina Display. The player uniforms are more detailed, and you can even clearly make out the real head coaches on each team’s sideline. You also have the advantage of having less of the screen obscured with the controls. If you have the Fling joystick, this game works perfectly with it, for superior movement control. The gameplay is still the classic NBA Jam that you know and love – the high-flying 2-on-2 arcade action, all the classic elements, the game plays just as well as you remembered it back in the 16-bit era of gaming, and the over the top announcing of Tim Kitzrow is here as well. And if you never played it back then, then it’s definitely worth picking up, as the game’s arcade elements are truly timeless. As an added bonus, the iPad version supports wireless multiplayer, along with the update for the iPhone/iPod touch version – and yes, the versions of the game are cross compatible for the local wifi/Bluetooth multiplayer.
The iPhone/iPod touch version of NBA Jam was supremely addictive when it first came out, and the iPad version is no exception. If you love NBA Jam and own an iPad, this is a must-have. [ NBA Jam for iPad Review is a post from 148Apps ]  NBA JAM by EA SPORTS™ for iPadBuy Now: $9.99 Our Rating: Released: 2011-04-21 :: Category: Games :: ON FIRERead Our Full Review >> Apps mentioned in this post: NBA JAM by EA SPORTS™ for iPad |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2011 09:04 AM PDT  Fruit Snatch ReviewBy Jennifer Allen on April 21st, 2011Our Rating: :: ENJOYABLEiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Fruit Snatch is a simple but fun game all about collecting fruit
Developer: Metro Apps Price: FREE (ad supported) or $0.99 Version Reviewed: 1.0 Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4 Graphics / Sound Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars It’s a hard life for Leon the Chameleon it seems. His fruit supply has been stolen by Thora Bird and worst of all, his offspring have vanished too. Predictably (otherwise this wouldn’t be much of a games review), it’s down to you to save the young ones and collect up the fruit.
It’s a simple enough mechanic but one that makes for a fun experience. The game starts out slowly but gradually ramps up the amount of fruit that comes at you. Once you miss three, it’s game over. You can at least bounce them back towards the stork with your tongue, in order to give you a bit more time to swap to the correct color. There’s also the added problem of flies who try to fly away with your fruit – again in need of a quick whip of the tongue. Power-ups also appear such as a Super Suck ability, a Time Freeze attack and a Bomb that destroys everything on screen. Plus you can collect up your children gradually which also helps matters. There’s OpenFeint support too so you can compare scores with friends as well as enjoy the thrill of achievements. Fruit Snatch is a very simple concept but it’s fun to play. It’s not overly challenging by any means but it’s a fun game to drop in on for short doses. It’s a free download if you don’t mind ads (it’s only $0.99 to remove them) so it’s an ideal game for friendly competition with friends too. [ Fruit Snatch Review is a post from 148Apps ]  Apps mentioned in this post: |
| Enjoy The Easter Break With Hot Cross Bunnies Posted: 21 Apr 2011 08:30 AM PDT
Someone’s been stealing the Easter Bunny’s treats and he’s not happy by any means. So starts the war of the Hot Cross Bunnies against the Yellow chicks. Very Eastery indeed. Gameplay consists of firing hot cross buns at the chicks’ balloons using an improvised catapult. Pop the balloons to retrieve the treats and gain points. It’s a simple little game but ideal, cutesy fun for the Easter season. The iPhone and iPad versions are now available at $0.99 each. While you make up your mind, take a look at the footage below and the image gallery. Also, do go munch a hot cross bun, they’re delicious.   [ Enjoy The Easter Break With Hot Cross Bunnies is a post from 148Apps ] Apps mentioned in this post: Hot Cross Bunnies, Hot Cross Bunnies HD |
| Celebrate The Royal Wedding With The Royal Wedding By NBC News Posted: 21 Apr 2011 07:30 AM PDT So in the grand old country of the United Kingdom of Britain or just plain old Britain as Brits such as I prefer to call it, the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton is extremely imminent.
It’s a free download that works for all iOS devices. It comes with over 300 photos and more than 40 NBC News royal reports, both new and archive footage from the NBC News Archives. Latest news is also included. On a lighter note, there’s an interactive royal family tree so you can learn plenty of facts about the key members of the family and the app even comes with ideas for how to host your own Royal Wedding tea party and what appropriate food you could prepare. Get downloading now and revel in your Royalist side in time for the Wedding next week.  The Royal Wedding by NBC News (iPhone)iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Buy Now: FREE Released: 2011-03-31 :: Category: Lifestyle [ Celebrate The Royal Wedding With The Royal Wedding By NBC News is a post from 148Apps ] Apps mentioned in this post: The Royal Wedding by NBC News (iPhone) |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2011 07:04 AM PDT  Tap The App ReviewBy Jennifer Allen on April 21st, 2011Our Rating: :: TAP TAP TAPiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Tap the App involves exactly what the title suggests
Developer: Nerdblender Price: $0.99 Version Reviewed: 1.0 Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4 Graphics / Sound Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 2.69 out of 5 stars Simplicity is very much the order of the day with Tap the App. There’s no weak storyline, no complicated strategies to learn, no headscratching moments, not even a GameCenter or OpenFeint Leaderboard in sight. All that Tap the App focuses on is tapping the screen as quickly and as accurately as possible. This makes for a double edged sword, while it’s fun for five minutes, there’s not the greatest amount of longevity here.
That’s about all there is to Tap the App however, three modes of play that take literally seconds to play. There’s a two player mode too so it’s quite fun to compete with friends, but that’s where the competitive element ends. Without any kind of online leaderboard system, Tap the App dares to feel a little pointless. It’ll be fun for a few minutes, maybe on your lunch break with workmates to pass the time, but there’s just not enough to it to make it great. With GameCenter support, I suspect it’d be a bit more enjoyable and screens within the app suggest that this a priority for the developer. For now though, I’d struggle to really recommend it. [ Tap The App Review is a post from 148Apps ]  Tap the AppBuy Now: $0.99 Our Rating: Released: 2011-04-20 :: Category: Games :: TAP TAP TAPRead Our Full Review >> Apps mentioned in this post: Tap the App |
| Sega Puts 4 Games On Sale For Easter Posted: 21 Apr 2011 06:04 AM PDT
Chu Chu Rocket! HD: The iPad version of this revival of the Dreamcast classic is on sale for $2.99, down from $4.99. If you’re spending time with the family this Easter, you’ll enjoy the single-device multiplayer for up to 4 players on 1 iPad. It sure beats having awkward family conversations. If you’re alone this Easter, then online multiplayer is available as well.  ChuChu Rocket! HDiPad Only App - Designed for the iPad Buy Now: $2.99 Released: 2010-10-28 :: Category: Games / Strategy Super Monkey Ball: One of the very first iPhone games, released back in August 2008, it’s still a leader in the “rolling around monkeys encased in plastic balls” genre, and is on sale for $0.99.  Super Monkey BalliPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Buy Now: $2.99 Released: 2008-07-11 :: Category: Games / Action Super Monkey Ball 2: Have you mastered the art of the monkey ball in the first Super Monkey Ball? Do you not play games that aren’t sequels? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you’ll be glad to know that Super Monkey Ball 2 is also on sale for $0.99!  Super Monkey Ball 2iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Buy Now: $0.99 Our Rating: Released: 2009-12-01 :: Category: Games / Action :: GOOD .. BUTRead Our Full Review >> Altered Beast: All I’m gonna say about this original Sega Genesis beat ‘em up going on sale for $0.99 is that someone at Sega has a sense of humor. [To find out what he means, bug the author on Twitter: @wondroushippo -- Ed.]  Altered BeastiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Buy Now: $0.99 Released: 2010-12-16 :: Category: Games / Action All these games are only on sale until April 25th, when they will rise back up to their original prices, so act quick to take advantage of this sale while you can. [ Sega Puts 4 Games On Sale For Easter is a post from 148Apps ] Apps mentioned in this post: Altered Beast, ChuChu Rocket! HD, Super Monkey Ball, Super Monkey Ball 2 |
Acquisition news comes at strange times. Today is no different. Late in the day just before a long holiday weekend it was announced that OpenFeint had been acquired by Japanese company GREE for $104 million.
It’s certainly easy enough to use. Simply log in using your Facebook, Twitter or Foursquare account and you’re set. Then it’s a matter of posting your SoundTrack clip either by selecting the song currently playing on your iOS device, using Music ID to identify the song playing around you or by searching for a track manually. Once you’ve done that you can then add place details, a photo and a description of whatever you want. You could enter information on why the track evokes such memories, what you were up to at the time, anything you could want. It’s a neat little idea and I found it particularly effective linked to Facebook as I like to link things like Instagram and other things to do with my life all in the one place, making Facebook my social networking tapestry. 
For the uninitiated, the Ferrari Opus is a physical book that costs over £2,000 to buy. It’s unsurprising why. The photos on the website depict an extremely attractive and premium looking tome that provides owners with some stunning visuals as well as signatures of numerous Ferrari drivers. Indeed, the most expensive version weighing in at £20,000 contains the autographs of pretty much every living F1 driver you could care to want an autograph of. Odds are you haven’t got a couple of grand spare, in which case this $0.99 app should keep you very happy.
So you bought an electric vehicle – good job! Gas prices are getting so expensive, and if everyone starts selling their kidneys to fill up their gas guzzlers, soon we won’t be able to get much for our kidneys anyway. 
NBA Jam’s revival by EA Sports has been a boon for gaming – over-the-top sports games inexplicably went out of style a long time ago, and it’s a shame that we have been free of basketball games where everything is over the top, turbo speed is the norm, heads are huge, and gravity is merely a suggestion. NBA Jam is back, and after the iPhone/iPod touch incarnation earlier this year, the game has been released on the iPad. This is largely the same game as the iPhone version, featuring a quick play mode and a campaign mode that takes you through all 30 NBA teams as well as several classic teams. There are dozens of hidden characters to unlock, ranging from NBA legends to political figures, though if you put Al Gore and Joe Biden on the court simultaneously, the pasty whiteness may permanently blind you, so be careful.
Sadly, while the controls still work well, you still have to shake your device to do spin/crossover moves, and this is just not very intuitive on the larger iPad. There’s space for a fourth button, why not add it in? Some of the annoying elements of the AI haven’t been changed yet – the rubber band AI is still there, the one that will give up points like if the Dream Team was playing a middle school team, but then turn into a kind of defensive force in the 4th quarter that will take the ball away from you if you even look at them funny. The AI still hates to take 3 point shots, too – but considering how easy it is to dunk, and how they can avoid any kind of shoving once the first quarter ends, why would they even shoot threes at all?
Fruit Snatch, or to give it its full title: Super Yum Yum Fruit Snatch, is as simple as that but it’s quite good fun too. Leon runs by himself with your controls focused on collecting the fruit with his tongue. A simple tap on the fruit and Leon happily retrieves it. The catch here however is the color of the fruit. Leon can only catch fruit that’s the same color as him. Each fruit is a different color and, once eaten, turns Leon into that color. You get the idea – grab the red fruit and Leon turns red thus enabling him to collect more red fruit. There’s also the addition of leaves to many of the fruits which are also different colors and again turn you into the appropriate color. 
There’s something a little sinister about receiving an email that starts with the line “What do you get when you pour boiling water down rabbit holes?” Fortunately, the answer is Hot Cross Bunnies, a really rather sweet Easter themed game that’s just been launched on the App Store. 
Indeed, it’s next Friday! Feels like only yesterday that the date was announced and a good friend of mine cursed the fact that they’re marrying on the same weekend as Them (my friend’s getting hitched two days afterwards). Us Brits will be enjoying a day off to enjoy watching the Royal people wander around and mingle. Plus we, as well as the rest of the world, can enjoy The Royal Wedding app courtesy of NBC News. 
Upon loading, you get free choices – Classic Mode, Freestyle and Scatter. Classic Mode you have to tap each box in numerical order going from left to right. It takes mere seconds (my best time is around 3.5 seconds) to complete. As the title suggests, Freestyle adds a freestyle element to things – this time you can tap any boxes you want in any order you want. This takes a similar amount of time, at least for me. Scatter mode is a lot harder, taking roughly double the amount of time as Classic mode. The boxes move around so it’s harder to follow a set route and it’s easy to miss your target.
In the world of the App Store, any kind of holiday is a great reason for developers and publishers to hold a sale, and Easter is no exception. Sega’s taking part in the festivities with an Easter sale of their own, with four titles taking part in the festivities.
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