iBattleships
Chris J. | Apr 29, 2009 Games
User rating: 
(131 votes, average: 3.22 out of 5)
(131 votes, average: 3.22 out of 5)
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Who else played Battleship when they were a kid? If so, then iBattleships needs no explanation. For those who never crossed paths with the classic two-player board game, I’ll explain. Two players secretly place five ships of varying sizes on a grid. They then take turns guessing at where their opponent’s ships might be. First to sink all of their opponents ships wins.
You can choose to play against the iPhone or against another person over wifi. Unfortunately there is no option to pass-and-play, which would be nice in cases where wifi isn’t present or the other person doesn’t have an iPhone.
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Mini Golf Ace
Don Wilson | Apr 29, 2009 Games
User rating: (3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...
There are two types of golf games out there. One, namely Tiger Woods PGA Tour, relies heavily on high quality graphics, settings for everything, and an experienced player. The other is easy to play, able to start a game quickly, and doesn’t distract you with needless extra features. Mini Golf Ace falls into the latter category.
Tags: $1.99, game, golf, mini golf ace
Jailbreak App: iTypeFastR
Mike Lightman | Apr 28, 2009 Jailbreak Apps
User rating: (5 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
(5 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...You might not know it, but there’s an entire ecosystem of iPhone apps & add-ons ouside of Apple’s App Store. Apple ships the iPhone as a closed system. Meaning, you don’t have access to the glorious innerds inside. Thanks to a group of seriously smart folk, you can crack open your precious and dig around that sucker just like another computer. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart. You can theoretically screw things up, but a simple restore from official firmware & you’re back, good as new.
The process is called “jailbreaking” and it allows you to run all sorts of killer unauthorized programs. Like Cydia, an alternate app store, where you can find iTypeFastr, the subject of today’s review.
iTypeFastr is a replacement keyboard which says it can get your digits to fly by dedicating more real estate to the letters we theoetically use most. On their site, the devs say
An ‘E’ is 12,7% of all your touches, a ‘Q’ less then 0,1%. That’s 127 times more E’s than Q’s. They do not deserve the same screen real estate.
Tags: $3.99, jailbreak app, keyboard
G-Map US East
Swain Valasek | Apr 27, 2009 Navigation
User rating: 
(7 votes, average: 2.43 out of 5)
(7 votes, average: 2.43 out of 5) Loading ...
Certainly a candidate for ‘killer app’ status is G-Map US East from XROAD, billed as the first onboard GPS navigation app available for iPhone and iPod Touch. True to that description, it’s a full-featured navigation aid that takes full advantage of the iPhone’s A-GPS (the Touch has no GPS support but more on that later). In fact, it’s so full of features that it could almost (but alas not quite) take the place of the default Maps app. Here’s a basic example using my trip to a friend’s house across town.
Tags: $24.99, driving, gps, Swain Valasek, turn by turn
G-Map US West
Eric | Apr 27, 2009 Navigation
User rating: (3 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)
(3 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5) Loading ...
As someone who has been waiting since the launch of the iPhone for turn by turn Navigation support, I was extremely excited to have a look at G-Map for the iPhone. I recently took a road trip from Southern California all the way up to Seattle Washington with many stops in unfamiliar places along the way, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to put the app through its paces. If I had to sum up my thoughts of this app into one word: Potential.
Tags: $24.99, driving, gps, turn by turn
Defend Your Castle
Swain Valasek | Apr 26, 2009 Games
User rating: (4 votes, average: 3.75 out of 5)
(4 votes, average: 3.75 out of 5) Loading ...
Fresh from its success on Wiiware is Defend Your Castle from XGen Studios, now for the iPhone. Not to be confused with the Tower Defense genre, this game falls in to the somewhat new ‘Castle Defense’ genre which is something we’ll likely be seeing much more of on this platform if the success of this game and Stickwars is any portent. The premise is nice and simple; defend your castle from the invading horde. Fortunately, you have a number of weapons to bring to bear in support of your heroic defense and brother you’re gonna need ‘em.
Tags: $1.99, castle defense, Swain Valasek
Azkend
Swain Valasek | Apr 26, 2009 Games
User rating: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...
How do they do it? These crazy developers continue to somehow find elbow room in the overcrowded match 3 space. The latest success story is Azkend from MythPeople. The nifty twist this time (beyond using hexagonal vs square tiles) is you don’t swap tiles to make matches; you trace an unbroken path across 3 or more like tiles and that becomes the match. This leads to some insanely large matches which of course grant you bonuses and is tons of fun. Oh but there’s more, much more.
Tags: $2.99, azkend, match 3, Swain Valasek
More LuckyWheel Promo Codes!
Michael (Admin) | Apr 24, 2009 Website Stuff
User rating: (2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...The LuckyWheel people really know how to stay in the spotlight! The developer has very generously posted 10 more promo codes in the comments, and so far it looks like only two have been taken from this latest batch.
Get a LuckyWheel code while you can!
PrimeTime Quiz Show
Michael (Admin) | Apr 23, 2009 Games
User rating: (2 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)
(2 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5) Loading ...
I often claim to be a complete moron – which I totally am! – but I still love quiz games. Answering trivia questions is how I reassure myself that I’m not THE dumbest person on the planet, so naturally PrimeTime Quiz Show grabbed my attention.
As soon as you launch the app it’s apparent that PixelLive poured some considerable sweat into building a real alternative for the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire crowd. Aside from the obvious App Store icon similarity, PrimeTime Quiz comes complete with a virtual gameshow host, multiple choice questions, “life lines”, and a question ladder that stretches from $100 to $1,000,000.
iToy
Michael (Admin) | Apr 22, 2009 Lifestyle
User rating: (3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...
iToy is one of those apps that doesn’t really warrant a lot of commentary unless you’re a diaper-pooping toddler, and from the looks of it I’d say that’s who this odd little app was designed for.
It’s basically a 3D doll thing that looks like a cross between a Teletubby and a Weeble Wobble, and you can mess with it in various ways… shake it and it makes a little cowbell noise, spin it with a swipe of the finger, press and hold to get up close and personal with iToy, and view it from any angle you want by holding your iPhone over your head or under your nose or turn it this way and that.
Tags: $.99, 3D, good for kids
Underworlds
Swain Valasek | Apr 21, 2009 Games
User rating: (9 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)
(9 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5) Loading ...
When a game like Underworlds from Pixel Mine Inc gets released, life is good. I’ve been waiting for an action RPG in the same vein as Diablo on this platform for months and now it’s finally here. Be assured though, this is no clone but an original creation from the ground up, designed exclusively for the iPhone. The game posits you as a scrub guard for a travelling caravan headed up by old man McTavish. On a routine stop in the town of Albrect, mysterious attacks on the townspeople inspire you to lend your righteous blade to the cause.
Tags: $4.99, action rpg, Swain Valasek
Robot Wars 3d
Chris J. | Apr 21, 2009 Games
User rating: (1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...
There are many things I could say about Robot Wars, but what struck me most was how detailed the 3d environment was. Perhaps my expectations have been set low by many of the 3d games I’ve seen so far, but Robot wars looked so much more realistic than any other 3d app I’ve come across. Barrels had rust and warning labels, the arena was stained and even damaged in one section, and the vans actually looked like real vans. Even with all the detail, I never noticed the framerate drop even when the action was heavy.
Seeing how much effort was put into the design of the app, I really wanted it to work as well as it looks. Unfortunately this is not always true. The controls can be difficult to master and at times even a little frustrating. I frequently found my robot to be going in the opposite direction I intended. Although I could usually recover and gain control after a few seconds, the first few moments were usually anyone’s guess. My wife (who graciously volunteered to help test the app) is a much less experienced gamer than I and had even more difficulty with the controls. She gave up trying to move the robot at all and just concentrated on aiming. One last word of warning, don’t expect to be sniping in this game. The aiming is much to jerky for anything but face-to-face confrontations.
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