We have tried to get various animals to do our bidding in the past but without much luck. Squirrels are no use as though they are great at fetching stuff, they just can’t sit still which can get annoying. Then there are monkeys which though fun to have around and great for moral, are entirely unionized these days (due to their sheer numbers in the workplace) and never shy with an unreasonable demand.
Pigeons however, we haven’t tried yet, though judging by this feathered critter, they are much too concerned with goofing off playing iPhone games than actually knuckling down (what do pigeons have instead of knuckles?) with some hard graft. What’s that you say? You want proof? Just watch the video below to see what on earth this ridiculous preamble is leading up to:
What the mobile world needs now, more than ever, is easy access to 3D flying penises and avatars of people who want to have sex while dressed as cartoon animals.
Vollee’s Second Life Mobile beta is set to offer just that and - hopefully - more. We were sceptical the last time this subject popped up on Pocket Picks, but it does look pretty good, as you can see in the video clip below..
Sony Ericsson has been threatening to release a gaming phone for longer than we can remember and though a Playstation branded Sony Ericsson is still only available in a parallel universe filled with unicorn derbys and talking pies, the company has taken a step closer with a new gaming focussed handset, with motion controls at its core.
The Sony Ericsson F305 is a GSM/EDGE slider and has dedicated gaming controls as well as Motion Gaming, which you can use to control games with ‘ the flick of a wrist or the swing of an arm’. Indeed the F305 comes packaged with the motion controlled trio, Bowling, Bass fishing and Jockey straight out of the box and Gameloft has pledged support for more motion controlled games for the handset (and its sibling) in the future.
Continue reading ‘New Sony Ericsson mobile sets gaming in motion’
Usually sensible buisness journal Forbes is either being incredibly far sighted, or it has been knocking back pint after pint of Apple’s lysergic Kool-Aid.
In article published this week, the magazine claims that the time is right for Apple to push the iPhone as a mobile games platform that could grind the Nintendo DS into dust.
This would be the Nintendo DS that is currently the market leader, with a vast library of top quality games.
The key, says the article is the fact the iPhone combines both of the hot new gaming interfaces (the DS’ touchscreenand the Wii’s motion sensor) in one pocket sized device.
Frankly, this seems like wishful thinking on the part of someone who has never actually played a video game. While the touch screen is a top choice for certain genres (point-and-click adventures spring most readily to mind) there is a reason that even the motion-sensing Wii also comes with a D-Pad.
On the face of it the iPhone would seem to have a lot going for it as a gaming platform. It’s a decently-specced portable computer, with a high-quality full colour screen and excellent sound hardware.
The one thing it doesn’t have is buttons. As any gamer will tell you, a solid set of controls can mean the difference between Donkey Kong and ‘Pony’ and despite Steve Jobs’ stubborn insistence a touch screen just can’t cut the mustard when it comes to playing DooM.
Enter the iControlpad. A plastic ’sleeve’ for the iPhone that connects to the dock connector, the iControlpad adds a d-pad and four control buttons to either end of the iPhone - making it a dead ringer for the PSP (if you squint a bit)
Although still very much a prototype, the hobbyists behind the pad do have plans to mass produce and distribute it. The pad is already compatible with some of the leading jailbreak-friendly emulators like snes4iphone and psx4iphone.
The prototype just has the d-pad and ‘fire buttons’ but ther finished product shold also include ’start’ and ’select’ controls as well. The developers are planning to release a full SDK once the next-gen iPhone ships.
Playing games on a mobile can be a frustrating experience - N-Gages aside, few phones are built for the the precise controls that any decent action game requires and fat-fingered players won’t know whether they are running or jumping.
Sure, there are specialist game pad add-ons available, but these are not cheap and few but the most dedicated mobile gamers would actually pay for one.
MobiPad lets Wii owners use their magic wands with their UIQ or S60 mobiles.
The app pairs your phone and a Wii controller via Bluetooth and runs on all Symbian OS S60 3rd edition and UIQ3 devices.
In practice, the Wii controller works like as standard ‘Gameboy style’ D-Pad and button combo. The Wii controller’s motion-sensors are supported by MobiPad’s code but the developers are still figuring out what to map it’s controls to on the phone. Perhaps as we see more accelerometer based games appearing this feature might come into its own.
MobiPad is a free download, available here.
Ok folks, the long wait for the iPhone/iPod touch SDK is over and it seems the reason it took so long to arrive is because Apple has been cooking up so many features to accompany its release. As Steve Jobs took to the stage at the special event held in Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino yesterday, he could barely conceal his enthusiasm.
Perhaps the biggest reveal, at least for prospective business users of the device, is that Apple has licensed Exchange ActiveSync from Microsoft. Not only that but the software is being built right into the iPhone for out-of-the-box connectivity to the Microsoft Exchange Servers in order to deliver over-the-air push email, contacts, calendars and global address lists.
Continue reading ‘iPhone SDK launch news blowout’
If it’s mobile reviews your after then our sister site Pocket Gamer ought to be the first port of call being that it is absolutely crammed with them. Over the course of the last week, nine titles went under the microscope.
The first of them was Bumper Car City, a title which offered the seemingly attractive prospect of being able to drive a dodgem car around city streets, wasn’t as much fun as it sounds scoring 6 out of 10 due to being a tad repetitive.
Significantly better was Wold Poker Tour: Texas Hold’Em 2 (multiplayer) which managed an effortless 9 out of 10 for its multiplayer update on an already rock solid title.
Continue reading ‘Connected games, an overdue RTS and a Football Party in this week’s mobile games round-up’
It’s time again to down tools and take a look at what has been happening game-wise over on our sister site Pocket Gamer over the last week.
The first game to go under the microscope was Age of Heroes III which despite making a valiant play for some orc based strategy only managed 6 out of 10 due to some sticky controls and an irritating interface.
Leaping into the breach next was Jump: Free Running, a game about talented though mentally unsound urban acrobats which despite a great control system fell short of the mark due to poor level design limping home with 6 out of 10.
Continue reading ‘Jump: Free Running scales rooftops while High School Musical charts new lows in this week’s mobile games round-up’
In the shadow of the new N-Gage platform’s imminent shake-up of the somewhat complicated platform, the kinds of mobile games our sister site Pocket Gamer has garnered a love for over the last couple of years are showing no signs taking things lying down, even if this week’s collection wasn’t all that it could be.
The squad of mobile reviews began last week with Rafa Nadal Tennis which unfortunately like the man himself failed to live up to its reputation, scoring 5 out of 10.
Sport of a much less sweaty (and more bearded) kind followed with The Big Lebowski Bowling which similarly failed to live up to its license, knocking down 6 of a possible 10 pins.
Continue reading ‘Bowling with The Dude, and skating in the hood in this week’s mobile games round-up’
