fighting

MetalStorm: Online is a free--and impressively executed--multiplayer flight sim, but with a potentially frustrating in-game economy and erratically balanced matchmaking.

The interface and basic gameplay of MetalStorm are a joy: with smart use of your accelerometer and a few thumb controls on your "HUD" (arrows for brake and afterburner, buttons for guns and missiles), MetalStorm immerses you effectively in a jet cockpit for a tense dogfight experience, with cinematic music and great-looking terrain to complete the effect. You fly a modern jet equipped with an upgradeable cannon and missiles, and you can duke it out with increasing numbers … Read more

People do seem to get enthusiastic about the iPad 2.

However, reports emerging from China suggest that, perhaps, enthusiasm turned to rough stuff at the iPad 2 launch in Beijing yesterday.

According to the Associated Press, a witness says he saw a fight between a "foreign" Apple employee and a Chinese customer. The witness says he understood that the man had cut in line and was a scalper.

An AP image certainly shows two men lying on the sidewalk, appearing to be at least dazed, if not injured. There is also an image of a glass door, smashed … Read more

A report Monday in The Wall Street Journal claimed that Twitter is in "advanced talks" to acquire TweetDeck, a Twitter desktop client preferred by many of the social-media service's most active users, for about $50 million. "TweetDeck has emerged as a favorite of heavy users of Twitter, letting people track tweets about multiple topics at the same time," the story explained. "The program, which many people download and use on their desktop computers, also lets people write tweets longer than 140 characters, among other features."

But wait: Two months ago, TweetDeck was reported to have sold to UberMedia, … Read more

I've always been a fan of the Fight Night series of console games, so I couldn't wait to strap on the virtual mitts for EA's new Fight Night Champion for iPhone. After going a few rounds with Ali, Tyson, and 18 other boxing legends, I can safely say this: the game lives up to the Fight Night name.

Which is to say, it's fun but flawed. Fortunately, it's roughly a 90/10 split between the two. Anyone familiar with the console versions is sure to have a ball with this one.

The app probably comes … Read more

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for iPhone and iPad brings the legendarily gory and addictive fighting game to iOS, and it mostly hits the mark with only a couple of problems. What was formerly a smash hit (and somewhat controversial) stand-up arcade game went through a complete face-lift for the iPhone version. Gone are the stop-motion character animations from the original arcade game, replaced with beautiful 3D animations that re-create all your favorite characters' fighting moves. For the most part, this game looks and plays great, as long as you can get past the limited character set and the lack of … Read more

I grew up playing video games and was part of the era of going to arcades and dropping quarter after quarter into my favorite games. Back then, if you would have told me that one day I could play the same games on a mobile phone I would probably have said, "I doubt it, and who would want to lug one of those giant things around anyway?" In the '80s, mobile phones were huge. In other words, I would never have believed it.

Now, there are hundreds of games in the iTunes App Store that bring old classics to your touch screen. Not all of them are perfect, certainly. Sometimes the controls don't translate well to the touch screen, for example. But even with mediocre controls, it's still fun to be able to play a game you loved as a kid while you're commuting to work or in between classes.

This week, two games were released that were favorites of mine in the arcades, and both work relatively well on the touch screen. My question to you is, What games from the old days should be made for iOS? What games should not? Let's talk about it in the comments.

This week's apps are a classic gory fighting game and an arcade basketball remake that might already be one of my favorite games of 2011.… Read more

Pubs and clubs in Australia are signing up in droves to national and state biometrics databases that capture patron fingerprints, photos, and scanned driver licenses in efforts to curb violence.

The databases of captured patron information mean that individuals banned at one location could be refused entry across a string of venues. Particularly violent individuals could be banned for years.

The databases are virtually free from government regulation as biometrics are not covered by privacy laws, meaning that the handling of details are left to the discretion of technology vendors.

"You don't get on the [ban] list because … Read more

Violence solves nothing.

And yet so many are moved to it in search of vital prizes, such as peace, oil, or a safe landing in a plane.

Perhaps there is one man reconsidering his philosophy of violence more than others this morning after he allegedly thumped a 15-year-old boy sitting next to him yesterday on a Southwest flight from Las Vegas to Boise, Idaho.

There are many reasons why some might be moved to pummel someone in the next seat on a plane. The thought has crossed my mind when my fellow passenger won't stick to his side of … Read more

A couple months ago a tech demo called Epic Citadel hit the App Store showing off Epic Games' Unreal III graphics engine on an iOS device. There wasn't much action to Epic Citadel besides walking and looking around at an intricate castle landscape, but the graphics were nothing short of jaw-dropping for the iOS. Epic promised that games were coming soon using the esteemed graphics engine, and iOS gamers everywhere waited to see what Epic could come up with that would work on a touch-screen device.

Infinity Blade, Epic's first game for the iOS, is finally here and … Read more