fps

If you've been checking out the most popular list at the iTunes App Store recently, you might have noticed that a new game has reached the top of the charts--even unseating the mega-popular Angry Birds. It's called Cut the Rope and it challenges you to feed candy to a hungry little monster named Om Nom by cutting various ropes to direct the candy to his waiting mouth. It's a little hard to describe here, so check out Rick Broida's coverage of Cut the Rope here.

Beating out Angry Birds at the top of the charts is no small feat (it's been sitting pretty there for months), so it got me thinking about what type of game reaches the top of the iTunes App Store.

It seems you must have polish--both games were obviously painstakingly produced. From the main characters down to the menus and even the design of the buttons, the whole experience captures the ambiance the developers are trying to convey making the game more immersive. Both games have extremely cute characters; each of the different birds are adorable in their anger, and the little green monster Om Nom couldn't be cuter when he opens wide for the candy. Both games have simple controls that can be played by anyone--this seems to be the biggest factor. Just about anyone from any age group can grasp the simple controls, but the games are still plenty challenging.

Finally, you need airtight audio, with little nuanced and silly additions like the muttering birds in Angry Birds, or the sigh of sadness when the candy misses Om Nom's mouth. Judging from these games' success, it seems as though the combination of these ingredients casts the widest net for capturing most iPhone gamers' hearts.

So what will the next big iPhone game be? My bet is \it will include all of these ingredients. You can be sure there are developers working right now to capture that perfect combination that makes a hit at the App Store. The only question is, what's the next big hit?

This week's apps include a cloud-synced to-do list manager and an excellent sequel to one of the best first-person shooters on the iPhone.… Read more

I really wasn't intending to write up five different deals today, but I just couldn't settle on one. Take a look:

1. Newegg has a Samsung 1-terabyte internal SATA hard drive for $41.99 (plus around $7 for shipping). That is just... just... words fail me. Granted, this is an open-box, bare-bones drive, meaning you don't get so much as a SATA cable along with it. But I've never seen a lower price on a terabyte. Wow.

2. Want to upgrade the Wi-Fi performance of an older laptop or desktop? Meritline has the Tenda W311U 802.11n USB adapter for $8.99 shipped.… Read more

I won't join the chorus of pundits who've declared PC gaming "dead," but I will say it's pretty bereft of high-profile titles these days.

On the other hand, if you're into real-time strategy (RTS), there's absolutely no better platform than the PC. And many would argue that there's no better RTS experience than the Command & Conquer series.

Normally $29.95, Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight is now just $17.97 when you download it from the EA Store.

Is C&C 4 the best game in the series? In … Read more

Admit it: Ernie was always lovable enough, but Bert? That guy had it coming. In Puppet War:FPS, you're the janitor for a "Muppets"-style TV show. One day, for reasons unknown, the cute little critters run amok, apparently hell-bent on world domination. And because everyone else has apparently gone home for the day, it falls to you to stop them.

The game plays like a traditional first-person shooter, one that takes place in a colorful, kid-themed TV studio populated by endless hoards of hilarious-looking (but angry) puppets. You start with the janitor's weapon of choice: … Read more

Admit it: Ernie was always lovable enough, but Bert? That guy had it coming.

In Puppet War:FPS, you're the janitor for a "Muppets"-style TV show. One day, for reasons unknown, the cute little critters run amok, apparently hell-bent on world domination. And because everyone else has apparently gone home for the day, it falls to you to stop them.

The game plays like a traditional first-person shooter, one that takes place in a colorful, kid-themed TV studio populated by endless hoards of hilarious-looking (but angry) puppets.

You start with the janitor's weapon of choice: … Read more

I'm happy to announce I received my iPhone 4 in the mail today, five days before it was scheduled to arrive. After quite a bit of time spent transferring purchases, arranging apps, and checking the appropriate boxes in iTunes, I've activated and synced my new iPhone. Frankly, with a few reboots and trying to manage which apps should be synced and which shouldn't, the process hasn't gone as smoothly as I might have hoped. I even had a period of time where none of my apps would launch at all (gasp!). Fortunately, it's all sorted out.

Now that I'm up and running, I'm immediately noticing a significant speed boost, which is not saying much since I came from the iPhone 3G, but it is still a huge relief. Of course, the best part about upgrading is that I get to use apps I could previously test only on our in-house iPhone 4. Though I will continue to cover apps that work on most iPhones, this week I'm going to focus on a couple of apps that are perfect for your (and my) new iPhone 4.

This week's apps include a utility to give you a bit of light and a first person shooter that's probably the best yet in the iTunes app store.… Read more

As many of you have written to tell me, Steam is having a colossal sale on games this week (and through July 4). One of the real standouts: the Call of Duty Collection for $29.99.

That includes the original Call of Duty and its two expansion packs, United Offensive and World at War. You also get Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Given that the latter sells for $29.99 all by itself, it's like getting four bonus games free.

Other deals I'd definitely check out:

It wasn't too long ago that I was charging batteries for my Sony digital 8mm camcorder so they would be ready to record the latest and greatest ideas my friends and I had scribbled down on a napkin. Those images would then be transferred my 800MHz G4 iMac running Mac OS X 10.4.x and edited using iMovie 4. The resulting video projects were fun to watch but nothing close to professional looking. Fast forward to today's announcement of the iPhone 4 and my how things have changed.

iMovie for iPhone 4 was, in my opinion, the most exciting part (save the actual iPhone 4 announcement) of this year's WWDC Keynote from Steve Jobs. As a filmmaker myself, I am always interested in new ways to capture high-quality video, especially from unexpected sources.

iPhone 4's ability to record at such a high resolution will, as the Apple tagline for the iPhone 4 suggests, change everything. Yes, we already have small devices that record that sort of quality, but combined with the iMovie App, the iPhone 4 becomes a true mobile editing suite, suitable for significant productions, all from a single device that you'd be carrying anyway.

Think of it this way: Your pocket just got lighter. CNET's David Carnoy asks, "Is HD video in iPhone 4 a Flip Video Killer?" Without a doubt. Not only does the iPhone 4 provide similar-quality video recording, it has an app to edit. And it happens to be built in to the most revolutionary phone device on the planet. Flip is dead. … Read more

Each week brings a bevvy of new iPhone games to our digital doorstep, but time doesn't permit us to cover each one individually. Therefore, here's a roundup of some new and interesting titles you might want to check out:

Alice in Wonderland: You can't judge a book by its cover, but you can judge a movie by its trailer--and Tim Burton's latest attempt to make Johnny Depp look weird (aka "Alice") offers little appeal to me or my kids. The eponymous tie-in game, on the other hand, is a surprisingly charming little platformer. Don'… Read more