Games

If you enjoy (legally) downloading PC game content over the Internet, then you're most likely familiar with Valve Software's Steam, a platform for the delivery and management of PC games.

On Tuesday, Valve announced an upgrade to "Steamworks," a suite of publishing and development tools available to, well, publishers and developers for free.

The first of the new notable features include Custom Executable Generation (CEG) technology. According to Valve, CEG makes unique copies of games for each user, allowing them to access the application on multiple machines without install limits and without having to install root … Read more

The big news in the world of iPhone was Apple's sneak preview for the iPhone 3.0 software on Tuesday. Available this summer, iPhone 3.0 will bring many features people have asked for and some that will make things easier for developers of iPhone apps. The two major ones on my list were finally added: MMS (sending photos and other media) and the ability to cut, copy, and paste text. There are a ton of changes coming, so check out our coverage if you want to know all of the changes in iPhone 3.0.

This week's … Read more

It's happened to just about everyone who has bought an iPhone application at the iTunes Store: At some point the application you paid $7.99 for goes on sale for $1.99--sometimes it's even free the next day. I've had this happen to me many times, but only because it's part of the job to get applications when they're hot off the presses. Fortunately, as part of the job, I don't have to (personally) pay for the applications I review. Most people aren't so lucky.

Fortunately, an application made for bargain hunters that … Read more

The iPhone version of Konami's popular "MGS" series now has an official release date of March 19 and a price: $9.99.

As a high-profile "shooter" making its way onto Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch, there's been some hype surrounding Metal Gear Solid Touch. However, due to its rail-shooter nature gaming blog Kotaku has been mocking it for being nothing more than a fancy version of Duck Hunt. Ouch.

That's said, what's not to like about a good rail-shooter--and Duck Hunt, for that matter?

Anybody looking forward to dropping 10 bucks … Read more

Last month there was a fair amount of buzz about how iPhone apps don't have much of a shelf life. According to a recent article at TechCrunch, the average free iPhone app is used for less than 30 days before it sits inactive on the desktop or is deleted by the user.

I guess I fit in with the average iPhone user to a certain extent. I have deleted apps that I thought were pretty cool in the beginning, but no longer catch my interest. But it might be different for me because I review apps, so I need … Read more

If you can't get enough of Watchmen: Justice is Coming, you'll find in this massive multiplayer online game an ambitious attempt to play against anyone else connected to the Net from your iPhone or iPod Touch. You get to create a character with gender, skin color, and even personality based on what you see in the character Rorschach ink blot.

Meanwhile, whether you're just trying to get your feet wet in a world where Nixon remained president well into 1985 or whether you're quoting the comic back at the screen, the "Watchmen" app might … Read more

Last week I wrote a post about a great deal from Ambrosia Software, which has now sadly lapsed. But the the silver lining to that cloud is that with the end of the sale comes the release of an all-new Mac game: Multiwinia!!

Multiwinia is a ferociously fun real-time strategy game with cool stylistic graphics and challenging gameplay. Those of you who have played Darwinia, also from Ambrosia, will recognize the scenery at once, but that's where the similarity ends.

Multiwinia is a geometrically-shaped 3-D land populated by the two-dimensional stick men from Darwinia, except now they're not … Read more

Every week, I try to pick a game and some other useful utility for my iPhone apps post, but this week I can't help but write about two games. What can I say? They keep coming out with great games! The two games are from completely different genres so if you like games at all, I'm guessing at least one of them will find their way onto your iPhone.

This week's apps include a well-designed Jet Ski racing game and a unique word game that's challenging and makes you laugh while you play.

WordFu (99 cents, … Read more

There's no question that comic books and magazines will eventually have a portable platform suited to them, just as the iPod took nearly four years to reach a saturation level as the de facto portable music player.

The Kindle 2 might have been that device, had Amazon found color e-ink to be cost-effective. For now, though, we're stuck with struggling innovations, and iVerse Media has made a big push to get theirs out.

Earlier this month, just in time for WonderCon 2009, the big comic book and media convention in San Francisco, iVerse launched its comic book-reading app for Android, following on the heels of its iPhone app that debuted in November of last year.

The thought of cramming the detail-rich comic book page onto the tiny touchscreen of a smartphone seems ridiculous, because it is. iVerse solved the problem by chopping comics into panel-size chunks.

On both Android and the iPhone, you slide your finger across the screen to move on to the next panel. Slide it in the other direction to move back. Reading the story is surprisingly clear and clean, and although it may seem counter-intuitive, there should be no concerns about eyestrain from squinting because it's one panel, presented in high resolution.

From there, the Android and iPhone apps diverge in functionality, though the features remain largely the same. I tested the Hexed No. 1 comic for both the iPhone and Android. … Read more