The 3 Appmigos!

This app that I am reviewing for you today is one that has quickly become a favourite of mine on my iPod Touch. It’s called Hindenburg Mobile, and comes from the great Nsaka and it has quickly become one of those apps I just can’t have an iPod touch without. Hindenburg Mobile is a radio recording, and editing, studio right in your pocket, and the abilities of the app are to such a high quality.

The thing that puts most people off immediately is the price tag that is carried with the app ($29.99 or £17.99), but once you read this review and understand the extent of which the features provided can go, I’m sure you can see why you would want to get this app, and indeed I do hope you want to get this app. So Hindenburg Mobile is the first fully functional Field Recorder and Audio Editor available for iPhone, and it is mainly developed for radio journalists, with the help of a few of them on the Nsaka team.

Okay, so you’re not a journalist? No problem! I don’t interview people face to face, so have hardly used the app for that purpose (well, admittedly I have a couple of times for my meerkat animated movie series at www.youtube.com/user/meerkatmovies) but I have seen so many other valuable uses of the app, which I hope you will use to consider your purchasing of the app. The first thing I used the app for everyday during testing is YouTube videos. Yes. I recorded the sound, using my iPod touch with the apple microphone headset accessory and made YouTube videos with it. The first thing I noticed is how pristine the audio is compared to other applications. Using the same headset, and the same conditions, my audio quality must at least triple with the use of this app!

I know what you’re thinking. So I make the YouTube audio, then what? Well the application comes with four very handy ways to get that audio to your computer, so there is a choice for everyone. First and foremost, you can click Upload to Hindenburg. This requires you to have the FREE Hindenburg Journalist desktop programme, and providing your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch is on the same network as the computer with Journalist on, you can transfer quickly and easily. Next up is you can email your sound clip to yourself! This does have its problems, not due to Nsaka, but due to the fact you can only attach a certain sized file onto an email. Then, you can upload to an FTP server, for your website or other use. Finally, when your iPod syncs on your computer, you can actually retrieve files made using Hindenburg, stored on your iDevice, from your most recent backup (providing your sound clip was recorded before this backup took place). What helps more, is if you have any issues with getting one of these methods to work, just email Nsaka (details at their website: www.nsaka.com) and they are very quick and helpful.

As I mentioned, this application has a number of great features. First up, it works with iPhone iOS4! It also comes with two appearances, the normal recording one, and then a reporter one, which I use because it makes me feel more professional! You can even hear through your headphones the audio your recording, as you say it, with no noticeable lag!

You can even edit your sound clip on your iDevice with this app, you just simply choose the file, and click the clearly laid out button at the bottom that corresponds with editing. Then you can cut copy and paste sections, or indeed all, of your sound clip and a long press marker in the marker list makes it easier to select from the markers you placed into your sound clip. Oh yeah, I missed that feature out. You can leave a marker in your audio while your recording and come back to it later if it is a point of interest.

Don’t worry if you muck up. You can easily create a new file, by clicking the plus symbol, or have multiple takes by just clicking the record button, to stop the recording (assuming you’ve already started) and then clicking it again to start the next clip. You can even favourite clips on your device, insert favourite clips into other audio clips, and then export these clips to the Journalist Desktop programme. Each file is given a clear name, corresponding with the time, date etc. But you can easily change this by making the clips favourite clips. The app then compressors the audio using a one dial compressor, and location names are displayed.

You can easily edit, with undo and redo features, without any destructive problems to your audio. Although this is the only one problem, sometimes this can be difficult to work with, but this is a small problem to an app with so many pros! You can cut, copy, paste, insert, break, clear, move, trim and change the volume of selected regions of audio. You can add a fade in, fade out, rename, create or delete markers and share audio between sessions.

Obviously, this is a review for the application for iDevice, so the Journalist Desktop Programme was only briefly discussed, for full details on this totally free great editing programme for your computer (with multiple layers for all types of audio, and support for microphones and webcams) go to: http://www.nsaka.com/products

Despite that one little problem I noted earlier, this application still deserves a 10/10. One of the best apps I’ve had my hands on in a while. Absolutely love it. Can’t wait to see what Nsaka will do next with their application!

I’ve decided to do a review series on the talking animal app series, so this is the second review in the series, but is on the third app, because as you know, I did the last two together. So Outfit7 are back, and they have smashed the app store again! All three of their talking animal series so far are in the iTunes top 25 in several different places around the world, including USA and UK. Every time Outfit7 release a new talking animal, they somehow manage to make it bigger and better than the last one. Talking Larry the Bird, the third in the series, has shot passed its predecessor, Talking Baby Hippo to claim its place in the top 15 apps. Now, enough talk, its time to find out why it has claimed this rightful place.

So, whats new in this animal that the others can’t do? Firstly, it is a bird, and it has a very distinctively different voice to the other two, which is great to see, because this is a complaint we had with the hippo one, it sounded to much like the cat. Larry is your whistling and talking bird friend, and he even whistles along as you plane the piano keyboard at the bottom of the screen – though I have to admit, I haven’t worked out quite how to make a tune that sounds good yet!

As with the other two, Larry repeats everything you say, so anything you feel like getting an animal to say, just go do it! There is quite a few animations for you tom play around with, as well as the usual poking of the animal. Furthermore, you can feed him and strike him with lightning – and when I showed some friends everyone always ‘awws’ when you strike him with lightning. Also, you can get him to bow and accept the applause that he gets, whether that be in app applause or the people playing with the bird, which happens way too much for my liking!

And as usual, my favourite feature of the application series is included. You can use your iPhone’s mic or the microphone headset for other devices and you can record your own videos of Larry and the escapades you send him on. You can then share these on YouTube and Facebook, or even by email. At the minute you can only have 30 second videos, but I’m sure Outfit7 are working on extending this to at least 1 minute, but 5 minutes would be preferable. I often find myself making videos for YouTube on the app (check out my channels: www.youtube.com/user/meerkatsandmongeese www.youtube.com/user/meerkatsadvertising and www.youtube.com/user/meerkatmovies (I have used the talking animals on the first and third of these channels, but please subscribe to them all)), but more often than that I use them to update my YouTube followers with news on when new videos are coming out and don’t actually use the animations in app at all!

Overall, a fun way to waste time – 9/10, for that last 1 to get up to 10/10 the length of videos you can create needs to be extended to 1 minute, which is acceptable, but 5 minutes should be an ultimate limit, even if this has to be done through an in app purchase and can’t be provided as a free addition to the app.

Today, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of the two talking animal games currently released by outfit7. One of them, Talking Tom Cat, has soared up the charts around the world, and is a great investment of your time. It gives you a great idea of what you would be paying for with the other talking animal game Talking Baby Hippo, which has also scored numerous top 10 app store hits including in the United Kingdom. The Talking Baby Hippo is labelled on the app store as good for children aged 2 – 7, but people a lot older can find it entertaining and a funny way to spend their time.

Although there are many different voice changing applications, none are quite as unique as this series here, which is about to be joined by the third animal, which is a bird (submitted to Apple, with a hopeful next week release). I have found myself on more than one occasion annoyed at other voice changing apps because I find you need the option to email, upload to facebook and to YouTube, and this application series offers all of that. I love being able to make quick update videos, which I then post to my YouTube channel, and my subscribers can watch it and enjoy a fun filled laughable video, while still I can get out to them the important message of the video. Plus, I have found since uploading Talking Tom Cat videos, I’m getting quite a few more 5 star ratings from people who find it funny!

In this review, we are going to review the two that have currently been released, and then in a week or two when the third has come out a review will be released for that to. We intend to do this for all the future ones which are created.

Talking Tom Cat’s in the spotlight first and the fact that it’s free is an instant turn on point. The application (like all in the series) support iPhones, iPads and of course iPod Touches with microphones. This is really important for me because I have an iPod Touch, and would be really annoyed if the application didn’t support my device, even though I have a microphone. Anyway, once in the app, which loads very quickly, you have three buttons, and a cat standing in an alley with some dustbins behind him. The cat has a 3D effect to him, and is very well made. The best thing about this app? Nearly everything is interactive.

There are quite a few features to this app, and it is extraordinary that this many features are being given away in a free app! If you talk into the microphone, Tom (the cat!) repeats it to you in a faster slightly more high pitched funny voice, which makes it entertaining to here him repeat you. You can pet his head or body, and wait for his reaction which is a smile type with some movement. Then you can poke him the head belly or feet and see the funny things he does. For example, petting him on the belly makes him take up a stomach ache type pose and hitting him on the head a few times makes him fall over and makes stars appear above his head!

You can pull his tail, pour him milk or forget him. Forget him is a funny feature because if you stop playing with the app for a few seconds he yawns at you or sneezes. Then, my favourite feature, you can record videos (at the minute a maximum of 30 seconds) and share them with friends online via email, YouTube or facebook – or simply listen back to your creation! Or simply delete and start again. To create a video, you simply click the camera button and start talking! This app does have an ad banner at the top, but I really don’t find it a limitation because it has been placed out of our way, as the player, and means you kind of forget its there. Though to thank the great developers for giving us so much entertainment, I like to click the adverts every now and again. The time limitation of 30 seconds for recording can get annoying, but come on guys, it is a free app, and we can’t really expect 2 hours worth of recording for free! Overall, a healthy 8/10.

The other app in the series so far of which we are reviewing today is Talking Baby Hippo. This app is the paid app which is why there is more connectivity and more options. Now, there is a beautiful 3D looking background complete with a dazzling blue sea and palm tree. For some reason, we are with a hippo on an island, which seems kind of weird, but hey, it makes it more interesting. So, once again you can speak through the microphone and the hippo will repeat it. My issue with this is how close the hippo and cat sound, and for a paid app compared to the free cat app, it would make it more appealing if they were at least distinguishable. If I closed my eyes and heard them both I probably wouldn’t know which was which.

As I said, there is more connectivity in this app, as you can tickle the purple baby hippo and listen to him laugh, poke him in the nose or ears, give him some food – in the form of a carrot – make him blow a balloon, give him a pacifier (for those not from the US – a dummy) and send him a butterfly. He interacts with the butterfly as well as all of the other things you can give him, and he even sneezes at the butterfly. It doesn’t actually mention in the handy How to Play: that he also yawns if he is left unused for a few seconds or more.

The other issue I have with this application is the instructions in the app don’t mention that again the recording for email, YouTube or facebook can only be 30 seconds. I think this is an annoying limitation for someone who has had to pay for the app and wants to get lots more for there money. The content is great for the additional cash, but I think the voice should be different and distinguishable and the video limitations should be eased. I understand it wouldn’t be practical to allow 1 hour video making, but maybe 5 minutes maximum? Overall, this second app is a 7/10, but easily a 9/10 once suggested improvements had been made.

So you have read the reviews, now go download the app, and visit the developer’s site at: http://outfit7.com/apps/talking-baby-hippo/

Well, what can I say? As far as I was concerned until I stumbled across this app there was a huge gap in the market for me. I have always wondered, when you sit there on the train commuting to work, or when your computer is off and you really can’t be bothered to turn it on then how do you do your work? What we really need is Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Recently, I found out that you really can have the Microsoft Office Suite right on your iDevice. But what really is so special about this application? Well, you can edit, create and then view these files. It isn’t even like it is just Microsoft Office documents, you have PDF and iWork files accessible as well – catering for everyone.

For a Gmail user, an important factor of such an application for me is that I could transfer between my email and my iPod Touch because I want all my files accessible so I can continue to work on them on the go – otherwise what is the advantage? On top of this, I want it to be quick, easy and effective. Good news, Documents2Go complies with all of this.

The application allows you to edit, view and create office documents, how good is that. The Documents2Go application has now even become available for iPad, and has some specific features to suite this type of a device. With the iPad version, you have full support for the iPad’s high resolution and you can open or edit files, directly in the application from any third party app that supports the ‘open in’ file sharing feature. It also is adapted to support iTunes file sharing via USB cable for moving files between the iPad and a computer.

In this review, I can only cover a number of the great features of this app, but just to name a few more: the Excel editing has 111 features, enhanced PDF viewing, dropbox support and a desktop application with 2 way sync. What a great investment of your money, you can be sure of the highest quality. Just what any commuter, office worker or school child is looking for. Now you can take your documents with you anywhere you want, and it makes the whole process a lot quicker.

An admirable 10/10, good job and well made!

Blastian is a new title from the hit iPhone app developers Connect2Media. Blastian is a new old school space shooter in which the galaxy is over-run with aliens. The player has the job of saving the day from the aliens. Starting out as a lowly ensign, it is your job to defend the universe, and blast your way through the galaxy going past nine planets and whole host of enemies from the evil insectoid Xacti empire’s forces.

Starting at Pluto the player battles these evil monstrosities in every planet in this solar system known to date, ending with Earth (it isn’t done in the correct order, the gaming order is: Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury and then Earth). You must fly through the universe, armed with lots of great weapons which help you on your mission. What are these weapons? Well, they include: mega-blasters, smart bombs, plasma cannon, orbiting shields and the mighty Beserk!

The game reminds me of a retro old style space invaders game with similarities to other applications from the iTunes App Store such as Space Deadbeef. Although there are similarities between the iPhone applications Blastian offers some unique features which definitely set it head and shoulders above its competitors. For example, the app offers top scrolling visceral thrills which really make it one not to miss.

The game, like so many others, offers some great key features – although unlike most games, it really does have some real uniqueness. Feast your eyes on the following features which you won’t find anywhere else – or if you do, not to such an amazing extent: – Tilt controls and flip escape feature make the game unique and easy to control, – Nine levels based over the planets of the solar system with different stages in each level, – Arsenal of weapons including Smart bombs, Photon Weapons, Mega Blasters and Pulsars and even – Save the world to your own soundtrack with access to your own music library.

If you want a great application for your iDevice, then this is definitely a must have! For only £1.79 it is an absolute must have. If that isn’t enough to convince you to download this app then surely the thought that your monetary investment is safe with a great developer like Connect2Media, who you can guarantee will continuously update this amazing game, so you can be sure to get value for money. With some great games like: 365 Solitaire Club, Boulder Dash®-ROCKS!™, Sid Meier’s Civilisation: Defenders Of The Gates, Edge, PES 2010, Ski Jumping 2010, String ‘Em In ®, Tumblebugs WPT®: Texas Hold ‘Em 2, Guitar Hero® World Tour Mobile and The Dog under their belt, you really know you can expect great value and quality. 10/10!

Following the response from the Pangea VR Pro (the re-release for iPhone) from the excellent developers (of games such as Cro Mag Rally and Bugdom 2) Pangea Software I grabbed the opportunity with both hands to review another one of their great applications, Billy Frontier. Pangea Software is well known as one of the leading game developers for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch and now the iPad too following its release. Again, as with the Pangea VR Pro this is going to be a cross over review where we cover both the iPhone and new iPad version of the games.

So, the new iPad release of Billy Frontier is a ‘2.0’ version. Billy Frontier is a 3D space-western action game, which really pulls you in and makes it a must have. You know what? If I had an iPad (and I am open to offers if anyone has one available!) I would definitely be purchasing the Billy Frontier 2.0 application – just to see first hand what every body has been raving about.

“Billy Frontier combines comedy with action, cowboys with aliens, and even Kangaroos with Cows.  We call those the ‘Kanga-Cows’”, said Brian Greenstone, President of Pangea Software, “Billy Frontier was always a beautiful looking iPhone game with the best soundtrack of any game that we’ve ever done, but it really shines on the iPad!”.

In this spaghetti space-western you get four games in one: Duelling, Shootout, Stampede, and Target Practice – Billy Frontier is a truly diverse iPhone / iPad game. Test your duelling reflexes, attempt to outrun a stampeding herd of Kanga-Cows, hunt down alien bandits in first-person shooter gun battles, and blast catapulted critters out of the sky in the Shooting Gallery!

Right, we have got to that point where we get technical, the new version of Billy Frontier is a universal binary app which means that it is possible for it to run on all the iDevices which offer applications to date. The graphics have definitely been enhanced for the new iPad’s larger screen and power, and that is 100% visible. And you know the great thing? If you are a previous owner of Billy Frontier, the update is free, which is great – and with the volume of current Billy Frontier owners, it is obvious that it is a great investment.

Billy Frontier combines the interaction of an adventure game with the qualities of an arcade game, and a whole lot of blood spewing action in-between! This title also features simple and intuitive control schemes and top-of-the-line graphics and audio allowing for a truly fun and interactive experience. Billy Frontier 2.0 is available today on the App Store for just $3.99. For more information, please visit the Billy Frontier web page at: www.pangesoft.net/iphone/billy or see it on the App Store at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/billy-frontier/id288713146?mt=8 You can also see some behind the scenes video about Billy Frontier on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpQvmDdP9Fc

Both versions of the games are smash hits. As I have only had a first hand experience with the iPhone version of the game I can only really comment and vouch for this version, but following the reviews from independent customers of the iPad version, it seems like it is sure to be a smash iPad hit this summer.  So go buy it now, and then let me know what you think 8.5/10!

With the release of PangeaVR Pro for iPad (in HD) from Pangeasoft, the team gave me the opportunity to get to grips with the iPhone application of the same name. Now, I want to be straight out and honest with you – I did have limited knowledge of what this application  actually does, so I was more than pleased when offered the chance to have a play about with the application.

On May 26th 2010, Pangea Software, one of the leading app developers for the apple iPhone and iPod Touch (and now iPad) announced the release of PangeaVR Pro HD for iPad. The developers have created smash hits like CroMag Rally, Bugdom 2 and a personal favorite – Otto Matic.  When the iPad was released, Pangea were one of the developers who recognized the opportunity and so transferred a big selection of their iDevice applications over to the iPad for the devices initial release.

Your probably wondering, what is PangeaVR Pro? It is Pangea’s amazing VR panorama viewer. The application allows the user to interactively view 360º VR panoramas on the iPod Touch or iPhone, and now the iPad as well. The iPad version is an extreme step forward from the iPhone version, although both versions are absolutely stunning and the touch sensitivity is spot on.  The initial iPhone release was back in 2008, and now the application is back for more with a completely redesigned interface which now supports high-resolution panoramas up to an amazing 4028×1024 in size.

This app is good for both panorama viewers and panoramic photographers because the photographers can now display their VR panoramas on their iPad and can easily install them by using iTunes’ file sharing capabilities.  President of Pangea Software,  Brian Greenstone, said the following about the new release “Since PangeaVR came out for the iPhone there have been over 300 photographers from around the world who have added their panoramas to our database. There are now thousands of stunning panoramas ranging from a saké brewery in Japan to the interior of an Aston Martin to the top of Machu Picchu.  Playing with PangeaVR is like going on a vacation to every corner of the planet.”

This isn’t just useful for touring the world from the comfort of your own home,  real estate agents who need to be able to show virtual tours of homes will find PangeaVR HD especially helpful because this is a supported capability. PangeaVR HD can be purchased on the App Store today for $14.99 at: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=373454824&mt=8. The full details and screen shots of PangeaVR HD can be found on the Pangea Software web site at: http://pangeasoft.net/pano/pangeavr/instructions-hd2.html

Now, back to the iPhone version. There is a free version of the PangeaVR for iPhone and both are still available. They are both excellent, although I would recommend the pro version because the capabilities are stunning and amazing. It would be a good idea to check out the free version first, but be sure to buy the full one after a few hours playing around because you will be far from dissapointed.

The application is fast loading and offers a fantastic browse functionality which allows you to choose from what seems like thousands of different panoramas from many different real estate agents, photographers etc. The application is also great for people trying to get the word out about there photography skills, because you can view the portfolio of an album, or visit the website of the creator.

Furthermore, the application has a bookmark feature which lets you save your favourite panoramas so when the family come over, you can show them some amazing views, without having to search through the massive data base of loads of collections.

Also, the application offers a ‘Enter URL’ option, which allows you to put the URL of a website it and either view or archive the websites portfolio, which then means you will be able to visit the great panoramas within your own archive on your device. This truly is a great option for estate agents, because they can archive some great panoramas (which they have uploaded online) and when customers go instore, they can head straight to the iPhones/iPads/iPod Touches and view the house they have got their eyes on.

The final feature is the archive feature, where you can view your archived panoramas – this option also allows you to ‘bin’ panoramas you no longer want to archive as well as see the space each panorama is taking up, and how much total storage is used up across your whole archive. I hasten to add, this archive is empty with no used storage when you first download the app, so the preloaded panoramas will definitely not use up your storage, they are included in the original size of the app on the database.

This application is a great oppertunity for everyone, be that estate agents, photographers or just something to do when your going to work and wish you were on holiday somewhere. To give the app a rating? 9/10.

Ubisoft has been iffy with their releases on the App Store, and Silent Hunter was an extremely weird title that kept appearing and disappearing for various prices. Now that it’s officially out, a review is in order.

Silent Hunter has you piloting a German U-Boat in the middle of World War II, and the game has been quite a hit on the PC for being a great submarine simulation. Via its translation, a lot of what made it famous has been lost. The sense of realism is gone, especially since huge powerups float around in the ocean after you destroy an enemy ship.

Upgrades for your ship are available in the campaign mode, but you only get three for each type of weapon – your flak gun, torpedoes, and your submarine. You can get all of the upgrades only an hour into the game, which makes things get stale quicker than most games.

The difficulty is also extremely easy at first, but it does ramp up at a nice and steady pace and the last few missions will become quite challenging if you don’t plan out your attack strategies right. There’s also a Survival mode that is available for play.

In the survival mode, you are under a strict time limit and must eliminate all enemy ships wave after wave without running out of time. You must also protect a battleship, though the main challenge is the timer. The survival mode loses its appeal after the first playthrough, since the main challenge is the timer, not the enemies.

The graphics are nice, and Ubisoft has done a good job with them. The water is adequate, and explosions and technological instruments like the radar interface are nicely implemented.

Silent Hunter is much more of an arcade blow-everything-up kind of game rather than a simulation. However, it’s not a bad game, but it won’t appeal to most at the $4.99 price tag. At its original price of $1.99, it would have been a recommended purchase, but currently it’s just not quite worth it. Overall, Silent Hunter is a sub-par arcade game that isn’t worth what you pay.

The Resident Evil series are highly acclaimed on consoles, but their iDevice counterparts aren’t as fun. However, Gameloft recently released their take on a third person zombie shooter, ‘Zombie Infection,’ and it looks almost exactly like Resident Evil 5. The aiming system, controls, setting, and background story are all almost straight out of Resident Evil 5. However, is this blatant copy fun, or is it just generic and unsatisfying.

Zombie Infection’s control system is easy to understand – you walk around with the virtual analog stick, you have a button for melee attacks, and pressing the gun icon will send you into firing mode. In firing mode you can aim and shoot at zombies, but you move nowhere near the speed at which you move while you’re not in it. Tapping the gun icon again will fire, and there’s another button for reloading. Tapping the exit icon on the left will have you exit firing mode. These controls and simple and they work quite well.

The graphics, like in almost all Gameloft games, are beautiful. The character models look great, the environments look great, and characters even move their mouths while talking in cutscenes! No problems at all in the visual department.

The story is nothing to cheer about, but it will provide some background and incentive to keep advancing in the game. Zombie Infection has around a dozen stages, with a survival mode that unlocks after the completion of story mode. There are easy, normal, and hard difficulties, and you can also collect hidden items to unlock a third character to play as in survival mode.

The only problem is that survival mode will frequently slow down on older generation devices when there are a lot of zombies on screen. However, owners of newer hardware will have a blast with the survival mode.

Zombie Infection is another quality title from Gameloft, and shows how fast that they are advancing in the mobile gaming industry, especially on iDevices. Zombie Infection will keep you occupied for around 5 to 6 hours on the hardest difficulty, with more if you plan on repeatedly playing survival mode. It has enough content to warrant the $7 price tag, and it won’t disappoint if you need another game to scratch that Resident Evil 5 or zombie carnage itch.

Square Enix has long been a top developer of great RPGs, notably their Final Fantasy series for consoles. Now they’ve put their effort into bringing an exclusive, unique game only for the iDevice. This game, Chaos Rings, is a turn based RPG with 3D graphics an interesting combat system. Not only does the game look console quality, but it’s also priced at $12.99, the highest price a game has been on the App Store. How does Chaos Rings stack up?

The story is worthy of a game of epic standards. Four pairs compete in a deadly tournament to become immortal, but what motives do the organizers of the tournament have? Four different storylines will go on separate paths, then all converge into one for a grand finale. Chaos Rings is an RPG with a great storyline that will immerse you in its fantasy world.

The graphics in Chaos Rings are beautiful, whether they are in-game graphics or cutscenes. You can tell that Square Enic has put a lot of effort into the eye candy department, and it pays off. The beautiful presentation of the game is the thing you’ll notice first, and it will entice you to clikc that “Buy” button, no matter how steep the price is.

The gameplay is also a nice twist on a classic turn based combat system. Not only do you have to select which moves your characters use, but you also have to select whether they attack alone or together. They will do more damage if they attack together, but enemies will also be able to hit both of them at the same time instead of singly. This provides an additional choice to use as you combat monsters and bosses.

There are also elements that affect how strong or weak your attack is. Fire is effective against Gale, which is effective against Aqua, which is effective against Fire. This combat triangle can be used to your advantage, or it can be the demise of your characters.

The controls also work well – you will use a virtual stick that appears wherever you put your finger to move through the levels, and menus will appear once you go in combat with enemies.

I have no gripes with Chaos Rings whatsoever, and it’s a legitimate and high-quality RPG for the iDevice. If you are an RPG fan and are hesitant about the price, you can be assured that your money will be well spent on a game with engaging gameplay and a great storyline.

In-case you’re wondering what the big deal is about MMO’s…

The US gamers are still no 1, however, spending about $3.8 billion dollars overall on MMO games. $1.8 billion of that money is spent on monthly subscription fees. The money spent averages out to $15.10 between both subscription and free-to-play MMO gamers. The study also found that 46% of 46 mil players in the US pays real money to play MMO games.

According to the MMO-Wiki that’s:

• about 46 million players in the US
• spending about $3.8 billion dollars overall
• with about 46% paying real money to play MMO’s

Needless to say, it’s a huge market, across all of the major platforms (PC/Mac/Linux, game consoles, online & flash-based ect), and now MMOs are slowly but surely gaining some traction on pocket-sized mobile devices too.

The Pen Is Mightier Then The Sword

The first crop of MMOs to pop up on the App Store, were all text-based. For several months, these text-based MMOs dominated the top free charts on the App Store and still clock-in at a cool 19th position (at the time of writing this article.) This is mostly out of each of the developers re-packaging and re-distributing various point packages, that can be downloaded separately from the game for free to add points to the corresponding game account. It is quite an effective marketing tool to say the least, yet also the source of much frustration, as a wave of sub-apps point packages began (and still does to some extent) flood the top-free chart on the App Store.

Epic Pet Wars (EPW) is known mostly for being the first to bring a refreshing spin to the whole text-based MMO genre on the App Store. It has everything you have come to expect from a typical text-based MMO on the iDevices, yet also adds a whole new element of virtual pet/character creation and development to the mix. However, EPW’s success has unfortunately driven Miraphonic to usher in the new era of “Epic *insert noun here* Wars” and as a result the App Store is practically littered with everything from Epic Chef Wars to Epic Solider Wars, even attracting some attention from Ngmoco in the process.

Once upon a time there was no FarmVille. A dark past of forgotten history, where watered down real-time strategy elements did not exist in MMO styled games. Shocking I know, but over a million users and many millions of dollars in earned revenue later, it’s hard to ignore the broad impact FarmVille has had on the MMO genre. Especially when considering that the concept Zynga used for FarmVille was somewhat inspired by a similar game called Farm-Town, out in the wild many months before FarmVille even launched. It was pretty much inevitable that a similarly inspired game would eventually pop-up in the App Store.

FarmVille?

There has been many reports claiming that the purveyor of the whole MMO farming craze FarmVille (which was ispired by a similar game Farm-Town) will make its way to the iDevices real soon. Good news? bad news? ugh meh? what do you think? Hit it up with some comments below.

*Major Complaints: (from the Facebook App)
-privacy concerns
-neighbor loading issues and bugs
- general freemium animosity

Of course MMOs wouldn’t be much fun without… SPACESHIPS. Am I right? And that’s where PC games like EVE Online (amongst others) come in. These kinds of games bring a whole myriad of possible spaceships to purchase, upgrade, fly around and battle with. They tend to be more akin to MMO flight-simulators more so then a traditional MMO, as in you never really disembark from your ship, nor do you get to explore the planets (on foot and/or vehicle) or get to explore any celestial objects (in a space suit perhaps) that you happen to come across in virtual space. All you really do is fly around trading, battling and doing missions, all from the comfort of your very own spaceship, which may or may not be a bad thing for most players.

And along comes Warp Gate by Freeverse (also recently acquired by Ngmoco.) an ambitious spaceship themed flight simulator-esque MMO, like EVE Online for the iDevices (with an iPad specific version here.) Read our full in-depth review here.

Outer Empires was the first spaceship themed flight simulator-esque MMO to cruise its way onto the App Store, albeit with NES caliber graphics. It deserves credit for being the first space flight simulator MMO on the apple devices, and the first cross-platform MMO game on the App Store to date, which is to say it can be played on both a web-browser from an internet connected PC/Mac/Linux/Ect and on the iDevices, with game data seamlessly shared between the two.

*

I’ll Have an MMO, With a Side of Action RPG Please

*
Anime-styled action RPGs are a dime a dozen on the App Store. From Gamevil’s Zenonia 2 (which just recently launched) to Com2uS’s Inotia 2 and many others all competing for your attention and hard-earned money. However, this pales in comparision to the sheer amount of flash based anime-styled action RPG MMOs out on the web, yet only one has made it to the App Store so far.

IMO

IMO is the first true anime-styled action RPG MMO available on the App Store, well for now anyways, more will certainly follow, especially if IMO’s freemium model proves to be successful. This game brings the best of action RPGs and the best of open world action-oriented MMORPG’s waters them both down a bit and combines them flawlessly to create an experience that is somewhat greater then the sum of the parts. But don’t take my word for it though, this game is absolutely free, why not grab it for yourself here and see what you think?

Major Complaints:
-needs more content, more areas, more monsters, more classes, more weapon types & weapons, ect
-steep learning curve; kinda confusing in the beginning
-too “girly”

Anrufen

Anrufen is a classic isometric (2D top-down perspective) take of a Diablo-inspired almost mythical action RPG MMO for the iPhone & iPod Touch (no iPad specific version just yet). Its not the best looking game, by any stretch of the imagination, but the graphics get the job done.

Major Complaints:
-theres only 2 classes
-free for all PvP
-limited customization and variety

*

*

What You Talking About? It’s all about 3D

In order for an MMO game to be truly immersive, as in reaching obsessively addictive status, it needs to be in 3D, preferably in third-person perspective. The long time reigning champion of all 3D MMOs is without a doubt World of Warcraft, so much so that the name has become synonymous for 3D action MMOs and is the baseline upon which all other games in the genre are compared to, kind of like how Final Fantasy is synonymous with deep story driven turn-based RPGs or used to be that is.

Pocket Legends

Pocket Legends, by Spacetime Studios, LLC is the first 3D MMO of its kind to arrive on the App Store. It’s not so much a game as it is a client for the game. In fact, it’s a universal client, which means the iPad has its very own iPad optimized Pocket Legends game. Interestingly, the iPad version launched before the iPhone & iPod Touch version did. This game takes an open-world 3rd person perspective action RPG MMO style of gameplay and breaks it up into bight-sized chunks of lobby-driven generic quests, where up to 4 players can join games and work together mindlessly destroying baddies until the boss is defeated or the timer runs out. And again don’t take my word for it, this game is absolutely free, grab it here and come to your own conclusions.

*

Major Complaints:

-needs more updates, content, larger levels, more customizable armor, more classes & species

-something engaging and compelling to do in the towns

-lots of requests for PvP arenas

The Future of Mobile MMOs

The future of mobile MMOs on the App Store (and of course other mobile app markets & platforms too) is looking quite promising for both gamers and developers alike. The fact that there is so many MMOs already on the platform, at such an early stage, steadily gaining traction going above and beyond projected earnings, somewhat validates that assumption. As the hardware and software of mobile devices steadily becomes more sophisticated, not to mention 3G/4G & wireless broadband connections consistently becoming more and more ubiquitous, chances are good that developers will continue to create and launch many more mobile MMOs well into the foreseeable future.

I think that when considering MMOs, especially web based and mobile MMOs, you have to account that the genre itself is on the precipice of a complete paradigm shift, from a traditional pay up-front and/or subscription model, to the controversial and often debated freemium (pay-to-play) monetization model. With MMOs seeminly perfect to leverage the freemium model, and for intents and purposes, the freemium model has almost been proven to be more profitable over the traditional models. Which means that its practically inevitable, that more freemium based MMOs will be popping up in an App Store near you… real soon.

LaDiDa is a reasonably new app, but the reason I am covering it is because it has recently got lots of attention on YouTube after one of the leading YouTubers covered it and got the app into the top 100 most watched videos in quite a few countries worldwide.

So, LaDiDa (pronounced: la-dee-da) is what it sounds. A singing app. It allows you to record your own song, or cover an artists song. What’s special bout this? The app doesn’t have any actual backing tracks by artists, so, when you record a song – no matter if it is original or number 1 worldwide – it puts a backing track to it. Yes, how cool right. But, as far as I’m concerned, the best bit is that it also auto-tunes your voice, which means whether you can sing or not, the app is right up your street. Speak in to it, sing into it, laugh – it auto-tunes and adds a cool original backing track.

LaDiDa is a reverse karaoke app that uses artificial intelligence  which makes you sound like a professional singer. You SING or RAP into the phone, and LaDiDa analyzes your voice and compose music to match. The app even works on melodic instruments such as GUITAR.

As I mentioned, the auto tune feature is amazing for this app, LaDiDa can automatically tune your voice to the correct notes and add studio-quality vocal effects.

This is how to work the app:

RECORD: Choose your style & tempo and sing or rap into the mic.

PLAY: Press “play” to hear what LaDiDa creates! The music will match what you’ve sung. Listen to your song in different styles:

- E Piano Pop
- Rhythm Synth Pop
- Dub Tone
- Underground Rap
- Tasty Breaks Rap
- Dirty South Rap

SHARE: Share your favorite songs with your friends on Facebook, Twitter and email. Or simply upload it to the LaDiDa online site, from the app, and let people around the world search for it, and rate it between one and five stars.

DISCOVER: Discover new songs performed by other LaDiDa singers and be the judge!

So, there you go, pretty simple right. Now to get down with the proper ”review” side of this.

The auto-tune feature is what made me buy it, because it makes me sound like an amazing singer, and I love using it to show my friends these songs I improvise on the spot which sound amazing. I also think the app is impressive because it has more than one setting, and you can choose the tempo, so you can use the tempo to make it sound better in the end.

There are one or two disappointing things. The first is that sometimes, obviously, the songs don’t come out right, because you choose a slightly wrong tempo, and it sounds awful. If this could be corrected, and a feature could be added where it automatically changes the tempo, this would be great, because your song could have slow and fast parts and sound studio quality – or even billboard chart quality! The other disappointing feature is that sometimes, you have to physically ’shout/sing’ for the app to make a difference. Sometimes when I sing into it, when the backing track is added, I can’t hear myself, apart from the odd few words. This could be fixed really easily, all they really need to do make it possible for you to post produce your song, and change the level of sound for the backing track.

So, let me know what you think, comment below! Pictures below!

As you all may know, X2 Football 2009 was (and still is) one of the best iPhone games around.
We here at the3appmigos have been sent some very important info about X2 Games’ next title, and White Room Games (their competitors) next title. The first is a sequel to X2 Football 2009, titled “X2 Football 2010″ (wow)

X2 Games, the wholly owned publishing subsidiary of award-winning UK developer Exient Ltd, is sending this info to you (and announcing it later today) that the next installment in the critically acclaimed X2 Football franchise is currently in the final stages of development.

Commenting on the announcement, Charles Chapman, Technical Director, Said “we were always confident that X2 Football 2009 would be successful, our entire development team are football fans and this, in turn, lead to the creation of a game that met with world-wide acclaim. But we never, ever want to rest on our laurels.” He continued “We’ve taken on board a lot of feedback from users and have rewritten large parts of the game from the ground up as well as adding more features. Our aim is to ensure that X2 Football 2010 continues in the same tradition that its predecessor set upon first release.”

Des Gayle, Producer, added “with X2 Football 2010 our fans will have to play smarter against improved AI, they will be able to play faster with our 3GS optimizations and they can play more with club teams, online multiplayer, and the all new ‘Dream Team’ mode.”

I, personally can’t wait for it.

However, we have also received info on a competitor’s version.

White Room Games today announced Volley Soccer World Cup, its first title for iPhone and iPod touch devices. Taking the form of a reaction-based set-piece game that recreates the most spectacular method of scoring goals in soccer, Volley Soccer World Cup draws upon White Room Games’ keen understanding of iPhone gaming dynamics to provide the ideal time-filler for this year’s World Cup Tournament.

Volley Soccer World Cup places the player in front of the goal mouth as a ball is about to arrive. With a strict time limit, players must get to the optimum position to receive the pass and then time their kick to fire the airborne ball across the goal line. With an initial pool of 10 balls to start with, players must keep their cool and rack up successive goals to increase their score, with more balls added as the player maintains a streak of scoring volleys. Volley Soccer World Cup features three difficulty modes for those looking for increased challenge and scores can be shared with friends on Facebook or Twitter using OpenFeint.

Mr. White, CEO, White Room Games, comments: “We’re very excited to be announcing the first title from White Room Games. Volley Soccer World Cup is exactly the kind of concise, accessible and compelling gaming experience that thrives on the iPhone platform and as such, will match perfectly with the ebb and flow of this year’s World Cup.” He continues; “Volley Soccer World Cup has been designed as the perfect pick up and play World Cup game to fill those gaps of time and will surely be the ideal ‘companion’ game for anyone waiting around for a match to start, meeting mates for a pre-match drink or those bored of half-time commentaries and wanting to challenge themselves or their friends.”

Volley Soccer World Cup will be available from the App Store in Mid May, with a launch price of 59p.

Hmm, interesting. Two soccer games. Which one will be better?

Comment on it below.

Written by Jeff Yue.

Freeverse is famous for two things – first and foremost, for bringing quality casual games to the App Store; and second, for the deal through which it was bought by the company Ngmoco. Freeverse doesn’t really have a fleshed out game, since most if not all of them are just “pick up and play.” Warpgate is their attempt at creating a huge, open-world space game where you can attack anyone you choose, create alliances with certain factions, trade commodities to become rich, or just wreak general havoc throughout the galaxy (provided that you have a good enough ship).

Warpgate’s graphics are commendable, as they seem to really push the device to its limits. Almost everything is sleek, beautiful, and fits the futuristic time period the game is set in. With tons of eye candy to look at everywhere, there’s no doubt that Warpgate will please those that search for pretty games to show off on their iPhone or iPod Touch.

The commodity trading aspect of the game is well implemented, as prices for items will rise and fall in real time as you play, and it is a necessity to frequently check the news to get the lowdown on where to get the cheapest prices for goods and where to sell them for the highest possible price.

The exploration part of the game is limited based on how much of the main storyline you have done. In the beginning you’re restricted to one faction’s system, but later on as you complete quests you’ll slowly unlock all the other areas. Though this is fair, some might be disappointed since not everything is available in the beginning though it’s an “open-world” game.

The combat part of the game is where things fall short. Instead of an epic space duel, all you do is tap buttons to fire weapons when they become available. Your ship can either be “influenced” by tilt controls, which are none too reliable in this game, or the ship just flies around randomly while you fight. There’s also a button you can use to divert weapons power to shields if you’re in a pinch. Other than that, you can’t do much else.

Those who expect Warpgate to be full of action-packed battles will be disappointed. It is much more of a trading, commodity, and exploration game rather than a space combat game. Granted, the combat is sometimes genuinely fun and even exciting when your ship is on the verge of destruction, but combat is definitely not the main focus of the game. Maybe in future updates this area will be expanded upon, but as of now it’s just an add-on rather than part of the core gameplay. However, Warpgate is well-worth its $4.99 price tag and those looking for a space exploration and trading sim with a bit of combat thrown in will be satisfied with their purchase.

Written by Jeff Yue. (Kunning)

Around a year ago, Chillingo released extremely eye-catching screens of their upcoming game “Vampire Origins.” At the time, these images were revolutionary images for an iPhone and iPod Touch game and almost too good to believe that it would be for this platform. Now, after multiple delays and around a year later, Chillingo has finally released this game to the public. The visuals certainly are beautiful, and they probably will entice many potential buyers to purchase the game. However, if a game doesn’t have enough content it really doesn’t matter how pretty it is. Is this the case with Vampire Origins?

You play as Vincent, a vampire hunter that’s been resurrected by the lord of the underworld to stop vampires from taking over the world. This cannot be allowed, since vampires are immortal and will never have to go into the realm of death. The story is told through beautifully illustrated comic strips in between the gun-slinging action as Vincent shoots his way through hordes of otherworldly monsters.

As I previously mentioned, you’ll notice that the graphics are superb. A lot of effort went into the art assets, and everything in this area is commendable. The animations, backgrounds, and boss fights all sport amazing eye candy that gets the player immersed into the action.

The controls also work quite well. You can either tap anywhere to move and tap on enemies to shoot, or use a virtual joystick to move and an auto-targeting button to shoot. Both are easy to adjust to and suffice for their purpose.

The problem with Vampire Origins is that it offers barely three hours of gameplay. Once you defeat the third boss the game ends, and a “to be continued” screen shows up. It seems that the year’s worth of development time all went into the visuals, and much less time was spent on adding actual content to the game.

That wouldn’t have really mattered if they had implemented an additional game mode, but unfortunately “Survival” isn’t really a survival mode. You have a set objective and you can actually finish it in ten minutes or so, which defeats the purpose of having an actual survival mode in the game. Granted, there are three maps, but that only adds up to around half an hour of extra game time, which will put you at a grand total of around three and a half hours of content for Vampire Origins.

At its current $6.99 price point, Vampire Origins is not exactly the best value you can get for your money and it’s far from what people expected it to be. However, if you don’t mind the short gameplay time and want it solely based on visuals, then it might be a good purchase. Currently, Vampire Origins is worth a look, but I’d recommend purchasing something else unless an update brings more content or a price drop.

Written by guest writer Jeff Yue. (Kunning)