Pokemon Go and the Upcoming Buddy System

In the latest build of Pokemon Go, snippets of code have been discovered that indicate that a buddy system of sorts is on the way. Based on what’s been deciphered from the code, it looks like the game will allow you to walk alongside one of your pokemon so that it can collect candy for its species. This is a brilliant idea!

Continue reading

Trying to Obtain the Perfect Pokemon in Pokemon Go

When I first started playing Pokemon Go, my primary goal was to get a Raichu. Raichu is my favourite, and I figured I would be happy as soon as I got one. Then I started playing the game and quickly realized that CP is an important stat. Fine. I’ll aim to get a Raichu with a good CP, whatever that is.

But as I started to learn more about the inner workings of pokemon, settling with any old Raichu wasn’t good enough. In this post, we look at the other factors that determine the quality of a pokemon and why getting the “perfect” version of one is so hard.

Continue reading

Early Impressions of Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go mania is sweeping the planet and I am not immune to the madness. My background in the franchise is fairly limited, but I did beat Pokemon X, so I get the gist of what the core games in the series are about. Unlike those, this one uses the power of GPS and augmented reality to put you at the heart of the action. On paper, this should be the franchise in its ultimate form. So far, does the game look to be on track to meet or exceed the lofty expectations in front of it?

Continue reading

Board Gaming on Mobile Devices

Carcassonne

I fell out of love with mobile gaming ages ago. What once was a platform full of potential has degraded into a free-to-play money grab for the likes of Farmville, Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans. For those of you that like those kinds of games, that’s great. However, the types of games and the business models that drive them no longer appeal to my gaming sensibilities. At this point, my final vestige of mobile gaming comes from digital adaptations of analog board games.

Continue reading

Drop It Like It’s Hot

I can’t go anywhere without my iPod Touch. As my all-in-one mini computer, I use it for everything from media consumption, note-taking and games. While I was swept up in Peggle fever a few months back, one game has remained a staple in my iPod Touch game library. That game is Drop 7. It’s by no measure a new game. I bought the game months before I started this blog, and even then it wasn’t new. However, I have consistently gone back to this game and play it almost daily. It’s a great and simple game that is perfect to play on the go.

Continue reading

Game Design Talk: Turning the Difficulty Up To 11

I’ve been putting a lot of time into Street Fighter IV for the iPhone and I’m still having a lot of fun with it. I’ve gotten to the point where I can consistently hit 19-hit combos with Ryu, which is kind of scary, considering the fact that I can’t do that on the real thing.

Thinking I had mad skills, I decided to try playing the game at the toughest difficulty setting. On normal, I could beat the game with Ryu in under 8 minutes. On “Grueling”, it took me 25 minutes to get to the final boss. It was tough, but I didn’t mind the experience. It still felt somewhat fair.

It was when I got to M. Bison that the experience took a turn for the worst. If you’ve played a Street Fighter game, you probably can empathize with my pain. I spent another 30 minutes just trying to beat him before I finally broke through.

Continue reading

Poor Episodic Gaming: Puzzle Quest on iPhone

When I first bought Puzzle Quest on the iPhone on the first day it came out in December 2008, I fully knew that I could have gotten the complete game on the DS, XBOX Live or the Wii. However, I felt that this style of gameplay would serve me better on the iPhone. Despite the initial display issues (which were later patched), I was having a lot of fun with it.

That was, till the game ran out. You see, at a discounted price, you got 1/3 of the game, with the other two parts coming at an undetermined date at an undetermined price. I was able to get through that initial chunk within a few weeks. I said to myself, “OK, cool. I’ll wait for the second chapter.”

Continue reading

Street Fighter IV on iPhone Makes Me Eat My Words

“…like the thought of eating a steak topped with ice cream, the recently announced Street Fighter IV iPhone port has made me throw up in my mouth just a little bit. I can’t imagine this being anything but an absolute nightmare to play.” – Me.

Up until the recent release of Street Fighter IV on the iPhone, I expected nothing less than garbage from this mobile port. In my previous post, I provided a bunch of reasons to support my initial feelings towards the final product. But then, the positive word-of-mouth online began to bubble. As a Street Fighter IV junkie, this was enough to push me over the edge and give this $10 app a shot. To my surprise, Street Fighter IV on the iPhone does very well considering the platform its on, providing players with a fun fighting game that controls well enough.

Continue reading

Some Thoughts On Monopoly For the iPhone


For those of you who regularly check out my blog to view the video game world through my perspective: my apologies. Life has been nothing short of hectic these last few weeks with a full-time job, Chistmas preparations and a personal life. I still play games on a regular basis. However, finding the time to write about them has been very difficult.

I’ve got a lot to write about, having played Left 4 Dead 2, Assassins Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2 and a bunch more. But I thought to get back on the saddle, I’d talk about the game that arguably has taken up most of my time; Monopoly on the iPhone.

Monopoly, really? Yes, really.

Continue reading