Since the launch of the iTunes App Store, I’ve been longing for a Fire Emblem style turn-based strategy RPG to hit the iPhone. There have been no shortage of strategy games on the platform, but up until I found War of Eusthrath HD for iPad (which hit the App Store on June 11th), I hadn’t found one that was right up my alley. Having poured in close to 16 hours into the game in the past week, this game has sent me to strategy RPG heaven.
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video games
Is NBA Live on the iPhone a Slam Dunk?
After my overall positive experience with FIFA World Cup 2010, I decided to give my favourite sport a shot. NBA Live for the iPhone and iPod Touch was also on sale for $0.99 when I picked it up. As someone who has generally nit-picked at games based on my favourite sport to the point that I quit playing them years ago, I thought that having a mobile version could be interesting. While I’ve had some fun with it, I’m not sure the game has enough to overcome it’s deficiencies.
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Mike Tyson Ate My Children
Mike Tyson is famous for a lot of things. On top of being one of the greatest boxers of all-time, he’s also a legendary last boss in the world of video games. He’s so brutally hard, that Nintendo freely gave away the code to skip directly to Mike Tyson, if you dared. You may think, “Oh man! I can skip to the end; this will be a cake walk!” but then Iron Mike hits you with a lightning-quick punch you didn’t see and you instantly hit the canvas. It’s then you realize, you’re screwed.
FIFA World Cup on iPhone is More Fun Than a Vuvuzela
Historically, I’m not a fan of sports games. This is weird, because I actually love sports. It’s just one of those things I would generally prefer to do in real life than in a video game. With that said, hockey and soccer are two of my favourite video game sports, which is also weird, because I don’t like those sports in real life.
I guess before I make this any more confusing, I picked up FIFA World Cup 2010 for the iPod Touch when it was on sale for $0.99 (85% off!). While I can recognize the game’s faults, it’s really fun to play and was a steal at $0.99.
Thoughts on the iPad (and now iPhone) Geometry Wars
Back when Geometry Wars: Touch launched in April, it was $10 and iPad only. Now in June, it’s half the price and now works for both iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch. I really like the series, but was reluctant to give it a go until this recent update and price drop. Now that I’ve spent some time with it on both platforms, I’ll give you the scoop on what makes each version different and which is better to play.
Go Ninja, Go
Ninjatown: Trees of Doom is a game based off of a line of plush dolls created by Shawn Smith. For those of you that read EGM in the mid to late 90’s, you may remember that Shawn Smith was a part of the EGM crew for a while. Because of his connections, he was frequently mentioned in video game podcasts such as EGM Live and Player One where he would talk about the old days of the magazine and promote his Ninjatown work.
I’ve wanted to support his cause for a while now. However, I didn’t really have room in my life for plush dolls and the first Ninjatown game was a tower defense game; a genre I’m not that into. When Trees of Doom was released on the iPhone and iPod Touch at the bargain basement price of $0.99, I was quick to pick it up. While I have to hand it to Shawn for creating mega-cute characters, is the game any fun?
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Why I Maintain a Blog About Video Games
Based on my Google Analytics stats, virtually nobody reads this blog. The majority of the hits are from myself, making sure my posts are formatted properly and don’t have any spelling mistakes. Every now and then I’ll get a few hits from random parts of the world. But for the most part, traffic to this blog is a joke. I admit, I haven’t tried very hard to promote it: I infrequently update the In Third Person Twitter feed, which has 0 followers as of this post, and outside of my girlfriend (whom I’ve kept this blog a secret for about 6 months) nobody I personally know even knows this exists.
In This Month’s Issue
1993 was a very big year in gaming for me. It was the year I got a Super Nintendo for my birthday and the year I read my first video game magazine. Both of those moments were key in making me the enthusiast I am today, for better or worse. I won’t talk about the Super Nintendo experience this time. I wanted to write about that magazine and how it completely changed my media consumption habits.
Married to the Mob
Before I invested in an XBOX 360, I was starved for core games as a Wii-only owner. I was going through a drought in games to play, and the Wii version of The Godfather was starting to pick up buzz. I had never watched a Godfather movie or played a Grand Theft Auto game before, the promise of being able to point my Wii remote as a gun or beat thugs down with swinging fist motions seemed really cool. Also, when you don’t have that many options to choose from, you’re more willing to step outside your comfort zone for some satisfaction.
Closing Thoughts on Super Mario Galaxy
Last time I wrote about Super Mario Galaxy, I gushed over how it was a technical and creative masterpiece, yet I found myself not having that much fun with it. At the time, I wasn’t completely sure whether or not there was something wrong with the game or something wrong with me. I was hoping that the final stretch of the game would bring it all together and I would have a blast with it. Though after completing the game with the bare-minimum number of stars, it’s failed to hook me in and I don’t know why.
In Third Person 