For a while my family was entranced with SongPop, the fun and addicting song identification game from FreshPlanet. They also have released MoviePop and other engaging social competitive games. Now for the upcoming Apple Watch release they have announced BoxPop, a game that challenges you to pop boxes and make your way through challenging puzzle grids.
It isn’t hard to find bad news about malls – in our (small) local mall, the Deb, Pac Sun, Gap, Radio Shack and a few small stores are all closing. Even the bigger anchor stores such as Macy’s, Sears and JC Penny are seeing pressure from online sales that lower traffic, also hurting smaller stores. Only exception? Apple stores.
Last month when I wrote about the iPad Legend of Grimrock footage and the upcoming Mac beta I forgot to ever check back. Now the beta is out and available for anyone who owns a copy of the PC game on Steam! I have had a bit to check it out, and it is awesome, here is some info!
Opera has remained a favorite browser for many through the years, and has expanded to pretty much all platforms. Today they announce a new feature – bookmark synchronization across all platforms. Now you can use one set of bookmarks across Opera for computers, Opera for Android and Opera Mini for iOS so users can sync bookmarks between computers, phones and tablets.
When a hot tech product launches, everyone rushes to get it, all tech sites scramble to review it right away … but often that is the last anyone hears about it. But with updates so easy to process now, more and more products mature nicely over time. Now 5 months post-launch I have an iPhone 6 Plus … what do I think?
For more than a century International Women’s Day has been held on March 8th. And it is amazing to think of the things that have happened in our country and world for women since that time. The date is derived from the women of Petrograd, Russia holding a “bread and peace” strike in 1917, but the message is timeless.
Over at Buzzfeed there is a post highlighting the videos of Mario Wienerroither, who posts ‘musicless’ videos by stripping the original music and remixing them with either actual or imagined sounds and effects of what might have been going on during the filming video. The results are awkward and embarrassing … but always intriguing!
It seems instead of consolidation in office software we’re getting proliferation – at lower cost! Google Docs and Apple’s iWork are capable products challenging the Microsoft Office supremacy, but Microsoft isn’t standing still. Between more frequent updates and their Office365 initiative there’s lots of good news, now you can get an advanced look at the upcoming Microsoft Office for Mac!
Last fall the game ‘Lords of the Fallen’ was released to solid reviews, and amazement at the scope and art direction given the small size of the studios involved with the game. Since then it has become popular with hardcore RPG fans for the solid gameplay and overall sense of fun. Now the Ancient Labyrinth DLC expansion is available!
One big trend in gaming recently is the convergence of card-based games and more traditional genres. And beyond that, the trading and collectible card game sub-genres have had considerable crossover lately. Now we have an upcoming game that combines RPG with both CCG and TCG elements to produce an exciting and fun experience that is both accessible and deep!
Nostalgia can be a powerful thing, especially when it is invoked through a more modern means. I loved classic sci-fi adventures such as The Journeyman Project 20+ years ago, so when I was in the midst of deciphering a puzzle in Morningstar: Descent to Deadrock, that warm feeling of revisiting a great experience washed over me.
Are you a fan of the Netflix original series “House of Cards”? Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright are riveting are Frank and Claire in the popular series now in its 3rd season. In this season we see the video game-loving President play Monument Valley to decompress. And in turn, viewers turned to the app store to buy the game.
Just over four years ago Arrowhead Game Studios released Magicka, a hybrid RPG-action-adventure game with a smirking sense of humor and loads of fun and stuff to discover. Since then they have released a bunch of DLC and two expansions, been featured in Indie/Humble bundles, and the game remains an absolute blast to play – and now we’re getting a sequel!
Spellweaver, a brand new Digital Trading Card Game, is ready to unveil its first teaser video. Spellweaver is a classic style trading card game set in a fantasy world where various faction’s spellweavers battle for supremacy. The trading card game features a variety of unique features that set it apart from other card games on the market.
When I see something cool in an email or RSS feed, I check to see if it was covered by Gear Diary and I just missed it! Today I got a pre-order email for the Zagg Pocket Keyboard, a great mobile physical keyboard without the usual compromises, I was interested and saw we had done a YouTube preview!
Last year we celebrated 20 years of ordering food online (pizza – surprised?), and by now most of us have ordered some sort of food online – and many have used smartphone apps to place and track orders. Now Domino’s (is leading the way by allowing customers to place and track their order via Pebble and Android Wear smartwatches.
The NVIDIA Shield tablet is a solid gaming-centric device that has racked up some solid PC-port games since release. Now NVIDIA has returned at GDC with the announcement of a ‘set top gaming box’ that will be the world’s first 4K Android TV consumer product when it’s released, and also be loaded with great gaming features.
I loved Machines at War 3 for both Mac and iPad from Isotope 244, an indie developer known for making classic real-time strategy games for desktop and mobile. That game followed Land Air Sea Warfare, which was the sequel to Machines at War. LASW released for computers and iPad in 2010, and is now coming to Android on March 11!
This is a busy couple of weeks for technology folks between MWC, GDC, PAX East and SPIE (ok, the last one isn’t consumer focused but will drive the technology for the next decade). Today at GDC (Game Developer Conference) Frozenbyte announced Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power, the second sequel to the popular 2009 side-scrolling medieval fantasy platformer.
Michael Siebenaler and Michael Anderson are looking to “go ape” over the new rhythm platform game Jungle Rumble on the PlayStation Vita. This rhythm-based game utilizes the PlayStation Vita’s touch controls and capabilities well. The Mikes weigh-in on this recent PlayStation Vita port of the 2014 iPhone game. Let’s take a look!
When last we heard about 3D Realms, it was with regards to the Duke Nukem franchise and the Gearbox release of Duke Nukem Forever, of which the less said perhaps the better. Their last release was 2006’s Prey, a solid game with a sequel that was cancelled. But now they are back with a great looking action-RPG called Bombshell!