Games

Video Games and Marriage: Game Related Divorce Rampant in Real and Virtual Worlds!

I have no intent to make light of divorce or marriage or anything else related to human relationships – they are tough enough as it is. But recently there have been a couple of reports related to video games and divorce that I found interesting. So let’s dive right in! While just about any hobby involving a significant singular time commitment can cause strain in a marriage – my father and a couple of his friends called themselves ‘quilting widows’, and there are people I work with who go on fishing/hunting/camping weekends, and on and on – it seems that…


iPhone / iPad Game Review: Tesla Wars HD

Tower defense games come in a wide variety of sizes, styles and approaches, but in general they all involve keeping enemies at one end from getting to your base at the other end. Games like Fieldrunners and Plants vs. Zombies and Defense Grid: The Awakening are great games that exemplify the breadth of the genre – and the various apps stores, casual game sites and digital download houses are filled with generic clones of those games. Now we have a game that takes a different approach – and works surprisingly well! Let’s take a look. The Hype: Tesla Wars is…


iPad Game Review: Stand O’Food 3

G5 Games is one of the big publishers of so-called casual games, and my favorite publisher of those games for iOS devices. They have found a sweet spot of hidden object, puzzle and time-management games that play well and present an excellent value on those platforms. Some of these games – such as Treasure Seekers and Supermarket Mania – have spawned full franchises that carry from one game to the next and bring the audience right with them! Now the next entry in another time-management favorite has arrived – Stand O’Food 3! Let’s take a look. The Hype: The most…



Android Game Review: Virtual City HD

Late last year I reviewed the iPhone and iPad versions of Virtual City, noting the huge addition of the sandbox mode in the iPad version and the huge playability increase in the larger screen version. Since then there have been updates made to the game, and now it has arrived on Android. Read on to find out what I thought! The Hype: Build the city of your dreams – a residential paradise or an industrial center. Build dwelling houses and industrial buildings. Produce goods and deliver them to the shopping malls. Setup mass-transit system to take your citizens to places…


PC/XBOX360 Game Review: Portal 2

Back in 2007 Valve release The Orange Box, which collected up the 2004 PC game Half-Life 2 along with the ‘Episode’ expansions for release on the XBOX360 (and later PS3), and added two new games: Team Fortress 2 and Portal. Team Fortress 2 was the big news of the collection … but the little two hour physics FPP (first person puzzler) called Portal was the break-out star. I thoroughly enjoyed it and reviewed the Orange Box back in 2007 and showed my kids, but it was only this past year that my younger son got interested in the game again….



Drop7 Free by Zynga for iPhone/Touch/iPad

I recently noticed my wife enthralled with an iPhone game. That is kind of strange in itself. I didn’t ask what it was for a few evenings, but could tell it was some sort of puzzle game. When I finally inquired about what she was doing, she told me I had to download Drop7 Free. That was either a big mistake or a good thing depending on how you look at it. Now we both cannot put the game down. In fact, while trying to finish this paragraph, I have played the game twice! Let’s take a look at how…


Gear Games Review: Everything You Need to Know About Madden 12 for iPhone/iPad in a Single Image

Late last night I spotted Madden 12 HD in the iTunes App Store, and like the impulsive fool I am … I bought it. I had planned to run through a full and thorough review of the game, but instead spent a few hours trying to be sure that I wasn’t actually still playing Madden 11! This afternoon I came across the review at TouchArcade … and it really sums things up perfectly. All they did was take their review from last year and make a few cross-outs and changes: ‘m kind of at a loss as to what to…


Gear Games News: EA Launches ‘The Sims Social’ on Facebook!

Are you one of the millions of fans of The Sims franchise? Do you like Facebook games? If so … rejoice, because The Sims Social has arrived! The game will be immediately familiar to anyone who has ever played a Sims game: you set up your character, then start doing some basic tasks, and slowly built a life for your Sim including interactions with others. The image below shows the basic starting point for a character. As with the other games in the franchise you have extensive tools to alter your appearance to your liking – or just to match…


In Case You Had Forgotten WHY You Hate GameStop

I have made a rather big deal about the release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution this week, and in the few hours I have had to play it so far – it is clear we finally have a true follow-up to one of the greatest video games of all time. As I have gone to an ‘all digital’ gaming world, I had pre-ordered it through Green Man Gaming, and since the game is SteamWorks based I was able to add the game to my Steam account and have it fully pre-loaded when it was released! For those who bought the…


Mac/PC Game Review: Din’s Curse: Demon War (PC/Mac RPG, 2011)

Nearly a year ago I reviewed Din’s Curse, praising it for offering loads of fun and tons of gameplay. I summed up as follows: Soldak has once again created a great RPG that encompasses many familiar things but brings us something new and challenging that lends itself to a fun and fresh gaming experience. The core of the game is wrapped around a dynamic world loaded with quests, and that in itself will be enough to keep you coming back for more. Now they are back with an expansion to Din’s Curse called ‘Demon War’. To put it simply, it…


Gear Games Review: Rude GameWare Fierce 3500 Wireless Gaming Mouse

A few months ago I reviewed the Rude GameWare Fierce Gaming Mouse 2, declaring “It is perfectly weighted and balanced without feeling so game-specific to be useless in a business setting.” Now Rude GameWare is back with a wireless version called the Fierce 3500 Wireless Gaming Mouse. I will give a quick highlight of features, a summary of whether or not I liked it, but mostly focus on a video review. The Hype: Free yourself from the chains of wired gaming mice forever! The Fierce 3500 Wireless Gaming Mouse gives you the performance and features you demand without being tied…




Gear Games News: Star Wars Jedi Knight II Comes to the Mac App Store

It has been just about a year and a half since I did a retrospective review on Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, concluding: Jedi Knight II has aged very well. The graphics scale nicely on new systems, but it also performs as you would expect an 8 year old game to run – flawlessly. The gameplay is missing some of the new mechanics such as sprinting that have become commonplace, but otherwise retains a tight and modern feel. The melee combat feeling Raven software developed has yet to be surpassed in any game in any genre since. For…



Mac Game Review: Jack of All Tribes

I recently reviewed the iPad version of Jack of All Tribes, a ‘casual time management meets sim meets strategy’ game. I thoroughly enjoyed the game, so when I was able to review the newly released Mac version, I immediately jumped at the chance! Let’s see how the game did in the transition from tablet to computer! The Hype: Travel to the past with Jack and rule a prehistoric tribe in this fun time management game with puzzle elements! Help fellow tribesmen set up their homes and create thriving villages. Keep villagers happy with food, drinks and entertainment; protect them from…



Zombie Gunship for iPhone/Touch

I am both a fan and historian of weaponry and aircraft. One of the meanest flying machines available in combat is the AC-130 Gunship. The AC-130 is often used to support ground troops and convoys. A 140mm M102 cannon, a Bofors 40mm autocannon and a 25mm GAU-12 Equalizer packs quit the punch. The firepower brought by the gunship is known to be feared and respected in combat. Lucky for us, the AC-130 is being used to help survivors of the zombie apocalypse escape impending doom. The entire game is spent at the helm of the three powerful weapons of the…


iPad Game Review: Special Enquiry Detail: The Hand that Feeds

Mix together a crime-drama mystery, puzzles, hidden objects, and tons of twists and turns and intrigue … and you have the makings of one of the most compelling games made for the iPad this year. The name of that game is “Special Enquiry Detail: The Hand that Feeds” from G5 Entertainment. Let’s take a look and see if it lives up to that promise! The Hype: Try your hand at investigating a crime, crack the case and catch the criminal in this perplexing hidden-object game! Detectives Turino and Lamonte have been assigned to a new investigative unit: Special Enquiry Detail….