Clash of the Planets does sound like a Japanese anime series with your usual heroic space-soldiers defending against the forces of darkness that are encroaching into a solar system far far away. The great news is that this is exactly what is delivered on Windows Phone from developers ImpressWork. The only disappointment is you're never going to see those anime characters.
By tradition, these games always have a super-long name, but with a Splinter Cell title on almost every platform, it was only a matter of time before Xbox Live would have the running, jumping and standing still genre. If you like your gaming like you like your summer blockbuster movies (repetitive, obvious, with lots of explosions, and directed by Jerry Bruckheimer) then you're going to be very happy with Splinter Cell Conviction. For everyone else, you might feel a bit of a passenger.
While it's nice to have a name that can fully describe a game, I think there's one bit missing from this title. More apt would be "Chickens can't fly - but they can fall with a huge amount of style." Developers Amused Sloth have a strong fanbase following the first title in this series, the independently released Chickens Can Dream. Now the sequel is an Xbox Live title, I think I'm about to upset a lot of people with our latest AAWP review.
My first impressions of Monster's headphone style weren't good, with some outlandish cyan over-ear cans shown off by the Monster CEO at last year's Nokia World. Happily, the reviewed in-ear equivalents are a hundred times less garish, especially since they're black. There's plenty of photos and comment below, but in short the audio quality is superlative - depending on the playback device. Balancing this, device compatibility is distinctly spotty and the price is.... rather high. Review added to Dec 2012.
Power hungry smartphones are always looking for a recharge. So a car charger is going to be high on the priority for a lot of people. But which one should you get? One option is Nokia's DC-20 unit, which initially draws the eye with its twin USB charging ports. And while USB car chargers are never going to generate much excitement, the Nokia DC-20 is a diamond amongst the rough competition.
Sometimes all you need to do to keep people coming back to your Windows Phone game is to implement all the basics really well, add in a touch of consistent design, and let the original concept of the game shine through. That's what Sour Green Plums has done with its puzzle game Blocked In.
Another week, another Xbox Live title, and another review. I'm really glad that Microsoft has picked up on the idea of regularity and "appointment apps". I'm less impressed with Bullet Asylum, a modern reworking of Missile Command. It looks wonderful, and I was itching to play it. The truth, unfortunately, is that one big problem gets in the way of making this a title I could recommend.
If you're looking for accuracy, realistic car physics, and a relationship between the driver, car, and road... you won't find it in the Need for Speed series of games. You will find lots of arcade action, glorious graphics, and a cinematical flair in the presentation of this arcade franchise. That heady mix has driven Need for Speed to success over multiple gaming platforms. And now Xbox Live brings the Cops 'n' Robbers styled Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.
For many online publishers, the key to everything is data. If you have good data, then you can learn from it and improve your content. Throw in the current fascination for real-time engagement and stories that can go from breaking news to yesterdays musings in under an hour, and you'll see that access to your website statistics on your smartphone might be a very good idea. Which is when Doug Rathbone's Google Analytics client for Windows Phone, InTheKnow, becomes very useful.
In this quick look video review, we kick off our review coverage of the new Nokia Lumia 710. The video starts with an ultra fast unboxing, before moving on to take a closer look at key hardware and design features of Nokia's second Windows Phone device. It finishes with some thoughts on the mid-tier pricing and positioning.
