Ask anyone the biggest name in consumer computer chess and the answer will come back 'ChessGenius'. It's available for every single platform, old and new (this is its debut on Windows Phone), it's been around for well over a decade, the chess engine it's based on has won ten (computer) world championships and it'll thrash you unless you happen to be a grandmaster. And even then you might struggle. Happily, there are options here to make it less forgiving of us lesser mortals...
What do you get if you distil the essence of Windows Phone 8 and the Nokia Lumia design/concept right down to the bone? If you drive it as far as possible towards the budget end of the market yet without compromising core functionality? You get this, the Nokia Lumia 520, now available at a bargain price somewhere near you (£99 on pay-as-you-go in the UK). There do have to be, naturally, quite a few compromises away from the core - and that's where this review should get most interesting... Is there a single show stopper? Or do the niggles add up to one? And will the target market even care?
Let's be honest here, if you were to look at UK Trains purely on the functions offered when installed on the handset, you wouldn't be that impressed. There's no live tile support for individual stations, you can't do a manual search, and platform information is truncated. But I still like it.
I really wanted to like Storm in a Teacup. I like quirky off the wall games, I like platform games with a bit of exploration. I also like my games to be responsive, look nice, and feel right. Unfortunately Storm in a Teacup was more of the latter than the former.
Working in the same realm as the Xbox Live title Doodle God, but naturally in opposition, is Doodle Devil. Starting with a few building blocks, can you create every evil thing in the world and balance out all the good things created in Doodle God?
A new game on Xbox Live? A new game in a franchise and we get it first? And it's a follow up to Gravity Guy? Sounds wonderful! Is it a fast paced sideways scrolling arcade game? Yes it is. Is it infuriatingly unforgiving? Definitely. Is it about to be reviewed? Could be!
Between listening to music tracks you have copied onto your smartphone, or listening to a radio station, there is a delightfully fertile ground of streaming apps to help you discover new artists, albums, and music. Mixtapes brings a huge collection of curated playlists to your finger tips.
Amazing Alex arrived on Xbox Live last week (for Windows Phone 8 users), but Rovio also released a standalone version for Windows Phone 7 users. Like many of the March releases around GDC, Amazing Alex has been available on iOS and Android, and was pushed heavily as the 'follow up game' to Angry Birds. Now it's here on the Microsoft platform, it's hard to see what the fuss was all about.
There's a rush of games at the moment in the gaming world of Windows Phone which are taking two styles of game and using them to make another. Nokia pushed another of them, Vampire Rush, out and I've been happily hunting vampires ever since.
Now we're into the second week of Major League Baseball, I decided it was time to see what the Windows Store has to offer for Windows Phone. Until MLB bring their comprehensive 'At Bat' to the platform, I'm going to recommend Baseball Live.
