iPhone Archives - Page 5 of 37

Apple iPhone 5 Press Conference: Your Reactions

Apple just wrapped up a successful press conference for the iPhone 5. The presser lacked major surprises since most of the information was revealed through supply-chain leaks. Many Apple fans knew what was coming: four-inch screen, LTE radio, new aluminum-and-glass design, new connection dock, touch layer integrated on screen, EarPods, etc. Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure that the iPhone 5 will be a fantastic phone and I’m sure that millions of people will buy it, but were any of you amazed by the reveal? I want to hear your reactions to the iPhone 5 announcement. Please let me know what you think and if you plan on picking one up.

As for me, I love the construction and I’m looking forward to checking out the camera quality. It looks like Apple has raised the bar (again) for cameras on mobile phones. Aside from that, a lot of the features are underwhelming. The larger screen is too small for my liking and I’ve been accustomed to LTE speeds for well over a year. In a lot of ways, Apple was pushing 2011 features in 2012. Due to its rabid fan base and unsurpassed marketing, loads of Apple fans on Twitter were treating every feature announcement like it was the best thing ever.

I plan on picking up a white one for work purposes, but aside from the camera, I’m not really wowed by the iPhone 5. Again, I think it will be a great phone and the build quality will be top notch, but the competition has closed what was once an enormous gap in both hardware (love what HTC is doing) and software (Android Jelly Bean still works best for me). I suspect it’ll be great, but not amazing.

Now it’s your turn! Kindly share your thoughts on Apple’s iPhone 5 presser. Are you buying one? Black or white?

iNiS and Square Enix Team Up For Demons’ Score

Flying teddy bears, distressed damsels with machine guns, and demonic inhabitants of an asylum — all of that and more is going on in Demons’ Score. This on-rail shooter is being publishing by Square Enix for Android and iOS. It’s being developed by iNiS, the company behind the outstanding Ouendon and the excellent Elite Beat Agents. Demons’ Score combines gameplay from iNiS’ music-rhythm games, a survival-horror feel, and music by several renowned Japanese videogame-music composers (Naoshi Mizuta, Keiichi Okabe, and Yoko Shimomura). Check out the intro movie and tutorial below.

As a big fan of iNiS, flying teddy bears, and cute girls with machine guns, I’m really looking forward to Demons’ Score. Any of you interested in this game?

10Terra Gives Your iPhone, iPad, or Nexus 7 Wood

As many of you know, I’m a big fan of mobile tech and eco-friendly products. I absolutely love when those two worlds collide. That’s the case with 10Terra, a company that’s raising money through Kickstarter for its eco-friendly cases for the iPhone, iPad, and Nexus 7. It’s offering bamboo cases (like my beloved Blackbox) and “eco-felt” sleeves. Here are some details from the pitch:

Bamboo is a beautiful, durable plant. Because of its rapid growth it’s an ideal material for sustainable products. Similar to bamboo flooring, our bamboo is carbonized, a process that creates the durability and exotic coloring bamboo is so well known for.

We have cases for iPad 2/3, the new Google Nexus 7, and we have two types of bamboo case for the iPhone 4/4S — two-tone and laser-engraved.

Eco-felt is 100% recycled material made from plastic water or soda bottles.

Our eco-felt cases are lightweight but durable. If you need to take more than just your iPad, but you’d like to take less than a bag, these will help you travel light.

When you have a chance, check out the video below and let me know if you’re interested in picking up one of 10Terra’s cases.

Final Fantasy Dimensions (Not) Review After 54 Hours

So I’ve been meaning to write a proper review of Final Fantasy Dimensions for iOS. The problem is that the game is really long and really engrossing. I just started the fourth and final chapter this morning. My game clock at the end of the third chapter was a shade over 54 hours. I’ve maybe spent seven hours grinding to get certain abilities. Aside from a few spots where the random encounter rate was obnoxious, I’ve loved every minute of Final Fantasy Dimensions. Here’s a (not) review (and lots of screens) of three chapters and 54 hours of the game.

Final Fantasy Dimensions’ story is a straightforward JRPG tale. There’s an evil empire. The world is in peril. It’s up to you and your companions to stop the evil empire and make the world safe. What brings the story to life is the surprisingly fun, diverse, and well-written characters. Sol, for example, is your typical overanxious and youthful hero; unlike other games with overanxious and youthful heroes, Sol’s companions have no problem telling him that he’s an idiot. Alba seems like the sassy support character you’ve adventured with in countless games, but her lines are consistently funny and it’s later revealed that she’s much more than she seems. The characters archetypes are familiar to anyone that’s played several JRPGs, but they’re written in a way that makes them stand out and feel fresh.

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The adventure hops back and forth between two parties of four — the Warriors of Light and the Warriors of Darkness. From a storytelling perspective, it keeps things interesting because there are two distinct, but related, adventures happening at the same time. You get to spend a chunk of time with one crew before adventuring with the other. From a gameplay perspective, each team has jobs that are unique to their party. So even though the core gameplay is the same for both, the powers and abilities exclusive to each side makes their respective battles feel distinct.

Fueling the battles is a slick version of the Final Fantasy job system. You can sculpt any character into any type of warrior you want them to be, though each character has stats that are better suited for particular jobs. There’s just a ton of depth and variety with the job system. You can craft a DPS warrior, a tank, a DPS mage, a support character, and any combination you can think of. You can go with straightforward jobs like warrior, black mage, and white mage. Or you can experiment with more esoteric classes like bard, dancer, and ranger. The ability to equip primary abilities and secondary abilities from other jobs your character has studied gives the game a ton of replay value. Old-school JRPG fans will have a blast playing around with the Final Fantasy Dimensions job system.

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Fusion abilities add an extra twist to the customary job system. These abilities are discovered when a character uses an ability while its partner ability is equipped. For example, a white mage that casts “haste” and is armed with the bard’s “agility song” ability will discover the “hastega” fusion ability. The discovery happens randomly, with the only requirements being that one of the abilities has to be used while the other is equipped. This gameplay mechanic gives each character three layers of abilities: the primary abilities native to their active job, the secondary abilities that are chosen, and fusion abilities that permanently stay with the character once they’re learned. It’s another layer of depth and variety on top of a system that’s already deep and diverse.

So I’m digging the story and characters. I’m absolutely loving the gameplay system. When I wrote about the game in Coffee Talk #515, I mentioned that its music is wonderful. Everything is peachy, right? Not quite. I have some minor problems with Final Fantasy Dimensions. There are some stretches where the random encounter rate is annoying as hell. Sometimes the game won’t let you move for two seconds without triggering a random battle. There were a few occasions when I turned the game off because the random battles were pissing me off. The touchscreen d-pad can also be finicky (I’m playing on a 2012 iPad, btw), leading to imprecise movements. A couple of steps in the wrong direction coupled with an annoyingly high random encounter rate makes for some frustrating times in Final Fantasy Dimensions. That said, these issues are easily overlooked because the game excels in so many areas.

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Final Fantasy Dimensions is an absolutely blissful game for old-school JRPG fans. It’s easily my favorite game of 2012 so far (keep in mind that I’m a total mark for the FF job system). When I’m not completely absorbed by the world of FFD, I find myself thinking about longtime Final Fantasy fans that haven’t enjoyed the last few installments in the series. Final Fantasy Dimensions is perfect for them. It offers many of the qualities that people love about the ’90s FF games. Even if the final chapter is utter crap (and I’m positive it won’t be), the 54 hours and three chapters I’ve played of Final Fantasy Dimensions have been delightful. To borrow a line from those old NBA commercials — I love this game!

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New Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition Screens

Overhaul Games has released a new batch of screens for the upcoming Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition. A remastering of one of the greatest PC RPGs of all time, this game is set to hit Windows, Mac OS X, and iPad this month, with an Android release to follow later. This is the game that turned me into a BioWare fanboy back in the day and I can’t wait to play it again, but with modern graphics. When you have a chance, please check out the screens below and let me know what you think!

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Coffee Talk #516: Anti-Apple Fanboys Are Everywhere

Recently, I’ve had a bunch of Apple-related discussions on message boards that have little to do with technology. I was surprised to find myself in an Android vs. iOS discussion on a boxing forum. I was amused to read several “tablets are awesome” and “iPads suck” posts on a travel board. Whether it was talking about Apple, iPad, iPhone, or iOS, there was one thing that was consistent — people with an irrational hatred for Apple.

If you don’t like Mac OS or iOS, that’s fine, but some of the reasons I’ve heard for people not wanting to buy Apple products are stupid and ignorant. One of my favorites is…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, deciding between plasma and LCD televisions, Ryan Reynolds’ marriage “downgrade” to Blake Lively, or getting excited for Britney Spears on X-Factor, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

If you don’t like Mac OS or iOS products, that’s fine, but some of the reasons I’ve heard for people not wanting to buy Apple goods are stupid and ignorant. One of my favorites is “Apple forces you to only buy from them!” I’m not aware of how Apple forces anyone to do anything. Does the company have a secret ninja army forcing people to buy music and movies from iTunes? Certainly if you have an iPhone then it’s easier to buy media through iTunes. If you have a Mac then it’s easier to buy programs on the Mac App Store. So what?!? Apple is proving hardware, software, and services that make for a pleasant experience. Besides, that’s not stopping anyone from buying music on Google Play or books from Amazon and using them on an iPad. Apple and Amazon (with its Kindle Fire tablets) have shown that a certain amount of digital content curation is what the majority of consumers want.

Another anti-Apple sentiment I’ve read several times in the last couple of weeks was, “Their ‘It just works’ motto is a scam!” I strongly disagree with knocking the usability of Apple products. I own Android and iOS products. Although Android is my preferred mobile OS, it’s clear that iOS is easier for more people to use. I own OS X and Windows products. Honestly, this one isn’t even close. OS X is just a smoother and more refined experience than Windows.

The funny part is that many of the people I chatted with that blasted Apple products also admitted that they haven’t used one in a long time. So really, the hatred is based on ignorance. There’s nothing wrong with not being familiar with the latest versions of iOS and OS X, but it’s silly to blast Apple products when you don’t know what they offer. I understand having a preference for or being a fan of a particular platform, but I don’t understand why some people feel the need to automatically hate the competition. That kind of logic only works with professional sports (die Red Sox!!!) and sports entertainment (Cena sucks!!!).

A lot of people on the Internetz complain about Apple fanboys, saying that they’re arrogant loudmouths. There are certainly some vocal Apple users and many smug tech bloggers that are unapologetic about their Apple fandom. At least they’re making noise because they love Apple products. Some people call them iSheep because they love practically everything that Apple releases. In many ways, the anti-Apple crowd is worse. They’re hating on Apple and its fans without knowing what the hell they’re talking about.

If you’re going to hate on Apple products then at least know what they offer. At least then you can back up your hatred with knowledge. Be like Mark Wahlberg’s character from The Other Guys. As a youngster, he learned ballet so that he could make fun of the kids that were studying ballet. Dude knew the score.

Coffee Talk #515: Final Fantasy Dimensions and Square Enix iOS Pricing

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Roger Federer losing early in the U.S. Open (am cry), Bill Clinton vs. the dead teleprompter, or the start of the NFL season, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

There’s this one (idiot) game journalist that I can’t stand (professionally). One of the things he constantly harps on is the price of Square Enix’s iOS games. He has used thousands of words to rail on the company. On a good day, he says that the games are overpriced. On a bad day, he says that the pricing is obscene. The truth is that the game’s are selling well enough so that it’s inaccurate to call them overpriced. Are they expensive compared to other iOS games? Sure they are. Is the pricing obscene? No. If enough gamers are happy to be paying these prices and the publisher is making money then why do some people have such a mad-on about the pricing?

Let’s look at the recently released Final Fantasy Dimensions, for example. Some game journalists, JRPG fans, and iOS users went nuts when they learned about the game’s U.S. pricing. The entire game costs $28.99 or $32.96 if purchased by individual chapters. My game clock after chapter one was a little over nine hours. By the end of chapter two, it was a hair over 26 hours. I’m currently near the end of chapter three and my clock is at 36:54. In terms of game time, $28.99 for an RPG that I’ll get at least 45 hours out of is a great value. I wouldn’t say that’s overpriced or obscene.

Then there’s the quality. While the graphics aren’t anything special (though they are a nice homage to Final Fantasy V), the music is fantastic. The combat system — centered around a sweet version of the Final Fantasy job system — is awesome. The story is very good, especially for fans of 16-bit RPGs. The game has a lot of depth and a ton of replay value for those that like to experiment with job systems. It’s a great game that compares favorably to RPGs I’ve purchased for other portable devices. Many of those games cost more than FFD’s $28.99 when they were first released.

I understand if some iOS gamers think that Final Fantasy Dimensions is too expensive. Although I think it’s a brilliant throwback game, others might not dig it. I don’t understand people calling the price obscene or claiming that Square Enix is out of its mind. It’s not like the company is sending flocks of wild chocobos to gamers’ houses, forcing them to buy Square Enix iOS games. If nobody buys these games then the prices will go down. One of the great things about the iOS market is that publishers can be flexible with pricing. For a new game (outside of Japan) that offers depth, quality, and dozens of gameplay hours, I don’t see anything obscene about Final Fantasy Dimensions‘ $28.99 price.

Of course that’s just my opinion. What do you think of this game’s price? How about other Square Enix games for iOS and Android? Leave a comment and let me know (please!).

Apple Invite Teases iPhone “5” on September 12

The Loop has posted an image that went out to the press for an Apple event on September 12. Tech nerds already knew that this event is going to be for the next iPhone, but they were torn on what the name of the product was going to be. Many Apple fans vociferously argued that it wasn’t going to be called the iPhone 5 because it would actually be the sixth iPhone product Apple has released (iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S). As you can see, the shadow cast by the number “12” indicates that it will indeed be called the iPhone 5…

…or the five could signify the 5th birthday of the iPhone brand. The original launched in June 2007. Either way, it has tech nerds talking (and arguing).

To all those people that screamed and shouted (on the Internet) that it wasn’t going to be called the iPhone 5 — how do you like dem Apples?

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My Favorite Screenshot of 2012

This image from Final Fantasy Dimensions is my favorite screenshot of 2012 (so far). I don’t remember many Japanese RPGs that use the word bunghole. That’s funny. Pirates are also funny (blame Captain Jack Sparrow for that one). Imagining that the pirates in Final Fantasy Dimensions are constantly using the word bunghole the way that Beavis does when he’s Cornholio mode? That’s frickin’ hilarious! This little bit of dialogue made a great game that much more entertaining. (And yes, part of the reason I found it so funny was that it was like 4:00AM or something when I read it.)

Final Fantasy Dimensions Prologue Has Me Hooked

I recently finished the prologue to Final Fantasy Dimensions and I want more! Allow me to back up a moment and give you some background info on the game. Final Fantasy Dimensions is similar in style to Final Fantasy V in terms of looks and gameplay. It features a job system, which I love from FFV and the numerous Final Fantasy Tactics games. Dimensions was originally released as an episodic mobile-phone game in Japan from 2010-2011. For the North American release, the game is divided into a free prologue and four chapters. Chapter one costs $2.99, while the other chapters cost $9.99. The whole shebang can be had for $28.99. The game is available on iTunes (universal app, thank Shiva) ~~with a Google Play (Android) release coming soon~~.

The prologue — which, let’s face it, uses the tried-and-true “first one’s free!” model employed by drug dealers for decades — gives you a basic feel for the game. It’s pretty much what you’d expect from a 16-bit RPG. You run around, engage in lots of random battles, find treasure, and crawl through dungeons. It gives you a feel for the controls and basic combat. The action stops after a boss battle, which is sadly right before the job system is introduced.

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The even sadder part is that the other chapters aren’t yet available due to technical difficulties. For job-system marks like me, this is frustrating. I know I’m going to enjoy this game and I want to play more now! Hopefully the issue will be resolved soon or I’m going to march down to Square Enix USA headquarters with my replica Buster Sword (I don’t really have one, but I totally want one…though I probably wouldn’t be able to lift it).

There are eight jobs that can be selected in the early going: ~~freelance videogame writer~~ jobless, warrior, monk, thief, red mage, white mage, black mage, and summoner. As the game progresses, the characters are divided into two factions: the warriors of light and the warriors of darkness. Additional jobs are unlocked for each side in later chapters. The warriors of light jobs are dragoon, bard, memorist, paladin, and seer. The warriors of darkness jobs are ranger, dark knight, dancer, ninja, and magus. Skills from different jobs can be used in conjunction for “fusion” attacks, adding an additional layer of strategy to the traditional turn-based combat.

Visually, the game is unimpressive. This wasn’t a surprise considering that the source material is a mobile-phone game from 2010. The music, however, was a pleasant surprise. The tracks I heard throughout the hour-long prologue were very, very good. I’m looking forward to hearing more.

If you’re an old-school RPG fan — especially one that loves job systems — then Final Fantasy Dimensions is tantalizing. It looks like it will be a great game in the vein of Final Fantasy V. Yes, it’s relatively expensive compared to other Android and iOS games, but many gamers will find the price worth it. Just from the prologue, I’m confident that I will enjoy this game and fairly sure that the $28.99 price will be worth it. Now where the hell are my additional Final Fantasy Dimensions chapters Square Enix?!?