Zombie Infection HD is 99 Cents
Zombie Infection HD. (iPad, 99 cents)
I didn't care much for Resident Evil, but I know some friends that do... 99 cents for essentially the iPad clone of the game? Why not?
Medieval HD
Tower defense games are a fantastic way to implement a real-time strategy type game on portable platforms. Medieval HD does a pretty good job on the iPad. There seem to be two types of tower defense styled games now. One where you place turrets and troops along a given path from point A to point B. In Medieval HD's case, it is more along the 2-D side point of view.
Two castles face off on opposite sides of the screen, each with it's own flag. The enemy sends a myriad of troops from the common footman, to calvary, to catapults, and even balloons to attack your castle and steal your flag back to their side of the screen similar to capture the flag. You start out on a simple map with a beautifully designed background shooting a crossbow/ballista type weapon mounted on the top of a castle tower by dragging your finger back similar to pulling the string on a bow, shooting one of many variations of arrow, flaming arrows, and rocks at the enemy. Your arsenal doesn't end there, however. You can build support buildings that allow you to recruit land troops as well that will recover your flag or attempt to steal the enemy's as well. Simple? Yeah, right. As the levels progress, you do keep the troops or types of projectiles along the upgrade path, but will they be enough for the particular attacks the enemy is sending your way on a particular map? Sometimes your build order can work against you in such a way to make the game downright maddening. I have found it to be loads of fun for a quick get-in; get-out type of game. It looks great on the iPad. The controls are easy to pick up and gameplay is a blast. There is enough variety to keep you pulling your bow string back on the enemy repeatedly. Highly recommended for the $3. Medieval HD (iPad, $2.99)http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/medieval-hd/id387132819?mt=8
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
Girl - Lara Croft - meets guy. Guy forces the summoning of "Big Bad" - Xolotl - that will plunge the world into darkness. Girl meets "Big Good" - Toltec. Toltec has a magical spear. Oh, and the girl can wield a mean grappling line and guns akimbo. Girl and Big Good go after Big Bad with a vengeance. You've heard this all before.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is probably one of the best XBox Live Arcade games to date. Shadow Complex is right on its heels, but perhaps it depends on what you are looking for? Now, I know I have a deep unrelenting love for Limbo, Shadow Complex is a phenomenal second place game in the single player category. LC:GoL can be played solo; however, it shines as a cooperative multiplayer game.
Out of all of the games for Summer of Games 2010, LC: GoL was the one I knew they were getting my $15 in advance because I knew Dylan and I would play this together. We had a blast this weekend playing through it. I love playing games with my son, but it is just so damned difficult to find good cooperative games. LC:GoL was designed with co-op in mind, if not the primary mode of play.
So, let's run down the good stuff. It looks beautiful. The controls are extremely easy to pick up and go. The puzzles are fun and challenging. Some are crazy... some are a bit too easy in my opinion. The combat is fun, frenzied, and fantastic. Considering Tomb Raider, Lara's first game from the mid-90's was one of my first PC games, I am happy to say that this latest iteration holds true to the Tomb Raider spirit.
The bad? Like Shadow Complex, there are a few graphical glitches. I had heard the voice acting was awful, but it seemed OK for a $15 game.
If you are a Lara fan, single or co-op, it is must buy. If you like to play with your friends or your kids, this game is a no brainer cheap buy. Great fun. At one point, Dylan and I got punchy late Saturday night and started leaving bombs traps and giggling like tired idiots trying to get past the bomb without taking damage... while trying to fight Big Bad's minions and traps. Great fun.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light Website
XBox Live Summer of Arcade 2010
XBox 360 Live Arcade: August 18, 2010
PS3 PSN/PC Steamworks: September 28, 2010
Articulated » Blog Archive » Hundreds protest ‘mosque’, get address wrong
Hundreds protest ‘mosque’, get address wrong
New York, NY – Hundreds of protesters gathered Sunday at the wrong address in lower Manhattan to protest the building of “The Ground Zero Mosque”. The construction, which will be a community center, will have about 15% of it’s space devoted to a prayer space for Muslims. It is this prayer space that has been criticized on many extreme right wing media outlets, including Fox News. The protesters gathered at the World Trade Center site, just outside the Cortland Street subway station, to voice their outrage, unaware that the community center is actually planned to replace an abandoned Burlington Coat Factory store on Park Place, 3 or 4 blocks north.Many passers-by were quite confused by the protest, and several spectators tried tell members of the crowd that the “mosque” was actually going to be a few blocks away. The angry crowd did not take well to being told they were wrong, accusing the spectators of being the agents of an Evil Empire trying to trick them into moving their protest away from sacred ground. “We’ve got a right to protest wherever we want, and you can’t stop us!” cried a man identified only as Al from Cincinnati.
“I was only trying to point them to the right location”, remarked Steven Driscoll, a resident of the Tribeca neighborhood. “But hey, if they want to protest here, that’s cool too. That end of Park Place isn’t really very attractive.”
The man behind the proposed community center, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, has been relatively silent throughout the controversy. Asked about his silence, he replied that he had no idea who was trying to build a mosque at Ground Zero, but isn’t him. The Imam added “I believe there is already a development plan for Ground Zero, and it doesn’t include a mosque. So I’m not sure what everyone’s complaining about.”
A group of people supporting the construction of the community center, and religious tolerance in general, were allowed to hold a demonstration a couple of blocks away at another erroneous location.
via aaronpinero.com
No matter your political affiliation or viewpoints about the cultural center; if you are so blinded by rage and vengeance, perhaps you deserve to look a bit ridiculous.
I can not begin to understand how people may feel at losing folks on 9/11. I do think I have a right to an opinion as an American. The people died that day to Islamic extremists that do not hold our values, including freedom of religion.
"Historically freedom of religion has been used to refer to the tolerance of different theological systems of belief, while freedom of worship was defined as freedom of individual action." -Wikipedia
If we apply the same standard to other nutjobs, then no churches may be built near the site of the Oklahoma City bombing since McVeigh did it as revenge for Waco... right?
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" -Emma Lazurus, 1883
Limbo Sold 300,000 Copies? Awesome! Part 2 please?!
Do you own an XBox 360? Do you like games? Have you played Limbo? Have you... wait... what?! You haven't at least downloaded the demo? What the hell is wrong with you? You probably think the Wii is a real console too?!
I'm calm now. Yes, kids, you need to play this game so you can see the creepy, black and white imagining of a kid get impaled on a spider leg over and over. Ok, yeah, that sounded more fun in my head. Ok, yeah, and THAT sounded better before typing it. Should I review this? No. I can say this. Limbo is the kind of experience that has kept me playing video games for more than thirty years. It belongs on the list of reasons you buy a 360 over PS3 or Wii.
If you own a 360, please vote with your dollars and join the other 300,000 people that have gladly forked over $15. If you are saying, "I'm not paying $15 on a game recommended by a nutjob who thinks impaling spider legs are fun," then at LEAST try the demo. THEN vote for more innovative, subtle, beautiful, maddening, simple-is-not-simplistic games. Playdead needs the cash to develop part two.Doing More with Less Virtualization Helps unless it Hurts
Doing More with Less: Virtualization Helps unless it Hurts is a nice little write up by my friend Kevin. If you are in IT, you should definitely check it out.
N.O.V.A. HD
Near Orbital Vanguard Alliance is a Halo clone that looks fantastic on the iPhone. Unfortunately, controlling it on the iPhone was fairly difficult to the point where I lasted just a couple levels before giving it up. NOVA has an HD version that just dropped to 99 cents! Briefly, it looks beautiful on the iPad and is actually playable now. Interface customization -- you can move your controls around on the screen -- is the key feature though! It is finally comfortable to play. Is this Halo? Nope. Best shooter I have ever played? Uh-uh. Not bad for this platform? Heck yeah! At 99 cents... yeah, you gotta pick it up.
N.O.V.A. HD (iPad, 99 cents)http://bit.ly/ceGpyT
Viral Fun (the bad kind)
PSA: Do not click on links in Facebook, email, websites, etc. unless you are 100% sure you can trust it. And then don't do it anyways. Get paranoid!
I have contemplated building a couple of cheap PC's with Windows for Dylan and myself when the funds are available. (Yes, holding breath is not in the plan.) However, I have had 2 people I know have their computers rendered unsafe due to virii -- and maybe a third -- I haven't put my hands on that one yet. One of these was Rita Theis. I configured her computer. I installed the OS. I put antivirus and malware checkers on her system. I gave her instruction in its use. Yet, she STILL got infected just doing the day to day email, Facebook, picture sharing. I am 100% certain she got it from Facebook. I am 100% certain I still failed to educate her against the dangers that are out there. Sorry, Momma Rita. I'll try to do better. Koobface, Alureon, etc. Avast! managed to identify two of the eight total variants. Microsoft Essentials found all eight (for now). We are now running TWO antivirus utilities for now because both "saw" different things. I manually removed one. In 2010, this is unacceptable. Driving home yesterday, I just felt sick thinking about putting a Windows-based PC on my son's desk. Maybe I need the damned things in my house just so I can feel more confident in supporting the Windows friends and family that I have. But, if you do what you are supposed to do, and keep things as safe as possible, and use it in a limited way AND still get infected... buy a Mac? I dunno, seems glib in this context.
