With a completely original plot, this week’s review, Timeloop.

Basically, the plot is that you are a robot janitor who’s stuck in a lab that’s running out of oxygen. Luckily, there’s a time machine that can bring you back into time while still being in the same place (you can be in two places at once). To put all of this in simpler words, it’s a redesigned obstacle course. Controls are simple, tap on a place to move Nik (robot janitor) and tap on tools to use them. Tap the orange button in the corner or shake your device to activate the time loop. I personally love puzzle games because of the brainpower you need to solve them (figures, I have so much brainpower ). This game was enjoyable to play but once I got along to the harder levels, it started becoming annoying. The problem? Time limit. Time limits stop you from putting real thought into a puzzle. Sure it’s a real challenge but there should be an option to turn time limit off for beginners. Controls are pretty good, graphics are above average, game keeps you entertained (if you like puzzles), the only flaw keeping this game from being almost perfect is the timer. The game is definitely worth 99 cents for the game play you get out of it.

My overall rating? 9 out of 10 stars!

A classic, yet if you were born in 1996 and after, you wouldn’t of heard about it. This week’s review, Crystal Maze.

Basically, it’s a 90’s TV show made into a game. Yet it’s a very unique TV show. The concept is that a team (consisting of men and women) must be locked in a maze facing a bunch of challenges. Each challenge has a time limit and a time crystal. At the final round, the contestants are put into a crystal dome to catch tickets. There are gold and silver. Gold is equal to a ticket and silver deducts one. If you can get 100 gold tickets you get a prize. The time crystals in the earlier rounds are used for the ticket catching round. When the time limit is up in a challenge, a contestant in your team is locked into the room, preventing two more hands from grabbing TICKETS! So an easier way of saying this: Complete challenges before the time limit while getting a crystal. Then walk into a dome and catch golden tickets. There are four types of challenges in four different categories. Aztec, Medieval, Industrial, and Futuristic. Each has its designated time limit and way of getting through. Sometimes though, you can be locked in before reaching the time limit. An example of that is if you lose too many lives or make to many mistakes. In the video game form, Aztec is basically like Labyrinth. Get the ball past a maze of holes (falling through a hole makes you lose a life) to reach the time crystal before the time limit goes up. Medieval is like a logic test. Multiple choice, with 3 questions. Get two wrong you lose. Get two right you escape. Get three right you can escape with the time crystal. Industrial is a circuit connect. Place circuits to connect them from a battery to a powered chamber releasing the crystal. Futuristic is based on timing. You have a crane and you have to pick up Plutonium rods from a conveyor belt. The crane can be moved. Once 12 rods are picked up, the crystal appears in a rod. Pick that up before time runs out. Alright, enough explanation, time for the pros and cons.

Pros:

1. The gaming is quite varied providing a completely new experience every round.

2. The concept is really creative.

3. It comes with a soundboard

Cons:

1. The game is a bit buggy. Not enough to mess the game up though.

2. Some of the games are changed up a bit but I think more games should be added to one section or it gets boring after a while.

3. It’s close to impossible to get 100 gold tickets unless you have all 4 crystals with no one locked in.

4. Some games are too quickly beat. Add a difficulty mode to heat things up. Maybe you get to change the time limit, number of lives and difficulty.

It’s a great game really. There’s a lot of potential but there just isn’t enough games (even though all 4 are addicting). Once you beat it, you don’t really play it again. Add more games and a difficulty mode and this game would definitely be worth $2.99. For now, I would say it’s worth $1.99.

My overall rating? 7.8 stars out of 10 stars!

Thanks to our EAR, Chris, we have found a game similar to Cube Runner yet the design and graphics are boosted up. Platform is also redesigned. This week’s review, Boost 3D.

Basically, the concept is to glide around inside a tunnel without hitting any obstacles. Controls are simple enough, tilt right and left to the direction you want to go. Eventually, the landscape changes and the cylinder turns inside out. There are cubes scattered all around the cylinder just like Cube Runner. The tunnel is separated into lines. Each line is white, when it changes to colors (blue, green, orange, purple etc.) it indicates that a cube will come up on that line, serving as a warning. There are also boost pads to speed you up. If you just went through a boost pad, it allows you to hit an obstacle without losing. Boost is a great game with an outstanding concept, however, I think they could expand a lot more. Sure the game is already addicting with its amazing graphics and stability but just like Cube Runner, it does get boring after a while. Maybe add more obstacles, items, make the track more sophisticated, add more tracks, and even a level editor. It’s the perfect game if you’re one who likes simple games where the object is to reach a high score but I don’t think $1.99 is worth the gameplay you’re getting out of it. One extreme pro is the graphics, I will NEVER get tired of the amazing graphics this game provides.

My overall rating? 8 out of 10 stars!

As most of you may know, Apple released their most advanced technology in a revolutionary device a couple days ago, the iPad. Claimed to be the “third category device” the iPad is a tablet or a “touch screen computer”. Apparently, this tablet is supposed to be better than a laptop at browsing the internet, reading email, looking at photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, and reading eBooks. So, let’s start with browsing the internet. You can see the whole page with this tablet in bigger print. However, many websites use Adobe Flash for their media, none of Apple’s devices use Flash and since they never did, why start now? Yes, the iPad does not support Flash. Big surprise? You shouldn’t be. Apple has their reason. If they add Flash to any mobile device of theirs, there would be less of a point in the AppStore. Why? People could just go on websites and play any game they wanted to. Not just that, with Flash, you could watch videos online such as ones from Hulu. If they had Flash, no one would bother buying videos from iTunes, they would just go on sites like Hulu and watch their TV episodes. Apple would lose A LOT of money and no large company like Apple wants to lose money right? Right. Now, let’s see this misleading quote. Steve Jobs himself said: “It is the best browsing experience you’ve ever had” Wrong. Here’s proof: This was taken directly from the Apple keynotes videoMillions of sites use Flash. Get used to the blue legos.

Next, reading email. Reading email from an iPhone to an iPad differs a bit. You can now see all your inboxes from the side if you are reading in landscape mode. Quality is boosted a bit. You can also view PDF files. Not too much of a difference besides that.

Looking at photos. Your albums are now in stacks and you can pinch them open to take a peek. Different slideshows for you to look at them. The bigger screen does make looking at photos more enjoyable. However, I am not one to watch photos in slideshows. I look at a photo, done, home button, simple. It’s not much of a difference from the iPhone unless you are one who takes a lot of time in enjoying photos.

Watching videos. This is a great pro of the iPad. Watching videos on the iPad is enjoyable because it’s lightweight, easy to hold, yet the large screen provides enjoyable watching. Quality is better. Each video description is more detailed. This was probably the best thing from the iPad.

Listening to music. Here’s where it all goes downhill. So, when you listen to music from your iPod or iPhone, you turn it on, then you put the device in your pocket right? So, the iPad is at least 7 inches in width. Unless Apple tells me that they’re gonna ship a pair of custom iPad pants with pockets that are 7 inches wide, you’re gonna have to carry a backpack everywhere you go if you wanna listen to music. What a waste. Such a light product, yet the simplest functions, listening to music requires a backpack. Now of course you don’t have to carry a backpack. You can hold the iPad in your hands listening to music, walking down the streets waiting to get mugged. Listening to music while walking is an extremely weak point. Definitely a HUGE con. It’s bad enough to knock watching videos right off the pro list.

Playing games. So, the iPhone. It’s a business phone and an entertainment phone. Over 140,000 apps to use. Lots of them are games. Now, with the iPad, I would say you would have difficulty playing games. Why? Let’s say you’re playing Tap Tap, a popular and great game. You’re gonna have to reach over to tap. Here’s an example.

The picture looks small here but it’s actually quite wide. I’m not sure I would like to reach all the way over to the middle to tap. They say that it’s not reformatted but I think reformatting is desperately needed. These games are made FOR the iPhone and iPod Touch. I would appreciate it if Apple didn’t resize the game and pass it as playable. Maybe only the puzzle games and racing games would work out right but there’s still a lot of games on the AppStore not made for the iPad.

Now, reading eBooks. The only new addition to the iPad, iBook. iBook comes with some samples but you can buy more from the iBook store. Reading on the iPad is a pretty enjoyable experience due to it’s weight. You can turn to landscape and read two pages at a time or portrait and read one page at a time. You can also turn your book over (virtually), buy a book and immediately start reading. HOWEVER, I will warn you right now, I definitely wouldn’t want to read books on the iPad. Why? It’s a freaking LED screen. You’re gonna burn your eyes out reading a book. Sure, probably much lighter than a real book but I’d rather keep my eyes working normally thank you very much.

Although Apple hasn’t released all the technical aspects of the device, we do know that the iPad is running on a 1Ghtz processor, which is amazing, for such a lightweight device, that runs a OS similar to the iPhone and iPod touch. We do not know how much ram is included in the iPad, as well as bluetooth and all inside items. The iPad sports a 10-inch, tempered glass touchscreen. Basically, it’s just a sized up version of the iPhone’s screen.

When asked what our fans thought about the iPad, this was what some of them said:

“I believe that the iPad has a negative impact on society. I have many reasons to support this stand. For example, is this original? It looks like an iPod Touch/iPhone, which a majority of society already have. Because of its large size, one can easily damage it while doing everyday activities. In addition, its larger size may make it more difficult to carry in ones backpack, pocketbook, man-purse, or any other particular carrying item. It seems like greedy bastards just want to make more money, which is not a good thing considering economy issues…” – Jordan R.

“To me, the iPad is another version of the iTouch; greater in size, graphics further developed, and slimer in size, though, longer. I think it’s way TOO big, and there’s not much of a difference than the iTouch. Safari, e-mailing, photos, and watching HD videos on YouTube are the pros of the iPad. However, I don’t understand why Apple decided to make this. If I would rate this out of 10, I’d give the iPad a 3. Yes, a 3! No way near the iPhone though.” – Doug Mo

“As you all know a few days ago the Apple released a new product a couple of days ago called the iPad. Right off the bat you would think that it’s a waste of money mostly because it looks like an oversized iPod Touch. Overall I say fail device.” – Kiyo F.

If you have $500 to spend, don’t waste your money on the iPad, get the Droid.

Our overall rating? 3.5 out of 10 stars!

Credits:

David Lohle: Specs

Steven Tso: Overall Review

Douglas Mo: Research

Christopher Konecnik: Research, Photos

Kiyo Fortune: Research

A classic game, yet redesigned for even more possibilities, this week’s app review, Arachnadoodle.

Thanks to the Devs of Arachnadoodle, I was able to get the app for free but after playing for 15 minutes, it would have been worth it to buy the app too. The basic concept of the game is like Peggle, you bounce around trying to hit all the pegs. With Arachnadoodle, you are a spider, jumping around pins creating webs to trap flies in them. This is what makes this game so much more fun and creative. Instead of the boring “hit all the red pegs”, you create webs by jumping through the pins. You start from the ground and attempt to connect as many pins as you can, reinforcing your web. Just like Peggle (where you hit all the red pegs), once you go through all the new pins at least once, it stops. While bouncing through, it shows you a pie chart of how reinforced your web is. There are various items such as the angle-changer (changes the direction you’re going in to another one), the bouncer (you bounce off of it), spiders that will stun you or blow parts of your web away, furniture that you can cling to and a lot more. Once you have run out of bounces or have connected every pin at least once, the flies will fly through your web and see if it holds. Graphics are great, quality is also good. Concept is outstanding. I only give a few recommendations on making the tutorial in the help section a bit more detailed, making difficulty options and if possible, a level editor.

My overall rating? 9.5 out of 10 stars!

After much restoring, rejailbreaking, and rebooting, I have finally fixed the WiFi/USB Connection problem on my iPhone. Which means it’s time for an APP REVIEW! This week’s app, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.

As we all might know, Grand Theft Auto is one of the most violent RPG games ever made. Now this super ultra violent game is finally on the iPhone. Within 3 days of it’s release it has reached number 4 on the Top 25 App list. If you have never heard of GTA (which I doubt), the concept of the game is to run around the streets and rob and beat people. This version, Chinatown Wars, actually has a plot, where you are Huang Lee, attempting to deliver a sword to your uncle. First thing about this game? It crashes once in a while but not so bad that you can’t play the game. Graphics aren’t so great, but the game play is pretty good. Barely lags, basic movements function well, the radar is the only thing that doesn’t respond to touch as well. I like how this game takes forever to finish because I personally like games that take a long time to complete. One flaw of this game is that you can’t save during missions which is extremely annoying especially for iPhone users. Let’s say you are at the brink of finishing up a mission and you receive a call, you will have to start it all over again. Another problem with it is that there’s a lot of unnecessary swearing. These are really the only flaws of this game. If you have an iPod, this game is absolutely perfect for you (unless you are extremely against swearing).

My overall rating? 9 out of 10 stars (iPod) and 8 out of 10 stars (iPhone)

Due to an iPhone internet problem, I am unable to acquire any “reviewable” apps at the moment. I also can’t sync my iPhone to my computer for some reason. App reviews will be delayed until I find a fix for the problem. I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience and will try to get my next review in as soon as possible.

Once again, Chris has done it. From now on, I proclaim Chris, the Expert App Recommender. Or as I like to call, EAR. That’s what I will call him from now on Now, on with the review.

So, as you can see, there is the word “stunts” in this app so clearly there will be stunts. Now, the basic format is that you are in an obstacle course with many obstacles (obviously) and you are a car trying to get to the goal (a triangle). Note that you have to drive right through the goal, if you don’t it doesn’t count. There are four controls: Accelerate, decelerate, brakes, and afterburner. Accelerate, well, accelerates your car, decelerate does the opposite, brake acts for three uses, brakes, air brakes (when you air brake basically you gain more control when spinning out of control and slow down), and helping you turn better. If you ever played Mario Kart they call it “drifting”, the brakes are sort of like drifting but if you hold it TOO long you stop moving. Afterburner, it’s the spotlight of the game, basically it’s the control that speeds you up, keeps you in the air, it’s the reason you need brakes. The main reason for afterburner is to speed up or stay in the air but I’ve found other uses. For one, if you somehow turn your car until it faces upwards, you levitate (but you fall down eventually due to loss of jet fuel). Of course the Devs don’t want you to always be able to speed up so if you use afterburner too much (hold it too long) you crash, spin out of control or go so fast that once you go up a ramp you fly into the air and you can’t land. You also get to retry anytime. One thing that I really liked about this game was that it let you cut through the course. what I mean by that is, some driving games make you start over if you find a way to skip parts of the course but this game let’s you cut right through. I actually found a way to cut from the beginning of the game to the end but they stopped that unfortunately. Still they let you cut a pretty long distance. You can also of course do stunts but they don’t really count it. There are two modes, Normal and Casual. Casual gives you unlimited jet fuel and makes you crash less easily. Normal gives you limited jet fuel but you refuel when reaching check points and they apply physics to the game a lot more so it’s easier to crash. Normal also let’s you post high scores and has the level pack Impossible. You get medals based on how many times you tried and sometimes the time it took you to get to the end. The only con I see here is that you get a headache from playing too long (I played for 3 hours straight).

Overall, this game’s concept, stability, graphics, sounds, make it the BEST app I’ve ever reviewed before.

My overall rating? 9.99 out of 10 stars!

Apparently I’m in debt to Chris twice now because his Appvent Post gave me an idea, one that will surely tire me out and require much coffee to complete. Also note that I won’t be posting for about until after New Year’s (which is also David’s birthday) because this task has cracked me in half. Well, remember Chris’ post on Appvent? Free app everyday until Christmas? That’s right, I’m reviewing every single one and picking the best out of them all. Consider yourself lucky because Appvent is giving these out for free and because I’m usually lazier than DAVID. Yes it is possible to be lazier than David Ok, let’s start.

Alright, so we know that David hasn’t been posting for a while (if you don’t know you should start paying more attention) but that’s okay, we’re gonna cut him some slack because he’s mourning over his Droid. So David doesn’t do the review, I’ve been tearing my house apart to find an accessory to review but I can’t find one so you shall enjoy (enjoying is optional) this one instead. Please remember that I still have to do my Christmas Review so if this review is really bad then comment on this post to get David to get out of his mourning. Now let’s continue.

Okay, as you can see, this an accessory review but I’m gonna compare two types of headphones. Now, one is for iPod, one for iPhone, which one is better? Let’s save the best for last, which means we’ll do the Pros first.

Classic iPod Earphones: Pros:

1. Fits great, doesn’t slip out easily.

2. Works for both devices

3. You can actually answer calls with it on the iPhone but for the caller to hear you shouting is necessary

iPhone Stereo Headset: Pros:

1. Calling feature works great

2. Answer/End calls with a super cool button on the headset

3. Pause/Play/Next song/Previous song with a super cool button on the headset

4. Easier to untangle

Now the cons (MWAHAHAHA) <— I think I’ve had too much coffee

Classic iPod Earphones: Cons:

1. SUPER hard to untangle, there’s less friction so it slips between knots easily

2. No super cool button on the earphone

iPhone Stereo Headset: Cons:

1. I don’t know if this is just my pair but they are SUPER loose, they fall out the second I put them in. Maybe it’s just my pair but I didn’t pay 35 bucks for some damn headphones that WON’T STAY IN. I rest my case

2. I find them to break more easily, actually it’s because my old pair broke which is why I bought this pair. THEY USED TO BE 20 DOLLARS! Just saying

One last note, the Classic iPod Earphones generally have a louder sound and the earphone itself is longer. It depends what you like so you can classify it yourself as pro or con.

Who wins? Okay, I would listen to the iPhone pair because I payed 35 BUCKS FOR IT but if I got both for free, it would be a difficult choice. I would say iPod earphones because they’re long enough for me to slip through my sleeve, put my hand at my ears like I’m slouching and listen during class

*Note to the reader* If you are currently pissed at Steven for writing such a terrible review remember that this is 1 in the morning and you can complain about it by emailing him at steven@ipwnage.com