Spearfishing App (Saltwater Style)

During my fishing apps binge I stumbled upon this Spearfishing app. It isn't exactly fishing, however, you do get fishes in it. Go underwater in first person view in search for specific species of fish or just collect enough fishes for the total weight objective before time runs out. The 3D environment is really smooth and nicely done. It brings a certain liveliness that you wouldn't expect to have besides perhaps on a high end device. These fishes aren't just pictures that move, they actually swim!

Tuna included, they're just not edible and might be called groupers in the app.

Your HUD is through a point of view from inside a scuba gear diving mask. Paddle to swim faster. Your oxygen level is displayed in a yellow tank towards the left of your nose(your left). If you find yourself running out of oxygen, go back up to replenish your oxygen supply. Shoot/Release your spear and your POV will be from the spear as it follows it's trajectory. Kinda cool.

 What's that health percentage you may ask? Well, you are in the ocean so the game includes probably the sea's most feared creature, the shark. But that's not all, another dangerous sea creature also lurks in the game, the deadly stingray. Shoot them, on purpose or on accident, and they will pursue you for a few seconds(at least until they get a shot at you). One shot will hurt you 50%. How do you restore or get 75% health if they do 50% damage? Well, luckily for you this is a game, so there are some gray boxes of health at the ocean floor to help you from getting that "game over" screen. Tip: If you don't attack the sharks/stingrays then they won't attack you. Even if you swim right next to their mouths. Treat others like you would want to be treated, especially while you are in the water and if they are bigger, stronger swimmers in the water that are known for killing. The golden rule even applies here.

There is a Lite Version that is FREE and a paid version(Spearfishing Pro). The paid version of course has a few extra features like more fish species, more levels, and no ads. Both can be found on Google Play and was brought to you by the developers at Sparkin' Apps LTD. The free version definitely gives you a taste of the full version.

The graphics aren't super detailed and the ocean seabed doesn't look like the ones found in Pixar's Finding Nemo. But don't forget this is your phone simulating. The 3D environment doesn't look that bad. Plus Spearfishing 2 just came out a few days ago I believe. It also has a lite and a pro variant. The graphics seem to have been improved, naturally. I'll probably be checking it out after this post. Sea you later.

The Future of Music Technology

As current or prospective musicians in love with how technology can enhance your music profiles you should be very excited on changes that iOS 6 and it's updates will bring in the very near future.
It's long being rumoured that ITunes and it's much beloved and easy to use professional interface is due to move towards a subscription based model in the future. Some of you musos will be breathing a sigh of relief that this is not yet due to happen, even when IOS 6 rolls out around about October time. Others with more economic savvy will be praying for just the opposite to happen.
So when will ITunes become subscription only?
It is estimated that iTunes sells 70% of online digital music, but other entertainment based subscription services such as Netflix and Rhapsody seem to be thriving on the subscription model. Whilst iTunes music downloads remain lucrative there seems to be little reason for Apple to change their tune, so unlike Wall Street Journal's prognostications for an imminent change we believe that only when Apple truly sees a tangible decline in music sales that a subscription model will become the music industries foremost download services norm. 

Excelsior: Stan Lee and Apps

Stan Lee: Bringing more Heroes to iPad Apps

When you hear phrases like " Stan Lee can't be separated from his iPad", (to paraphrase Matt Kozlov; the CEO of Moonshark-more about them later in this article), you can't but help to be massively excited if you're in the app business (be you a consumer,journalist or studio).

Twice today doing app research I've come across the man; the legend Stan Lee, mentioned in conjunction with apps. You're going to love this article if you're a fan of Marvel, or Stan Lee and his creations and love mobile apps and games.

Interactive Apps starring Stan Lee

iPad app starring Stan Lee's Narration

With Avengers and Avengers Origins -and yes the multitude of apps that they are spawning, some rather good like the newest Incredible Hulk themed Avengers App, comics are cool (again). Of course debatedly the Grand Daddy, the master of all, the graphic novel genius (before they were even known as graphic novels) is Stan Lee. Today I had the pleasure of stumbling across "The Amazing Spider-Man: An Origin Story" . Spanning multiple genres from iPad borne graphic novel, to interactive book, to simple  super hero themed game the Super Hero Origin Story app, while highly polished and entertaining, stood out for an incredible reason: The app is narrated by Stan Lee himself!

The Origin stories uses many iPad features

The app harks back to the classic days of 1960's Spiderman and does an incredible job of leveraging the iPad's many features. Not only does the iconic voice of Stan Lee pace you through the gloriously HD story with artwork so reminiscent of a classic Spider-Man, but mini-games also act as small interludes to progress the narrative. These mini games can be played at any time through the pop up menu and aside from reaction timed touch screen escapades like firing off Spidey's web to swing between buildings, even the accelerometer is used in some chapters( Peter Parker's first wrestling match on iOS never felt so tangible). The mini games all bear relevance to the source material, there is not a Japanese puzzle box in sight here; but good solid Bam!Pow! old school heroics antics.

It's this kind of cross genre App encapsulated Marvel magnificence that makes Stan Lee starring iPad apps so brilliant. Excelsior indeed.
BUT THERE'S MORE...

Moonshark+Stan Lee = Verticus

Stan Lee's next Big App
Perhaps with all the Avengers excitement and Origin Stories being so popular ( the web slinger's digital story is free by the way and one of three Lee narrated digi tales: the other two being The Incredible Hulk and *tie in alert* The Avengers digital book). It's natural that this tech loving ; world and hero crafting savant is looking to do more with mobile games. Pow!Entertainment (owned by Stan the Man) has combined with a start up known as Moonshark. At the last Comikaze Expo the announcement for the Verticus Mobile game was made.
We're sure Lee's influence has been a driving force behind the creation of the future  Verticus iPad game, but he has the title of official consultant for the mobile game. Not only that,but just like his narration of the Origin Stories Apps Stan Lee will become directly involved in this app, starring as the protagonist's Mission Commander.
Double Excelsior!
Enjoy the Digital Graphic Novels which are out now and keep your ear to the ground for more news of Moonshark/Pow!Entertainment's Verticus which will hopefully be released this Fall.

Cap my...Photo Review-Photo Captioning for iPhone

Cap My Photo...Plus

The iPhone in all its variations, including the soon to be released iPhone 5, has always had a camera to be proud of. But what about the apps to go with that iOS camera?

Cap my ...Photo seeks to bring some fun into your mobile camera experience. Much has been said about the 5 element lens and low light features of the latest iPhone camera, but the fact remains that no matter how good your picture is ,if it doesn't have that certain flair and attraction it's going to be yet another picture of a sleeping baby or banal birthday party. 

By taking pictures with Cap my...Photo (or using a previously snapped pic from the gallery) you'll have access to a bunch of fun features. With a few photo frames on offer to enhance your images the apps main selling point is the captions that it randomly assigns to your photos. Here's the lowdown on the caption app: You'll select a photo and it will assign a caption to it. That's the basic premise fleshed out with a few photo frames, font and text colour choices. You'll then be able to take that captioned photo and share it in the normal email and social network ways. 

The app has a low pricepoint and is currently on sale which is a definite plus. Hundreds of captions are promised which certainly adds a bit of fun to your iphone photography. For a budget app it's certainly worth a few laughs but could be upgraded with a few more features and perhaps a menu to select captions based on genre or even quotations from movies and other famous sources. 
Cap My...Photo Link

Tiny Bang Story: Android Hidden Object Game of Exquisite beauty

Tiny Bang Story now on Android

With a ponderous amount of Hidden Object Games on Android phones and most other mobile devices, some good,some bad but mostly rarely ugly, at your first glance of The Tiny Bang Story,you'd be forgiven for letting out a jaded adventure gamer's sigh. That feeling will last all of two minutes before a remarkably vivid and beautiful world mesmerises you.

And it's at that stage of the game that you realise that it's not just another Android HOG but something delightfully surreal and different. If you insisted on squeezing Tiny Bang into a genre then it could be best described as a Hidden Object/Puzzle genre. And it works really well , especially on the a larger screen phone like the Galaxy S3. If you're a Machinarium fan than have no doubts whatsoever, you are going to love this.

In a world shattered by an interstellar catastrophe you as the faceless protagonist are charged with resculpting the delightfully vivid , hand drawn world. I choose the word 'sculpting' very carefully as this world is truly a magnificent fragile work of art. A steampunk lite creation of quaint and whimsical objects await those lucky enough to venture into the realm
of the Tiny Bang Story.
Once in this world contextual puzzles and hidden objects lay littered about waiting for you to puzzle and seek out.
What is most remarkable about this app is how it is entirely dialogue free,simple diagrams and scene setting carry you forward with a rechargeable hint system to help you out.

As somebody who often gets frustrated with Android Hogs I was expecting similar before I began my review. I'd be remiss if I didn't say there was a little bit of frustration,but the compelling atmosphere of the beautiful world and ethereal music always seemed to buoy me along when stuck on the app( followed by one or two trips to Help Forums for this Hidden Object Game).

This app was reviewed via a Samsung Galaxy S3 and makes the most of a bright and colourful mobile screen. The Tiny Bang Story will mesmerise you.

Lord of the Rings 3D LWP

         The Lord of the Rings Franchise is well known by almost everyone. With this 3D Live Wallpaper you can enjoy your smartphone at a little more. Bring your Precious with you wherever you go. Most people who look at the phone should be able to recognize where that golden ring with engravings is from. If that isn't enough, there is a 3D environment background that can be viewed using the accelerometer in your phone. What's the background? It is  the Dark Tower (Barad-dur), easily noticeable with the Eye of Sauron on top of it. Use the accelerometer and you may also see another location. It's only Mount Doom where the ring was forged and many of the main characters in the Lord of The Rings Movie Trilogy tried to reach (by starting the Fellowship of the Ring) because that's the only place where the ring can be destroyed. The power to possess the ring if FREE on Google Play from Ragecreations.

The Lighting, engraving details, angles and smoothness of the app is amazing even without using its highest settings. Change the way the ring spins/rotates. The speed of rotation can also be altered. Scroll to different homescreens and that changes the zoom on the ring a little. A cool use of having different home screens.

According to the developer, restarting your phone after installation helps the application run smoother.

Become your own lord of THE ring. I usually don't keep Live Wallpapers on my phone in fear of battery drain, plus they usually have cookie cutter graphics /jagged edges and look really unprofessional. This Live 3D wallpaper is truly an exception with real 3 dimensional graphics.  This App comes out just in time for bragging rights as The Hobbit Trilogy will surely refresh peoples minds as to what this ring is.

 Be careful on your quest for the ring. When you tap on a setting, what pops out may not always be a toggle option. An ad may pop up. The app does try to stay friendly with a warning every time you enter the  main settings screen; a disclaimer is shown saying that if you click on one of the ads, your number and email may be shared with the ad provider/website. So just make sure to watch where you tap. Once your setup is done, you are good to go. There are no advertisements on the wallpaper, except the actual ring of the lord of the rings. It's a cool advertisement though.

Three Games that Increase Your Health

Have you ever considered using an app for more than just personal entertainment? How about getting some games for your mobile device that double as a workout coach or running buddy? Here are just a few of the different types of fitness apps available currently that will be able to entertain you like any other video game, but will also help you meet your fitness goals in the process!

Zombies, Run!: So you like fun zombie games for your iPhone? Zombies, Run! is the definitely for you! This app is completely interactive, and you simply begin the game each time you start your running workout. The cool thing about this game is that you can set your own course for you run, in fact, it can even be played on your home treadmill! Whatever route you decide to take, the game will communicate with you through your headphones and let you know when a flesh eating zombie is coming a little too close. If you don’t pick up your pace, you will surely be eaten. As you go throughout your run, you can collect survival supplies to ensure that you are prepared to fight off any zombies that are too close for comfort. Think of this app as a live version of any other type of “get away from the bad guys” game. You will surely be entertained and break a good sweat while playing! Zombies, Run! sells for $7.99 on the app store.

Missile Wars: If you like playing interactive multi-player video games, don’t worry, you can still work out at the same time! Missile Wars is a fun game that can be played with friends or even strangers in your vicinity who are also playing the app. It uses a gps system to show the location of other players, and any player can send a missile to a target within the surrounding area. If you are in the “blast zone” you have 60 seconds to get out of there before the missile hits and kills you. The more players involved, the more fun it is, and you can get a great workout from all that running around! Missile Wars is a free game from the app store, so it’s definitely worth a try!

Fit Freeway: If racing games are more your style, don’t just sit there while you race. Fit freeway is a cool app that allows you to become the race car on a track, and the really neat thing is that it can be used with several different types of gym equipment. So if running on the treadmill isn’t your thing, you can easily switch over to the elliptical or the stationary bike, and the motion detection used by the game will be able to monitor your progress! The app will keep you from getting bored at the gym, while also boosting your speed because the faster you move during your workout, the faster you complete your races. A free LITE version of this app is available, and the full version is only $1.99 on the app store. So you have no excuse to try it out!

By now it should be clear that apps can help you with your weight loss and dieting needs! Games don’t always have to be played sitting down! So if you are one of the “couch potato” gaming types, get up and start moving while you play! Your body will thank you in the long run.

This article was provided by treadmillreview.com, the source for all of your treadmill and fitness information!

Up to date iPhone 5 News

We'll be updating this article as the day goes on, 12 September being the (un)official IPhone five release day.
News so far today: ITunes version 11 to be released(possibly with Spotify streaming options and ability to use NFC payments) leaked pictures of the new IPhone's motherboard confirming a quad core A6 chip, links on the Official Apple Website for a product called ,you guessed it, iPhone 5! Don't try to follow the links there yet as they are not live.
As and when more news on the release and related information comes in we'll update this article and either confirm or deny the 'facts' we've already released.
iPod Touch and Nano will be updated too.
Possibly the new mobile will come in a variety of colour schemes, some apparently quite vibrant.
Tim Cook has just taken the stage, time to see if he lives up to the SteveJobs hype machine and also time to make the handset rumours into fact.
Would Steve Jobs have talked about a Barcelona Apple Store's building materials as part of a keynote?
Apparently Macs have outsold Pc's in the states for the last quarter,ummm well done Tim,now tell us about the new IPhone!

Photos of iPhone 5 from Keynote speech

Now on to solid IPhone 5 facts straight from the keynote:

Iphone Graphics in action

• Resolution: 1136x640 with a 4 inch screen
• I weighs 112grams and is 18% thinner than the 4s
• A taller screen means some apps will have a black bar at the top and bottom,but all will still work. iLife will be one of the stock apps to get an update.
• 4g (LTE) is supported with EE even being mentioned confirming it will have the super fast network capability in the UK and Europe too.
• Apple claims the A6 processor is twice as fast as its predecessors.
• An EA racing game with an unconfirmed title is being used to showcase the phones power.(This EA iPhone 5 game was later confirmed to be Real Racing 3-complete with Ghost uploads to race against friends Cars "Ghosts"
• 
  
• The battery life of the new handset will exceed that of the 4S. The fact that the battery hasn't been massively bigged up suggests that there is no major tech change there.
• It has a 25% lighter camera with a new low light mode
• The new connector is known as "Lightning" to match up with the Thunderbolt data Cables.
• Say Good-Bye to Google maps and now use the new Map App which is demoed with San Fran and Westminster.
• iOS6 allows you to sync your web browsing in Safari across devices.
• Passbook gives you a better way to manage your e-tickeys
• Siri is more intelligent and integrates FourSquare (no word on whether this is international)
• Prices for the iPhone 5: 16,32 and 64GB variants are priced at $199,$299 and $399 (the same as the release price for the 4S)
• Release Dates for iPhone 5: 19 September it ships in USA and 21 September in UK
• Apple Earpods promise "incredible acoustic quality"
• A new "tidier" version of Itunes with great iCloud integration is coming out in October-this new version seems to be designed solely for the iPhone and Ipad and not for PC or Mac.

Little Big Planet comes to iPad and iPhone

Fans of Little Big Planet rejoice, LBP is finally available on iOS-sort of.  LBP Hub is a companion app for Little Big that has just been released on the AppStore. With the PsVita release of LBP imminent it is no surprise that the creators are once again trying to stimulate the community into creating and becoming engrossed once again in Sackboy's marvellous world.
However surprisingly it's not Playstation who have released this app but merely a devoted fan of the games . Billed as an aggregator for Little Big Planet it serves a very useful purpose in keeping track of all the many levels, creators and updates of the popular game. Bearing in mind that so many levels have been created by devoted fans in the past it is quite easy to find a favourite creator and then lose track of them. One of the standout features of this Little Big Planet app is that it will send you notifications when favourite creators release new material.

When politics and Gaming clash

When Reddit crashed recently with "Obama" doing his QandA session gamers and the cool kids of the Internet sat up and took notice. Perhaps it was at this point that Nexon,renowned developers of Maple Story, realised that their social experiment with gaming and politics might be more of a success than they bargained for.
With elections coming up it's no surprise that political agendas are once again starting to seep into everyday life. With that in mind Nexon America has co e up with a unique feature of Maple Story that lets the players effectively vote on their favourite politician, with Obama and Romney being variously favoured. Here is Nexon's Pres Release showing this Politics Vs Gaming idea.

Obama leads in online gamer poll

Nexon America’s MapleStory polls players, partners with Rock The Voteto offer in-game campaign event

Nexon America has released the first player poll as part of its “Great Maple Election Quest 2012,” with Barack Obama preferred over Mitt Romney by 80 percent of those participating in its survey.

The survey, run on the Maplestory website from Sept. 7-9, asked players to vote on their preferred candidate for the presidential election. The poll received votes from 18,373 respondents in the United States, with 13,935 favoring Obama and 4,438 favoring Romney.

The poll is a small part of a major event currently being held in MapleStory. The “Great Maple Election Quest 2012” will include additional player polls, and will also include wide-ranging in-game election events running up to Election Day on Nov. 6. Additionally, MapleStory has partnered with Rock The Vote to encourage players to register to vote and participate in the real presidential election.

Any registered MapleStory player in Nexon America’s service could participate in the survey, which includes a sizeable audience outside the U.S. Players outside of the U.S. favored Obama 87 percent to 13 percent for Romney, 9,752 votes to 1,291 votes. Those who participated in the poll will receive an in-game item, called the “Buff Freezer.”

It was not all bad news for the Romney campaign, as he was favored by players in Utah, Montana and North Dakota. By wide margins, though, Obama swept the “swing states” of Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin.

“It is exciting to see our players voice their position on something as important as a presidential election,” said Min Kim, Nexon America CEO. “Our players represent a very important voting block.  This event in MapleStory gives our players an outlet to have their voices heard, in and out of the game, while providing an avenue for them register and become part of the election process.”

Highest Overclocking Speed for Samsung Galaxy S3

If you're a Galaxy S3 owner then chances are you're a gadget lover who wants to get the most out of your bleeding edge Smartphone. Are you considering Overclocking your Android flagship ? If you are we've come across some facts about upping the Galaxy S3 clock speed that you might find interesting.
Not satisfied with the Quad core 1.5ghz Adreno chip some of the gurus over at the XDA forum have come up with the KT747 kernel.
Ktoonsez is the dev behind KT747 , what's awe inspiring about this kernel is that it gives the highest Overclocking speed for the Samsung Galaxy S3 that we've heard of: 2106mhz!
Users reporting back on KT747 say that the lightning fast Android kernel is stable and doesn't drain the battery of the phone or result in 'Heat Death'
So Mobile phone Speed demons head on over to XDA and find the kernel by KToonsez.

WUG: Earning a living from Diablo 3

Real Money from Diablo 3

Since when did gaming become a full time career? Well if the net is to be believed hundreds are making money from Diablo 3. And many "gamers" are actually making a good living from the RMAH.

How to make money from gaming, Diablo3 in particular
Ever since gold farming and selling gaming gold on sites such as Ebay become an early millennium phenomenon, gamers have been wondering how they can turn their favourite hobby of playing videogames into a full time job. Is Diablo 3's Real Money Auction House the Golden Coin laying Goose that all us gamers have been waiting for? As a game playing reader you're drawn to this article because you love games and have either heard of or are already playing Diablo3 and WUG is your new favourite battle cry. So I've gone off and researched what I could about the City Bankers' favourite MMORPG and looked into if it is even possible to earn a Billion gold in Diablo 3. I've also added a link to the well known Diablo 3 Billionaire program. Which you can click to download here  which if you buy it earns me a bit of bucks for my gaming obsession and will also potentially help you to fit real life economic theories into your Diablo 3 game to allow you to possibly shuck off the chains of grinding for gold and let you become a proper gaming investor.

When is the best time to buy and sell items in the RMAH
Blizzard has kindly let the auction house be available at all times, even in game. 

Legendary Items in the RMAH

• The first 48 hours of the week are a good time for transactions because of "rolling auctions" that haven't been listed as buyouts.
• The "Saronite Saturday" theory refers to Friday D3 gaming sessions that become Farming Fridays with grinders and cash croppers getting the goods to flog them on. Theoretically the spin off of this is that Friday might be the best time to sell, Saturday's prices should see the all dayers from Friday having a massive glut of items to sell on the cheap and that would leave the beginning of the week as the best bidding time.
• Theoretically mid week is a low supply time.
• 
  

How is item flood prevented?
Like a real auction house Blizzard puts a fee on each transaction. What is Blizzard's fee for each RMAH transaction you ask? Blizzard takes 15 % of every tranasction. Which means 15 Gold for every 100. This nice little earner from WoW's creators helps them earn more for their game, keep their massive server farms powered and more importantly stops any old seller of tat items from flooding the RMAH with dime a dozen D3 items that would make searching for what you want a nightmare.

Crafting as a better way of earning gold

As I said we've been researching away to find the best ways for you to enjoy your time and make a bit of dosh on the side for your hobby so we've got to give credit to thelittlenerd.com for their useful insights into crafting that we've reproduced here:

"He has been crafting +5  stat armor with my crafting character.  I’ve only made boots/chest/helms so far, some have been sold for $9.99 and others have been deliberately underpriced and listed  for 1.99 – 4.99.  He goes on to say that +5 stat recipes from the gold auction house can be bought  for 250-500k gold, which compares very favourably-cost v investment wise to the  20-30 million gold recipes for +6 stats.  A stack of 100 inferno essences are about 180k lat the time the crafter wrote his little piece and tombs / tears are very cheap(like 15k for 100ish).

Some Stats to calculate profit vs investment in Crafting

100 x Inferno Essences -180kish

Tombs x 1– 500ish each

Tears x 1 (rare inferno mats) – 500ish each

Average +5 stat crafting prices – 40kish

Average gold spent per item is about 100kish

Prices are of course variable and can only act as a guideline because due to the nature of the RMAH they change frequently.

To use crafting to make a  profit you will need to gross over 100k per item, which obviously is a gamble.  Instead of farming all day, hoping for one good item to sell on the RMAH, you can just invest a little bit of gold, and out of say a million gold you invest (which really isn’t much), you can have 10-15ish pairs of boots.  Out of those boots, AT LEAST 2-5 will be good and able to sell on the RMAH.

Final Point – Instead of farming for hours to find items to sell on RMAH, Craft items with the abundant gold you have, and then sell for mediocre prices on the RMAH.  It’s quicker than farming, you almost ALWAYS get your money back, by gold or real money, and the only thing you need to have is about 1 million gold and a decent recipe/max level 10 crafter."

How do you get your real money in Diablo 3?

There are two types of methods for retrieving funds won in the Diablo III Real Money Auction House (RMAH). The first is Paypal, when a player wins an auction and sends it to their paypal accounts, they can either have it sent to a valid credit card, checking account, or otherwise use it to purchase items from other websites that use Paypal-Ebay being the most well known.

Battle.net balance can only be used in the RMAH, and on Blizzard's store, linked from their homepage. 

Many choose to use the Battlenet balance as this avoids Ebay fees.

What is the minimum RMAH transaction amount?

For battle.net balance, any purchase made must be at least equivalent to one USD, or $1. No purchases below that amount may be made, and no further fee will be incurred. Transaction fees are calculated differently for commodities (such as gold or crafting materials), which will be a flat %15 instead of a flat $1 USD fee. 

The maximum amount of money that can be held in a battle.net balance at any time cannot exceed $600 USD, or its equivalent in other currencies.

So should you buy the Diablo 3 Billionaire Guide?

We're playing by big boys' rules here so of course it's going to be ultimately up to you. I've just started to use the guides myself and what I will say is that at the very least they present a really comprehensive insight into Diablo3 and will definitely improve your general gameplay. The guide is well presented and certainly no rehashing of old forum strategies nor simply a list of Legendary items that will sell well.

Here is the link to the Diablo 3 Billionaire Guide, good luck and I hope your hobby makes you rich!

The best time to attack in Clash of Clans

Based on real Clash of Clans playthroughs and FAQs we've found some tips to help you make your attacks more effective.
The Best Time to Attack in Clash of Clans
When you return to the game after a short time away it's often the sad case that some S.O.B has raided. Your effective Clan defence might not have failed but you might have lost a lot of gold and elixir. So it's time to replenish your own stocks and go off raiding. Before you do; stop and think. Will the amount of gold and elixir that you collect in the time your shield is active be more or less than a successful battle might get you? If the answer is yes, then wait and attack after your shield runs out. 
But if you really want to attack then perhaps we might have a helpful hint for you. We've played Clash of Clans all throughout the day and night, what you've got to consider is that unless a player harvests his gold mines and elixir collectors, then all those resources will be there for the taking. See the time this article has been written? That's 0100 GMT time and I've just raided 5 villages each with over 50k gold and 70k elixir in their coffers. Now that's a fair amount for a level 20ish player to get as a nice bonus. So we suggest that if you're after a quick,lucrative resource raid then go for the unsociable hours when sensible people are asleep. Try to raid from Midnight to about 7 in the morning and see how that works out for you. Is this the best time to attack in Clash of Clans?We think so!
If I've just emptied your Gold and Elixir storage then I do apologise! It's in the name of scientific research after all!

The Tiny Bang Story now on Android

The Tiny Bang Story now on Android

Where the net leads mobile gaming is soon to follow. That's why such marvels as The Tiny Bang Story eventually migrate from their homes on sites such as BigFish and Gamehouse to the Android platform.

Herocraft is the forward thinking studio that is bringing The Tiny Bang Story to Android. If you haven't yet played this ingenious game then be prepared for a treat. Hidden Item games are always popular as are puzzle solving on Android mobiles. But combine the two and add some brilliant hand drawn graphics and you'll see why this BigFish Hit has now come to Android.

This is a unique steampunk world brought to life with a captivating soundtrack. Intuition and lateral thinking bring out the gaming puzzler in you as the bold move of having no in game text really makes the The Tiny Bang Story's gameplay something visceral; rather than rote learned.

Prepare for a full Gametrender review of this hit PC game come home to Android soon.

How Mobile Technology is changing the face of education

A school classroom now in 2012 might be unrecongnisable to somebody a century ago. Computers naturally exploded onto the scene in recent decades and as the price point lowered gradually more and more powerful desktop machines made their way into the classroom . Many would say that we are in the midst of another education technology revolution thanks  to mobile technology and tablets in a particular. 
The educational app revolution is certainly upon us and business is booming for edu app studios. A visit to a local Museum with a small classroom exhibition made me realise how far we've come. Especially since teaching aids that were on show were immediately recognisable as learning aids that I used in my first school days. I'm sure many readers would have recognised wooden two tiered pencil cases that hinge out, plastic covered reading cards and number blocks. Have all these language cards and other educational tools for numeracy and literacy (I mean back in the day who even called them those, Maths and English were the subjects I knew!) been adequately replaced with apps? Well the debate is open , but with the high standard of "iPad literacy" nowadays I' sure that some kids could even use a website builder for free . This great infographic courtesy of LearnStuff sheds a lot of light on app educational culture.

Latest Updates to Minecraft PE

Minecraft Pocket Edition continues to be one of the most popular Android and Ios games and is continuing to be massively supported by Mojang, here's a roundup of Minecraft PE's latest updates.

This is version 0.4.0 of Minecraft and includes:

• Useful decorative house items. Most importantly these items all seem to have crucial uses. Beds let you skip through to the morning (avoiding all mob attacks?). Chests take care of the annoying full inventory and allow you to store items. And what self respecting Minecrafter wouldn't want to bolster house defences with TNT crates or Trapdoors?
• Health can be replenned by cooking animals.
• Wheat, seeds and a hoe now allow you to indulge in a bit of Minecraft PE farming.
• New Modes in 'Craft include "peaceful mode"-health restores automatically and the night's mobs all seem to be on a violence strike and leave you well alone.
• Introducing CREEPERS! These well known mobs can now be found in nightly spawns.

Infinity Blade New Playable Character: The Incredible Hulk

Does Infinity Blade have a new playable character in the form of the Incredible Hulk? A quick glance at the  Avenger's Initiative game might lead you to believe this, but is the iPad game by  Marvel : Avengers Initiative simply a Marvel themed Infinity Blade wannabee or is it more?

The directors of the collaboration between Marvel Games and Wideload Studios would have us believe it is a lot more, billing the iOS Avengers Initiative app as "The mobile gaming event of the year..." .
Admittedly the source material in the form of Marvel's rich story universe is ripe for the picking and has been adapted to lots of great games in the past, graphics wise Avengers definitely packs as much of a punch as The Incredible Hulk himself. A wide range of effects and truly massive enemy bosses lend an epic sense of scale to the game.
What makes this initial instalment exciting is that the Hulk can be customised and upgraded, a great feature for fans. Content is also episodic so whilst the initial download costs $6.99 apparently the other episodes will be free. So while playing as the Angry  Green Giant is exciting updates promised include Captain America,Thor and Ironman will lend a whole different style of gameplay to the app.

Gameplay wise while tight, it is here that enormous comparisons between the Marvel battler and Infinity Blade must be drawn, the UI is similar as well as the fighting that takes place, only a full playthrough will reveal whether M.A.I is a homage or a truly great game in its own right.
What has been overlooked by many gaming sites is that Avengers Initiative is a "Marvel cross-over gaming event", that particular description  taken from the app itself hopefully means that updates, events and new characters to the app will have hints and clues dropped in other forms of entertainment such as Marvel graphic novels and upcoming Avengers movies. What it means right now is that Marvel Xp gained here can also be used in the Facebook  game Avengers Alliance, and indeed takes place in the same Marvel Universe. So while it might appear that the Incredible Hulk is now starring in Infinity Blade 3 this game could be so much more if Wideload and Marvel take full advantage of the fantastic fanbase and lore surrounding some of the World's best known SuperHeroes.

Ps More good news for Tegra 3 Owners: If your'e an Android loving Tegra 3 owner and still gloating over Horn's graphical superiority to the iPad version (at least in the form of added graphical effects if not overall sheen). Marvel is seeking to add more to Tegra 3 versions of Avengers Initiative in the form of added Battle Damage.

Bombshells :Hell's Belles Review

Bombshells: Hell's Belles Review

Glu Mobile's Bombshells has just been released and we're downloading it as we speak. So what can you expect from this 300+mb download from the makers of Gun Bros?
Bombshells: Hell's Belles Review
Firstly it's an aerial combat game with the gung ho macho male characters of Gun Bros replaced with svelte airborne nymphettes and of course being a Glu Mobile game it's free with a great deal of customisation and 'plane upgrades for real cash. The promise of flying multiplayer for the Android and iOS game also has potential.
If you want to find out if Bombshells: Hells Belles is any good then wait 10 minutes until we update this review.
First impressions are good with the Flying Aces apparently providing air support for the aforementioned Gun Bros and Bombshells is also set in the same world as the enemy is still T.O.O.L, so if you liked the twins tick action and plot of Glu's prior hit then you should love this one too.
Siren and Banshee are your straight out the box pilots with Maverick being the extra health and damage pilot for a premium price. So far so Glu Mobile for Free but better paid formulae. So stats wise if you are prepared to pay then Maverick would be the best choice of Hell's Belles pilot.
The return of Xplodium and Daily Bonuses!

Yes,this is so much a Gun Bros spin off that even these elements are present,as for Bombshell's actual gameplay it's very slick with accelerometer controls controlling pitch and yaw of your plane(perhaps the Pink Lady to start with) and braking and thrust being soft buttoned along with missiles and cannon being right virtual buttons. A quick tutorial mission play through should make your mind up whether Bombshells:Hell's Belles is worth the free download. Personally we loved taking down the T.O.O.L drone as a taster mission, the vertical element introduced into the Gun Bros like gameplay was a treat as was seeing familiar enemies rendered in Three Dimensions.
Our initial verdict is that if you loved the backstory and enemy types of GunBros then the slick controls and spacious aerial battles of the Bombshells spin off continues on the same irreverent humour lines and tactical blasting action for mobile devices, so get your designer pilot helmets on if you fancy a free, pay for premium content aerial blaster set in an increasingly fascinating, yet familiar Sci-Fi landscape.

New Browser MMORPG's for the USA: The Pride of Taern

Browser MMORPG's are the in thing in gaming at the moment with news of old established games like Runescape making the transition to tablets and as of yet untapped gaming areas. The Browser RPG scene doesn't really have an epicentre so the likes of Eastern Europe's and South Korea's renowned browser games never seem to make a splash in the West. Yeepgames is seeking to change that and bring one of Poland's hottest MMORPG's to the USA and we're quite excited because The Pride of Taern takes a lot of established gaming rules and makes the formula new and exciting in many ways.
Pride of Taern coming soon to the USA

Yeepgame will publish a Polish browser game The Pride of Taern  soon in North America. 

These are the unique characteristics of The Pride of Taern.

1.     Moving:

You can move your character by clicking LMB (Left Mouse Button). You have to click in the place where you want to go, and wait until your character gets there. It will only work when the place is an accepted point of travel or if the distance isn't too far, otherwise, your character will remain still. To stop your character, while it is walking, press left Ctrl. Not perhaps the most unique form of movement but a definite change from other browser game control schemes.

Moving between zones or walking in and out of the buildings is also very easy. You have to go as close to the passage as possible (door, gate, highlighted place) and click on it LMB. You should then start to load the next area.

While you are in a party only the leader of the group can move it.

2.     Attacking:

Many mobs attack on their own, when the player gets to close. Whether the mob attacks depends on the level you are and on how much health you have at the moment. You will encounter some mobs which don't attack at all and some mobs which are aggressive no matter how strong and healthy the player is. This perhaps hints at a high level of Mob AI -for a browser game this is unprecedented and I would hazard to say a feature that many other games-even "proper" console and PC games need to take heed of. Every videogame beasty doesn't have rabies you know!

If you want to attack monsters, or other players (other players can only be attacked if they stand in a red / violet area of a zone, if they have a red skull above their name, or they are in guild with which your guild has a war with) you have to click on the target with your LMB, and then choose the fight icon (crossed swords) and your character will advance and attack.

3.     Icons for Interaction (after clicking on character):

There are five icons displayed after clicking on the target (player, mob, NPCs) with your LMB. You must then choose the option that you want to use in order to achieve your goal:

View (Eye icon) Shows the appearance, level and health condition.

Fight (Crossed swords icon) allows you to attack on chosen target.

Talk (Cloudlet icon) allows you to begin a dialogue (only with NPCs).

Group (Three people icon) allows you to join a party or individual (only with other players).

Cancel (X icon) An interesting idea brought to browser games very reminiscent of older games like Kings Quest and Monkey Island-they've worked before for these types of games so we think that this type of point and click UI will make a great transition to browser MMORPG's

4.     Main Icons (on the left hand side):

Six most commonly used icons in the game, they allow you to do all the basic actions, and check most important things.

Map / Quests (Magnifying glass and paper icon) gives you access to the zone map (if available), and also your quests and tasks.

Party (Three people icon) provides you with an overall view of your current party (important for party leaders to view team regency during rest).

Rest (Camp fire icon) allows you to regenerate health, Mana and stamina lost during a fight. Not available in red areas of a zone.

Equipment (Backpack icon) gives you access to your equipment.

Skills (Book icon) gives you access to your available skills. You may upgrade skills and prepare strategies, to use them later in a fight when saved (I-IV buttons next to clock).

Stats (Pen and paper icon) gives you access to your stats and other important information (gold, platinum, PvP status etc).

 Nice easy simplification of normal gaming tropes-simplifying what can be a confusing genre for noobs.

5.     Icons on The Top of the Screen:

These six icons are located at the top of your screen. They are mainly to help with communication, and to provide the player with further functions while in game.

News (Rolled scroll icon) gives you info about events, recent changes and drafts.

Mail (Envelope icon) allows to read and send messages.

Top list (Cup icon) it gives access to all kinds of rankings.

Friends (Blue guy icon) we can see if friends are currently online or off, their location and last login. We can also send and accept invitations here.

Chat (circles icon) gives you access to a set of chats called mobile chat. There are (from top) global chat, newbie chat (under 20 level), team chat, private chat, trade chat (and for guild's members guild chat).

Settings (red key in circle icon) gives us access to main options: platinum purchase, change of quality, list of recruited players, potions purchase and much more. Same easy interface and a step in the right direction with other player interaction a seemingly high priority for clans and friends lists.

6.     Development of the Characters:

Since we create our first character begins our travel through the game world, the goal is to make our character better and stronger. Firstly by choosing  appearance (face only).

Far more important is development of stats and skills. Game doesn't limit us in any matter. We can have as many characters as we want to (we just can't play more, then one at the time) and we can choose in which way we will develop them. On start we have basic stats (10 of strength, dexterity, power, knowledge, and 200 of HP, Mana and stamina) and we get 5 extra to add. We will get other 4 stats points and 2 skills points every level, and we can do with them whatever we want to. It is better, when healers, fire mages and voodoos are developing Power, Knowledge, Mana and HP, and Barbarians, Knights, Archers, and Sheeds are developing Strength, Dexterity, stamina and HP (these stats works better with their skills). Same way we can develop our skills. Every class has 9 special skills that can be activated, or made stronger by investing skill points into them. Some nice unique character classes round out what is a very exciting look forward for USA players of browser based MMORPG's.