Apps Weekly: Words With Friends + Words With Friends HD

In the tradition of mail chess, Newtoy has an iPhone app that somewhat resembles that game but electronically, and that's Chess With Friends. I'm not too good at chess, but I do like a bit of Scrabble, and thankfully, Words With Friends is there to fill that void.

Words With Friends
Free with ads, $2.99
Newtoy, Inc.
Compatible with iPhone OS 2.2.1 or later

Arguably, this game is a bit like Scrabble, but the twist here is that your opponent is a real person, and he'll take his time to think about his next move. And what I mean by that is that your opponent might take longer than a minute to a day before he gives you his move. While one could say that this sluggish pace could be a bit of a turn-off, a person with a busy lifestyle is actually the perfect candidate for this game. If you gotta go to a meeting in the middle of a game, you could always exit the game and get some work done. Don't worry, your opponent will understand (and if you're really worried about your opponent's patience, you can just say that you have to leave through Chat).

This screen is basically the home screen of the game, but when you first run it, you'll be asked to put in your e-mail address and username. After a few seconds, you'll be able to start creating games and making moves.

I don't exactly know the mechanics that determine whether you or the other player goes first, but whatever the case, this leisurely paced version of Scrabble plays as you'd expect. There are score bonuses when you have tiles in either the Double/Triple Word score or the Double/Triple Letter score, and you can swap some letters off as well as pass a turn when you're really stumped.

In a smart move, the app also features some in-game chat so as to maximize the "social" aspect of the game. You can talk about movies while in a game, or trash talk to some random dude you're playing against. Heck, you can do these things simultaneously, because the game allows you to create up to 20 simultaneous games so chances are, you won't end up too bored when a player is not online (as marked by the googly eyes near the Chat button). If you want to play with your actual friends, you're given the chance to do that as well. You can post an alert to your Twitter or Facebook account, so your friends can go online and play with you.

Whatever the case, this game is a perfect game in this fast-paced world. When you're resting from that exhausting run for a promotion or grade, you'll be able to be comforted by the fact that your Words With Friends game will always be waiting for you- that is, unless you ignore it for 7 days.

That's not to say that the app is the most perfect app. For one thing, there's quite a bit of lag during gameplay. I've also encountered a bug that forced me to pass several turns (a letter that was stuck on the board), and the game does crash sometimes. Still, push notifications work flawlessly in notifying that you have to make a move in the board. Still, just making a move takes more than a minute to do, because the sending is just a ridiculously long wait. Is it because it's loading an ad? Oh ads, you annoy the hell out of me.

But that's where the $2.99 version comes in; the full version eliminates those annoying ads that pop-up after every move you make.

Still, I think Words With Friends is one of the better games out there, and I hope I can play with anyone reading this some time.

Rating: 7.5/10

In one of the laziest attempts at a "preview", I'd like to cover the companion iPad version of the game I just reviewed, which is Words With Friends HD.

You can get a taste of the sheer expansiveness that the iPad's resolution offers by clicking the screenshot on top.

Obviously, it will feature a much more comfy way to play this game, and the Chat feature will actually not be all that intrusive to the gameplay, as it will only appear in a little window. The game looks like fun on the iPad and it seems that it will launch alongside the product this Sunday.

Developer Newtoy will be holding a little party at the Apple Store in Frisco as they will be giving away some promo codes for this game. Sadly enough, no actual iPads to give away, but you might want to consider joining a certain Twitter giveaway if you really want one.

Plugged!: The Tobolowsky Files

Stephen Tobolowsky. You may have seen him, but you probably haven't heard of him, and how can I blame you? He's usually playing some role that only serves as background, or maybe he's just one of the supporting characters. Prominently though, he's one of those teachers in Glee, and found much fame in Groundhog Day and Memento. You could say he's a bit of a high-profile star, but I rarely hear anyone say, "Oh, actor X should be like Stephen Tobolowsky!" or "The prowess of Stephen Tobolowsky must be put into action!". So no, I guess you can't say he's that high-profile, but at least you could say he's ubiquitous. Look around, he's everywhere!

Held with respect by his peers nonetheless, Stephen Tobolowsky is still a figure with a surprisingly colorful life, and using a smartly crafted arching topic, he talks about his experiences in life; with love, heartbreak, the entertainment industry, and almost everything under the sun in this podcast: The Tobolowsky Files.

Now, I'm not one to usually diverge from my usual style of picking podcasts for this feature- I usually put 2-3 months of listening time to a podcast before I find it fit for judgment- but this podcast was just such a good listen for the 5-6 episodes I've had with it, that I couldn't hold the recommendation off.

Every story he tells is supported by a theme, and each story is usually associated with his own life. While it could seem narcissistic and biased to only his own perspective, he just crafts his stories in such a way that you just keep yourself glued to his every word. He's a sublime storyteller, and he handles a lot of the topics he deals with very well.

It could be about his fear of dying from altitude sickness during the shooting of Wild Hogs, or it could be about his broken heart after a messy divorce with a girl called Beth. Whatever story he tells, it's hard not to just shake the man off and turn a deaf ear as some of the episodes actually become rather profound and thought-provoking.

From time to time though, /Film's David Chen interrupts the story and does a bit of banter with the actor. True, Tobolowsky is the star of the show, but Chen is actually the moderator of the podcast (not to mention the editor). It's not that he breaks the podcast, but Tobolowsky tends to be a bit hypnotizing so... it's kind of weird to hear another voice, to be frank.

Whatever the case, you must download this podcast and start from episode 1. Now.

Movies Opening This Week: The Coup de Grace

Last week, we saw Miley Cyrus teaching contestants on American Idol as to how a successful tween star performs. This week, we see her showing off her acting skills and, apparently, flex her disturbing mouth. Is she pouting? Grinning? Both?

The Last Song
History has proven time and time again that movie adaptations of Nicolas Sparks books tend to do swimmingly in the box office. While overly sentimental, these movies are able to bank on a broad market made up of tweens, middle-aged women, general women, and of course, their dates. For the dates, I feel much pity because, well, hey! Here’s a new Sparks movie!

Yeah… adding insult to injury is Miley Cyrus, renowned “singer” and “TV show comedian”. While it’s safe to say that anyone whose names are attached to a Nicolas Sparks movie have genuinely good prospects in the future (which is more than what I can say for people who’ve won Oscars), I really hope this movie flops badly because it was about time that happened to a freaking Nicolas Sparks movie. And yes, I’m speaking out of prejudice and unfair bias. Why should you care?

I hope this becomes the coup de grace of Miley’s acting career; the last movie she’ll ever be starring in in the near future. It’s obviously false advertising if the movie title states that this movie will also feature her last song, but people can dream, can’t they?

SERIOUSLY, HER MOUTH LOOKS DISTURBING.

So maybe I’m doing some unwarranted flaming to this movie, but hey, I have a natural aversion to Nicolas Sparks film. Thankfully, there is a “dude movie” that will negate all the flowing hormones of this film.

Clash of the Titans
Clearly, after Avatar, the world will never be forgetting a certain Sam Worthington for some time and if you already forgot Jake Scully, then you’ll probably have this reminder come in handy.

This remake of the 1981 film (the one with monsters made of clay) has Perseus doing several gods a few favors so he can reach his beloved princess Andromeda. I’ve actually watched the original film, but the only scene I can seem to remember is the climactic Gorgon fight with Medusa and everything. Frankly, some of the scenes of this trailer don’t even have me jogging my memory at all, but whatever the case, the film looks quite epic, as any Greek myth-based film should. I have a feeling that it won’t do quite so well with the critics, but the box office returns will be huge. I personally can’t wait to see the outcome of all this, for I am actually quite worried that the movie might end up a bit convoluted.

Certainly, a huge monster attacking (stomping?) to the background music helps ease that worry.
In the end though, everything opening so far seems so… white. Why don’t we put in a little more… “culture”? Will Tyler Perry do?

Why Did I Get Married Too
Janet Jackson… whatever did happen to her?

Whatever the case, at least she’s coming back for the sequel to Why Did I Get Married, which I really didn’t watch.

And judging from the trailer… WHAT THE HELL IS THIS A HORROR FILM?

A movie about marriage, divorce, love, faith, honesty, blah blah blah, Why Did I Get Married Too is once again set in the Bahamas, where 4 close couples annually meet together to share stories about life and love. Some of their relationships become a bit rocky, some a bit scarred, and some a bit better. I’m not too familiar with these characters so I can’t really relate, but the ensemble dramedy looks like it’ll have a few of the same tropes that typical Tyler Perry movies possess. Maybe it’ll be entertaining or something. I don’t know.

Requiem for an iPod?

After water, that abomination, swept into my iPod touch, I decided to follow the interwebs and put it in some rice overnight.

Today, I got the iPod out from the bag and this is what it looks like:

At an angle, the streaks of water become very apparent. Maybe I should put it in rice some more, but whatever the case it still works like it's supposed to, and that's quite a relief.

No dumb volume control glitches, no unresponsive touch screen, and no dysfunctional home button.

The screen, in the normal, upright position, doesn't even show the water. Heck, when the iPod is turned off, you couldn't even tell. In an angle, when the iPod is turned on, that's the only time the watermarks are apparent. I'm kind of bothered by them, but I suspect that they might possibly dry off any time.

Is it time for a requiem? It isn't looking necessary to me.

Pwned: MY iPOD TOUCH

A tsunami of relatively microscopic proportions swept through my table this morning as I knocked down my glass of water (har har har) thus letting some of that water enter through the molecules of my somewhat protected iPod touch. It has a screen protector, it has a silicone back protector but the water still got inside the screen thus rendering the device a bit of an unresponsive multi-touch brick.

Luckily enough, Wi-Fi still works, earphone control still works, and Facebook was still nagging me with push notifications. System was good, but I was not able to actually use the screen; touch was unresponsive.

Since it's a 3rd gen iPod touch, warranty is still in the equation even though it doesn't really cover water damage. Scouring the Internet for solutions, I immediately saw a common answer: put the device in a bag of uncooked rice. Surely enough, I got a bit of rice and put them in plastic alongside the iPod touch, and stored it in a cabinet.

As we speak, the rice is hopefully doing its magic.

This is even sadder than 2012.

Apps Weekly: Articles + Pictionary Multiplayer Apps!

Wikipedia, while not the most reliable source of information on the web, is still one of the biggest free encyclopedias ever conceived, and it still ranks as one of the top go-to websites in history. While iPhone users have the option to browse Wikipedia using the Safari browser, there are still some limitations brought upon by the mobile version of the website, one complaint primarily being: you can't copy nor cut. And as we all know, Wikipedia is for research as Justin is to Biology.

AHEM, but I digress.

This is where people start looking for Wikipedia apps in the App Store. While Wikimedia has its own official app, I've found that the paid app Articles is so much better.

Articles
Sophia Teutschler
$2.99
Requires iPhone 3.0 or later

Featuring a very clean interface, Articles starts off with a friendly notice: "Tap the search bar to start...". The user-friendly nature of the app encourages you to just do what you'd normally do with Wikipedia.

The fact that it looks like it was built for the iPad is kind of noticeable, so you feel like you're living in April 3.

But anyway, the resembles Safari in a lot of ways. The lower buttons are especially reminiscent to that of the browser, and it works just as you'd expect. There's a back and a forward button, an "add bookmark (or E-Mail article)" button, a "view bookmarks" button, and lastly a multi-page button which somewhat acts like "tabs" or "windows" in a browser.

Still, there's more than meets the eye in this Wikipedia app.

The content rendering for most articles look extremely good, with a font large enough to read for a relatively reasonable amount of time.

When you push on a picture, you'll be able to see a higher-resolution rendering of the picture after a few seconds.

If it's an information chart or a table, the app will feature a custom view for them as well.

Usually, you'll only be able to view them if you press on a section that would normally contain a chart or table.

In the bookmarks view, the app also utilizes the iPhone's GPS capabilities, because it has a rather unique "Nearby" option that likely brings out information about your location or something. I wasn't able to try this because I was on an iPod touch and the Philippines doesn't have the triangulation thingy.

It also contains a "Surprise Me!" button which summons a random articles, and pre-loaded bookmarks like "Famous Paintings" and "Post Impressionism". They're all editable so you can delete them.

Also, the app contains the ability to lock the orientation; basically if you pull the app down Tweetie-style, you'll see an arrow and text that says, "Release to lock orientation". This will enable the app to not turn into either landscape or portrait mode when you change the iPhone's position. The app also features a unique way to navigate the entire article: after double-tapping the screen, you can scroll up or down to navigate through the article's various sections, thus removing much need for the Table of Contents. The feature isn't really stated enough in the app, because it's a rather convenient and useful gesture.

True, it doesn't have in-page searching and some people prefer that the table of contents be readily presented to them, but the app's ease of use and gorgeous interface more than make up for its shortcomings.

Rating: 8/10

If you like Pictionary, you'll probably be pleased to know that there are a few online multiplayer Pictionary apps present in the App Store. If you don't know what Pictionary is though, then it's pretty much guessing the object a person is drawing, but the real board game has a few more intricacies and twists to it.

One of them is the free game, Depict.

Technically, I shouldn't even preview this app as it has been released since December. However, the major thing about the app is that it has just transitioned into free territory, and the developer's only source of revenue would be in-app purchases, which consist of game modes and custom avatars.

It pits you against 5 players and if you guess the answer in the quickest way possible, you'll earn much points. Still, unlike actual Pictionary where the choices available to you are in the imagination, the game does the imagination for you; you'll pick among 6 choices that contain the answer. It is powered by OpenFeint, which is free and powerful.

Another online multiplayer Pictionary app is Charadium which costs a buck.

The premise is somewhat similar to that of Depict's but the difference is that instead of providing you with choices, the game actually leaves you to guess the object being drawn correctly and quickly through typing the damn thing. Revision3's AppJudgment says that the iPhone's native auto-correct feature stands in the way of fun but the developers have swiftly responded to this rant. It's also powered by the gaming network plus+.

The game looks somewhat more polished than Depict but the difference is that Depict's pixely aesthetic allows for more precision in drawing. But that shouldn't really stop you from enjoying any of this.

At the end of the day, choosing a great Pictionary online multiplayer app will have to depend on your preference. Both are fundamentally the same, but Depict lets you save time typing by providing you with choices instead (and it's free), while Charadium lets you type out the actual word thus encouraging more of your imagination to work (and it's not free). They both look rather good, but the problem is that they don't really provide much in the way of local multiplayer, meaning you can't pit yourself between a Bluetooth powered iPod touch or iPhone that's nearby which is a bit of a sad oversight.

A warning: when playing online, be wary of pervs who draw gonads.

Nintendo introduces 3DS

After Avatar, every movie company has been screaming their respective heads off and promptly scurrying for their 3D cameras to cash in on the action. The gaming industry is actually no exception to this rule, and while nVidia has its fancy graphics card that requires the fancy monitor and the fancy glasses, Nintendo wants to take a different approach.

More specifically: they want 3D without the glasses.

While I have to admit that the prospect of that selling well is actually kind of high, especially since people don't want to pay for 6 more pairs of $150 glasses, I still can't find the point in all of this. There aren't really many details to be discussed about the device itself as of yet, but Nintendo is only hinting it as "the successor of the DS line", meaning that the 3DS will likely be a whole new playing field as far as Nintendo's handheld line goes, even going as far to say that "DS and DSi games are backwards compatible".

This raises a bit of hope that Nintendo will actually get rid of cartridges for its newer handheld games and distribute them digitally, ala the App Store or the DSiWare Shop. SD-HC will be the memory card, and Nintendo points are the currency.

Sounds rational, right?

Still, I have to mention once more: I can't find the point in all of this. If the system will be a huge graphical step up (as in, it'll possess graphics far superior to the PSP or the iPhone), maybe the upgrade will be a bit more warranted than that of, say, the DSi XL (which by the way isn't even released yet in the US). However, if it's just the same ol' DSi with 3D graphics, I don't see this device selling well, especially if cases of epilepsy or... 3DSickness or whatever get reported. It might just even be like a Virtual Boy... and we all know what happened to that piece of turd.

Twittiquette: Don't Look Like A Noob

Twitter is an ever-growing, increasingly popular social networking site that enables users of various standings to communicate with each other in an often brief manner. Still, if you're new to Twitter, you might find out that the Twitterverse isn't as easy to decipher and get into as you'd think, and this guide is here to help you not look like a noob because you asked about something that's common knowledge among Twitter users.

Question #1: What's an RT? A via? A backslash?
Before Twitter officially rolled out a "Retweet" button, some person asked the question, "In what manner can I copy and paste a tweet I really LOL'd to, without resolving to plagiarism?" and thus RT was born, meaning "Retweet".

The original format goes like this: "RT @person: Person's tweet". This means that you're retweeting (RT) another user's (@person) message. The syntax had been unofficially standardized until recently last year, but people who opposed Twitter's official method still continue to use this format, especially since they're able to comment on the person's tweet if the character limit allows them. How do you "comment" on a retweet? Well, you can add the comment before the words "RT" or you can add it after the message.

Other people have adopted another type of Retweet syntax, which is the "(via @person)":

Basically, one can retweet a message by typing "via", then the person who tweeted it (@person) after the message, all enclosed in parentheses. The addition of "RT" in the beginning is entirely optional. One could say that this is like "quoting" someone.

Possessing almost the same format is the "\via @person". It's still placed at the end of a message or tweet, but instead of being enclosed in parentheses, you save one character by adding only one backslash. In some Twitter applications, the format is applied through "Quote Tweet".

While you're able to comment on the message you retweeted using these methods, you'll be forced to paraphrase a tweet if the message exceeds 140 characters after applying the Retweet syntax. This is where Twitter's official "Retweet" button comes in.

Basically, you can hover over a tweet you really like and press the "Retweet" button. You'll be asked if you are sure that you want to share a funny or serious or whatever tweet to your followers, and you can press "Yes".

When your friends see the message you retweeted, they won't see your profile picture. Instead, they'll see the user name of the person who originally tweeted the message you retweeted, but there'll be a rectangular symbol with two arrows to signify that the message was shared by someone else other than the original tweeter.

So that also means, if you find a person who you're not following on your timeline, don't fret about Twitter going bonkers, look for the "Retweet" symbol first. Below the message you'll be able to see the person who shared the message to you.

Question #2: How do I know which tweet a person replied from?
From the get-go, Twitter was never really meant as a conversation tool, but the fact that the service has a "Reply" button pretty much dictates otherwise. You'll be able to conveniently know which tweet someone else replied to if you press "in reply to 'person'" which is located below the message.

When replying to people's tweets, you must definitely press the "Reply" button, unless you never want the person to reply to you ever again. Sometimes a person's timeline can be pretty busy, especially in the case for celebrities, and properly pressing the "Reply" button makes their lives so much easier because they know the tweet you replied to.

To properly "Reply", just hover over the tweet you wish to reply to, and press the "Reply" button.

This will automatically supply the username of the person you're replying to in the text box, so you can type whatever message you want in an instant.

If you fail to follow this basic principle, it may be a bit of a sign of disrespect to others; a ploy to confuse a user and to waste his time.

Also, another rule of thumb: if you wish to call out a person, or several persons, it'll be much more noticeable if you supply their user names by typing in "@" then their user name inside the tweet. Think Facebook tagging minus the convenience of an "autofill" feature.

If these people use Twitter applications (more on that in another post), they will instantly be notified about you calling them out. Unlike if you just call them out plainly by name, calling them out by their @username will more likely garner their attention.

Question #3: What the hell is the "#" for?
Twitter has a feature called Trending Topics wherein the system digs up the terms most used during that moment in time. In plain language, Trending Topics is a compilation of tweets that contain a certain buzzword, like "Justin Freaking Bieber".

Now if you'll notice, there are a few Trends that have the pound (#) sign on it. What are they for?

Well, in the past, someone devised a system in which tweets could be grouped in a way so they can be searched in an efficient manner using Twitter's search engine. So that means, if I said "FALLOUT ROCKS HARD", I could add in "#greatgames" or "#fallout" to categorize the tweet. These categorizations are called hashtags and this form of syntax follows several rules:

1) You definitely have to use the pound sign! If you don't use it, your tweet won't be categorized, and the hashtag won't be "clickable". You can click the hashtag so you can search for people who tweet within the same category (barring fake accounts that endorse pornography and spam).

2) You cannot put spaces nor punctuation in between words. The hashtag can only work if the words are grouped together without spaces nor any form of punctuation like apostrophes and periods and the like, which is why there are trends that read, "#imthekindofperson" instead of "#i'm the kind of person". You'll be able to make the hashtag more legible by smartly using capital letters, if you want. This means that you can use "#ImTheKindOfPerson" and have it included in the category regardless.

Well, that covers quite a few of the basics of the Twitterverse. Hope this clears up any of the alien language I myself encountered when first using the service. Understanding these concepts will help you focus on being Twit-Addicted instead of lost and confused. Happy Tweeting!

Movies Opening This Week: How to Use Bland Typography

It's been approximately three weeks since I last made a "Movies Opening This Week" and for this, I apologize.

What, intro's too bland for you? Well, I have an excuse because, well, this 3D movie's a bit bland as well.

How to Train Your Dragon
I never even knew that there was something like this in development, but when something in 3D becomes successful, everybody else follows suit, and this movie, drowned in Alice's 3D buzz, just got relegated to semi-obscurity, at least for me anyway. Hell, when I was on the way to the theater to watch Alice, that was the only time when I actually saw publicity for this title!

Still, this was the same thing that happened to Monsters vs. Aliens for me, and when I got to watch it, I thought it wasn't half bad. Hopefully this movie will be the same pleasant surprise, but... I highly doubt that, to be honest. First thing's first: the main dragon doesn't remotely look like a frigging dragon. Maybe there's a few dragons that actually look credible in the film, but the main dragon... is a shameless design that demands you to buy merchandise. While there is the prospect of the film possessing some exhilarating flight scenes and 3D "in-your-face" gimmicks (that I actually kind of enjoy), I'm going to pass on this one. Maybe it's because of "Dreamworks", maybe it's because of how the studio wants to duplicate Pixar's manner of making trailers, or maybe it's because of the poster's bland typography. I mean, seriously, the title's fonts don't have personality at all. There is no impression. No... excitement.

But if you're still interested because of the fact that it has a dragon instead of vampires, then the movie is pretty much about a boy who wants to defy the tradition of his viking lineage by actually befriending a dragon- a creature that the vikings want to slay to extinction. The reason for this is not quite fully established, but I have a feeling that it will in its denouement. Whatever the case, I'm at least going to give it a go on DVD.

Also coming out of nowhere for me is this next movie...

Hot Tub Time Machine
A rather modern, pop-culture ridden comedy that somewhat pays homage to Back to the Future, Hot Tub Time Machine has 4 men discontented with their adult lives transported back in time through a hot tub. Doesn't sound quite as awesome as a time-travelling car, but hey, cut the movie some slack.

It stars John frigging Cusack for God's sake!

While the jokes don't always take off, the premise is just (not as) derivative enough as to warrant a viewing on DVD. There'll obviously be a lot of jokes that reflect the "fish out of water" situation the 4 men are in, and a few tips of the hat to 1986 icons, references, and trends, but I'm still not sure if it's gonna actually be funny.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth Review

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
Capcom
Nintendo DS

With 4 games under the Ace Attorney belt, it's hard not to get tired of the same mechanics and gimmicks that Capcom rehashes for every year a title gets released. However, the only thing that keeps fans coming back is pretty much story and new characters. I mean, even the twists that a case possesses has become familiar, so it's hard not to just sigh at the sight of yet another new entry in the series. Now, I'm a fan of the series, but after Apollo Justice, there was just... fatigue, really.

Fortunately, this new installment adds enough fresh mechanics but instills it with the familiar characters of the original "trilogy" to form a game that satisfies the fanboy within me and makes me want more. Couple that with the usual excellently-written dialogue and trademark interrogation gameplay mechanics and you get a very welcome, refreshing sequel.

Extremely accessible for newbies, Ace Attorney Investigations re-introduces prosecutor Miles Edgeworth as a man who only wishes to search for the truth at all costs. The story has him finding the right mantra for his aforementioned goal by subtly reflecting his inner struggle. And through it all, oh yeah, people get murdered. The familiar supporting cast: Detective Gumshoe, Franziska Von Karma, Manfred Von Karma... they're here, all right. That, and a few familiar faces that range from an old bag to a smelly troublemaker. While all the characters, even the new ones like Kay Faraday or Shi-Long Lang, get their due introductions, there are still a lot of in-jokes that will thrill the franchise's established fanbase. So yes, that may either be called a ladder, or a stepladder.

True, the story doesn't match up the caliber of the original, but what game in the series has? Despite that, Ace Attorney Investigations still has an intriguing story with 5 crime scenes to investigate and solve, each one increasing in length, difficulty and complexity as each case gets solved. All the events in the game happen in a span of 2 days in the game world, and while they are all tied together by a common thematic thread, you are rarely stuck in the courtroom.

One of the most refreshing changes of the game primarily comes from the new third-person perspective that is utilized for investigating, talking and moving around, naturally.

You are assigned a partner during your investigations, so yes, an on-screen character will follow you around. Now, it's usually not bothersome (and it gives the developers excuse to let the characters converse every time Edgeworth gives stiff descriptions for every piece of evidence found at the scene), but there are times when the character actually blocks a crucial piece of the room that needs to be examined, but that's easily remedied by, well, walking to the assistant's direction. Still, when your eyes feel strained but your mind feels intrigued, it's hard to just... never mind.

Another refreshing new mechanic to the investigation is Edgeworth's ability to use "Logic". Basically, there will be times when a piece of evidence spawns a sort of "thought". When you have multiple pieces of "thought", you can press the Logic button during the investigation to bind these "thoughts" in a way that is most... well, logical.

While it can be a bit frustrating when two pieces of logic don't really work for the game, but sound logical in the real world, these cases are pretty rare. Still, one will need to be cautious when the game considers your logic to be screwed up, because on the top screen there is a sort of "Life bar" akin to fighting games. When you screw up, you suffer humiliation from your peers (usually your partner, or Franziska) and your "Life bar" depletes. When depleted entirely, the case is out of your hands and in the words of Edgeworth, "the truth is lost forever".

The life bar is also present during your interrogations (or arguments), and these are scenarios wherein you, prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, are tasked upon exposing the lies (or snafus) of witnesses or exploiting the holes in logic of colleagues. These play out almost exactly the same as the courtroom sequences in the original Ace Attorney games, but the novelty is that you're able to just interrogate or argue with people outside the courtroom, meaning that there's no judge to comment on everything. Still, it's not like arguing with these people with baseless conjecture is enough to convince them of your point (especially that... last dude, urgh...), you'll need to present evidence to support your "OBJECTION!". Still, if you feel like a testimony is a bit too airtight, you can always "Press" a witness' statement to squeeze out more information. Even the most trivial of matters is important to solving a case, so keep an eye on your evidence at all times.

Because when you do expose a contradiction, you just feel satisfied with yourself. I don't know why, but that part plays a huge role in the series' appeal. Still, a bit of that satisfaction is lost when you find out that you can actually save virtually anywhere, anytime (although there is no "auto-save"). Really, a life bar becomes a bit moot when you can just load the moment right before the presentation of evidence. But you can't fault the game, it's just built with portability in mind.

There are also other things you can do in a certain crime scene. When you find something of note, the screen will magnify to that part and you can take a closer look, ala the old Ace Attorney games, in a 2D plane. When the "Examine" button appears, that's how you'll know when a crucial part of evidence is present so you'll rarely get stuck searching every nook and cranny for anything of note, because the game offers you indication of what exactly is of note.

Using evidence, you'll sometimes have to "Deduce" something about the crime scene. That means that the crime scene seems different and contradicts the facts known about a certain piece of evidence (or testimony). This may prove that the scene was tampered with, or there was something conflicting about date or time of murder.

Again, the life bar plays a part in this, and when you get the contradiction wrong, the life bar depletes.

What you may or may not get stuck with is testimony, however, and that's because the game goes on in a linear pace, so you'll need to adapt to the game's line of logic and reasoning. You can't defend a piece of evidence that should be technically correct! When the game thinks your line of logic is wrong, it's wrong, period. Alas, this has been a trademark of the franchise, and cases of this happen quite rarely anyway, so in actuality, it's a bit of a minor nitpick.

Despite the themes of murder and corruption, the game still manages to keep a goofy sense of humor, and despite introducing new and quirky characters, each of them is given a reason for existence, and a bit of backstory to boot. An airhead of a woman may turn out to be more than just a lovestruck co-conspirator, or a girl you think you didn't know is actually the one who saved your life years ago. This is one of the best things about the series, and it's glad to see it retained in this refresh of the series.

Also retained? The heavy text-based nature of the game.

The game's trademark presentation- a combination of sound effects, sparsely animated facial expressions, scarce voiceovers and flashes of light- are all left intact, and it's still as effectively done as ever. Maybe it's the well-written dialogue that seals the whole deal, but whatever the case, reading all this exhaustive text is still quite an engaging "chore", and the background music for each character is exquisitely done.

Existing fans of the Phoenix Wright trilogy (as well as the Apollo Justice game) may need to adjust to Edgeworth's stiff demeanor, but the man's charming enough and brimming with personality to deserve your 10 hours of game time. There are a lot of in-jokes and visual cues to take note of for old fans, but they're not prominent enough to alienate new players. Overall, this installment is an enjoyable return to the world of twisted lawyering that is Ace Attorney, and I couldn't be happier.

Rating: 8/10

Apps Weekly: Spirit + Chaos Ring

Vector graphics are usually a great fit for the iPhone, and the success of geoDefense and geoSwarm can attest to that. This game is no different.

Spirit
Marco Mazzoli
$0.99
Requires iPhone 3.0 or later

There's nothing terribly original about games today, and this one is not really an exception.

But who cares about originality when a game is just fun to play? In the App Store, there are a lot of games that are similar to each other, and while the first thing that I can remember as of now is Dr. Awesome, Spirit is pretty much that without the accelerometer control and the Address Book utilization.

Basically, you have to form a circle around these symbols to eliminate them, and with each elimination you get points. Yep, that about explains everything.

As you go through different waves, the enemies become varied and you'll see different kinds of behaviors for each symbol. There'll be a few that'll only require a circle around the head to disappear, there'll be symbols that'll follow you around, and there'll be symbols that'll stop and shoot laser beams across the screen. The game gets challenging, and frankly, I'm kinda crappy at it. When you don't have enough lives, you naturally get a Game Over screen.

You'll be asked to type in your name for the High Scores screen, but the problem is, there are no online leaderboards. Not to worry though, a future update will bring these leaderboards and OpenFeint integration.

Three lives isn't all the game has to offer though. Occasionally, there will be symbols that'll have a "life" dangled to it. If you manage to form a circle around it and make it disappear without harming the "life", you can get the life and extend your game.

There'll also be a few bonus stages that'll give you bonus points, but they're not all random circles; you'll have to be wary of symbols that'll decrease or increase your points.

For a buck, the game ain't bad. There's a bit of variety, and the sheer variety of symbols you'll have to face is pretty welcome. The background music isn't particularly memorable, but the vector graphics look nice, and the game has an effective "save state" mechanism which saves your game automatically when, for example, you get a call.

Rating: 7/10

Square Enix, creators of the Final Fantasy series, are to release an iPhone exclusive RPG called Chaos Ring. The specifics like story or gameplay are still left to speculation, but the sure thing is that Media Vision, the developers of the original PS Wild Arms RPG, is developing, and Square Enix will be publishing.

What can be immediately gathered is that it'll likely have several classes, but it may possibly have a love story as well. Who knows at this point, though?

The release window is also quite vague, stating only "2010". OK, so that'll probably implicate summer, or fall. Who knows?

GDC '10: Get Your Move On

Motion gaming has expanded to the HD consoles, and Sony wants a share of Nintendo's blue ocean. What does Sony have to combat Nintendo's Wiimote? Well, they have the PlayStation Move.

Obviously taking a few notes from Nintendo, the Move is purported to have a particularly attractive package for under a hundred bucks. In the starter kit, you'll get the PS Move, the PS Eye camera and a game (probably the "Sports Collection" ala Wii Sports).

First introduced in last year's E3 conference (but without a name), the PlayStation Move, like Microsoft's Project Natal, is a camera-based motion control system that has the camera detect the LEDs (that huge effing orb) so the game you're playing can reflect the movements being made. It officially allows a game to detect more than one PlayStation Move in one player, as well as a Wii Nunchuk-like wireless attachment that, well, serves as an analog stick (while having its own face buttons). Unfortunately enough, it's only called 'the sub-controller'.

Frankly, the PlayStation Move already does what the Wii MotionPlus does for the Wiimote, but Sony was able to observe Nintendo before actually jumping in, which tends to be the nature for competitors, thus being able to actually add an augmented reality factor with the camera.

While jerky in some parts, Sony claims the controller to be in a pre-alpha state, but wait a sec, isn't this product supposed to be shipping this year? At least, games that have compatibility with this device are. An audience of women, kids and families are definitely going to love the EyePet game coming out this holiday season, while people are going to have to break their backs trying to tie down their opponents in Motion Fighters, which looks like a more brutal high-definition version of Wii boxing. I think Punch-Out!! is much more fun than any of that, but that's just me.

For now, it's only SOCOM that appears to have the most hardcore appeal, especially since it doesn't require much waggle. However, Sports Champions does have a few of the games, err, I mean elements, that made Wii Sports Resort such a great game for both casuals and core gamers. And if you don't want to buy any of that, you probably still have that copy of LittleBigPlanet laying around. By the Move's release, fans will get an update to the platformer.

In the end, I smell shovelware.