Avernum 6 for Mac

post from MacNN | The Macintosh News Network on 09 July 2009 11:30:00 PM. © MacNN | The Macintosh News Network

Spiderweb Software has announced Avernum 6, the final game in its role-playing series. Set in the wo...

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.macnn.com/click.phdo?i=c6eeefb65130fb5f39a2d6c820a1cd7d

Digg this

Microsoft Silverlight 3

post from MacNN | The Macintosh News Network on 09 July 2009 10:30:00 PM. © MacNN | The Macintosh News Network

Microsoft tonight launched the public version of Silverlight 3, its animation and video plugin for t...

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.macnn.com/click.phdo?i=9c23cd9e1abdb9f0159ce56730769ed5

Digg this

Sapphire plug-in rentals

post from MacNN | The Macintosh News Network on 09 July 2009 07:55:00 PM. © MacNN | The Macintosh News Network

GenArts has announced a monthly rental option for its flagship plugin effects, Sapphire. The plugins...

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.macnn.com/click.phdo?i=291becd5b3cd907750891fdf966378a6

Digg this

Newmium iXBrowser in 2010

post from MacNN | The Macintosh News Network on 09 July 2009 07:25:00 PM. © MacNN | The Macintosh News Network

Newmium has announced yet another internet browser, the Newmium iXBrowser. The browser boasts compat...

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.macnn.com/click.phdo?i=860d332cc8436edb7360f28432fa1857

Digg this

CeedVocal SDK released

post from MacNN | The Macintosh News Network on 09 July 2009 07:05:00 PM. © MacNN | The Macintosh News Network

Creaceed has released the CeedVocal SDK, which allows developers to build speech recognition into th...

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.macnn.com/click.phdo?i=3e7453d5fef0cca6e705dd8920b7da45

Digg this

App Review: Rolando 2 — Roll On the Second
Coming

post from TheAppleBlog on 09 July 2009 07:00:00 PM. © TheAppleBlog

App Quick Stats

Rolando 2

$9.99

iTunes Link

Rolando 2 is the sequel to Rolando, a game which proved that the iPhone can compete with Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS in the handheld console wars.

Just over a year after opening, the App Store is coming into its own. Indeed, there’s the dodgy dirge of novelty joke apps, but at the other end of the spectrum, we’re seeing publishers like ngmoco producing smart and fun apps.

Ngmoco is the publisher that picked up the original Rolando, reviewed here back in December, and pushed it in to the realms of essential iPhone titles. Rolando 2 is ngmoco’s latest release. The game features tilting puzzle platforming action with music from Mr. Scruff, and includes Plus+ network integration for achievement and score tracking.

Tap ‘n’ Tilt

Setting the scene for the game’s exotic island adventure, the opening sequence sees a deadly disease threatening the Kingdom of Rolando’s inhabitants. It’s up to the crew of the HMS Plunderful, joined by Rolando’s dozy royalty, to travel to a distant land in search of the cure.

rolando2_story

Alongside setting up the game’s story, the playable opening sequence also acts as a handy tutorial. You play The Finger, able to control various Rolando characters and tweak elements of the environment.

Just like the original, the controls are ingeniously simple: tap an individual Rolando, or drag a box around several, then just tilt your iPhone to get them rolling. A quick swipe upwards triggers a jump, and certain yellow objects dotted around the environment can be tapped, dragged and twisted in various ways.

rolando2_gamplay

Rolling in New Features

Levels are a blend of platforming and puzzling — avoiding the bad guys and ensuring safe passage to the exit for the jaunty little Rolandos. Just like the original Rolando, most maps are centered around block pushing, button triggering and door opening.

rolando2_story2

Rolando 2 builds on the original, though, introducing new features and twists every few levels. This litany of loveliness takes the game from a simple platforming adventure into the realm of a multicolor spectacle.

There are the bomb trees, carrying, as nature apparently intended, a range of different bombs, including rolling sticky bombs and, less destructive but no less useful, water bombs — great for growing giant plants from tiny shrubs.

rolando2_waterbomb

There’s the neanderthal-esque native, Rolando, who, after eating a hot chili, inflates and begins floating through the level. And there’s the Boom Finger which transforms your own finger into a digit of destruction, allowing you to off enemies and forge new paths through the levels.

If there’s one drawback to the game’s seemingly constant inventiveness, it’s that it occasionally feels a tad overwhelming — there are so many ideas crammed in, it obscures the purity of the game’s fundamentally fun tilt ‘n’ roll controls.

Ears & Eyes

On music and artwork duties, both Mr. Scruff and Mikko Walamies have returned. Walamies is behind the game’s charming characters, and he’s done so much with so little, injecting humor and character into a cast of, essentially, rolling ball faces.

rolando2_map1

The game exceeds expectations in the artwork department, too: Rolando 2 is now in 3-D, from the game’s Super Mario World-style game hub, to each individually crafted level.

Pie-eating, tea-drinking, funk-spinning Manchester DJ Mr. Scruff also features in Rolando 2. Not only do his gorgeous grooves accompany each level, he’s even got his own Music Shack where you’re able to take a leisurely roll through the soundtrack.

Diamonds & Disappointments

The iPhone’s connectivity isn’t forgotten, either. Ngmoco has integrated Plus+, a network connecting iPhone gamers with each other. You’re able to share scores, issue challenges to other players, and track in-game achievements.

rolando2_award

There are a few issues, though. A sound is missing here and there, and certain game objects intrude on the gameplay, but it’s so incredibly infrequent.

My concern is that the constant barrage of new ideas and gameplay twists means that the game, like its petite, rotund heroes do so frequently, will become lost in a confusing jungle filled with shiny, new playthings.

I’ve heaped on praise and extolled its many magnificent moments, and yet it must be noted that there’s room, albeit a very tiny bit of room, for improvement.

Summing Up: Golden Apple Award

Rolando 2 is a wonderful game. What’s more, it exploits the iPhone as a gaming platform so effectively. It makes use of the iPhone’s user interface, never falling back on virtual control-pad buttons. There’s connectivity with Plus+ and even music from Scruff.

The characters look good enough to consume as, I imagine, some of the island’s native tribe members would do so, given half the chance. And the gameplay is fundamentally fun and consistently inventive.

All that sounds too analytical, though. It’s a convoluted way of trying to say it’s really a very good game. A more effective way of summing it up would be to give Rolando 2 TheAppleBlog’s coveted Golden Apple Award, so that’s what I’ve done.

All that’s left to say is that Rolando 2 is the new benchmark for iPhone gaming and, as such, I highly recommend that you download it.

Read The Full Article:
http://theappleblog.com/2009/07/09/app-review-rolando-2-roll-on-the-second-coming
/

Digg this

MacFamilyTree 5.6 ships

post from MacNN | The Macintosh News Network on 09 July 2009 06:55:00 PM. © MacNN | The Macintosh News Network

Synium has released its newest version of MacFamilyTree. The application enables users to research t...

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.macnn.com/click.phdo?i=8045fe46aea6022d5e4cbf01561dfa10

Digg this

Accelerometers mainstream

Over one-third of mobile phones are expected to integrate accelerometers by 2010, according to the r...

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.macnn.com/click.phdo?i=dbb20888c85acd147b15e165abc60c13

Digg this

Postman, Word Tower

Zensify (free) collects information from all of a users social networks into a single feed. The appl...

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.macnn.com/click.phdo?i=44a8dff5e881e0f589fddd2a0f6d79bd

Digg this

How-To: Sync an iPod Using Open-source Software

Tux

It’s hard to deny how handy it is to plug an iPod into a Mac, fire up iTunes, and watch your device sync with your computer automagically. Take the Mac or iTunes out of the equation, though, and syncing gets a little trickier.

If you don’t like iTunes, or you use Linux as your primary operating system, it’s still possible — easy, even — to sync your iPod’s media files. Just grab one of these three free, open-source music managers, and you’ll be up and running in no time. Like most open-source software, these projects have a strong community of users who are eager to jump in and help if you run into any glitches while installing or using these apps, so don’t hesitate to ask for help if you need it.

BansheeLg Banshee — One of the most robust media players around, Banshee syncs podcasts, music, video and audio files with your iPod. It also snags album artwork from MusicBrainz, lets you create smart playlists, and filters your entire library by album or artist. Banshee was designed for Linux operating systems, but also works on a Mac, so it’s perfect as an iTunes replacement.

Rhythmbox — This music management app does just about everything but sing along with your tunes. Rip CDs and organize them into playlists, manage automatically downloaded podcasts, grab lyrics and album art from the Internet, and easily transfer music to your iPod. Designed to work with the GNOME desktop, many Linux distributions come already bundled with this app, so check to see if you have it before downloading.

Amarok Amarok — This app has a load of integrated Web services that help you locate, buy and manage music from Web sites like Magnatune, a terrific place to buy tracks and support indie artists. Amarok imports your existing iTunes database, creates dynamic playlists, and supports more than 45 languages. If you need to sync a jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch, then this is the app for you. Amarok was created for use with the KDE desktop, but it’s also possible to get it up and running on a Mac. There’s no official support for it yet, though.