I did it! I put the game down long enough to write a review of it. OK, to be completely honest, it’s not my all time favorite iPhone game, at least not yet, but it’s in the top two so far. The game I’m talking about, of course, is ColorBuster for the iPhone and it’s a lot of fun for a small price.
Game play
Game play is pretty simple. Your character is hect0r, a cleaning drone robot and you’re on an abandoned space station with all kinds of crates all over that need to be cleaned up. As hect0r, you must visit each level, pushing the crates around until it’s all cleaned up. There’s a few basic rules to play by:
* You push the crates around one space at a time
* You have to pack all the crates of the same color into one
* You need to push the last crate of each color to the teleport
It sounds pretty simple, but there’s more to it than meets the eye. For starters, after the first couple levels, you have to get pretty creative to move crates around. If you push a crate into a corner, for example, you’ll never get it back out. You also get bio hazard crates which need to be pushed out into space, but if you accidentally push a good crate into space, you’ll be unable to complete the level. While it can seem daunting, the first level starts out with some pointers to help you get in the right mind set. Here’s some video of the game play:
Design and functionality
No matter how good the premise of a game may be, the design and functionality can make or break it. This is especially true on the iPhone. One look through the reviews in some of the iPhone applications in the App Store will reveal a lot of people who get upset at an application because it doesn’t function properly (even the free ones). That’s not the case here. The game is designed beautifully with some good color and a good variety of levels and obstacles. Just when I’m feeling good about completing a level, there’s a new one with only one way to solve it. I don’t enjoy a game that I can beat quickly or becomes boring too easily, especially when I pay for it. In the case of ColorBuster, there’s plenty of levels and I think it’ll take some time to get through all of them.
The game functions really well and the controls are fairly smooth. I did have an issue initially with the first level freezing up the first time I played, but it hasn’t happened again in any of the several times I’ve played since. I imagine that was just a one time occurrence which is hopefully isolated to just me. I did install several apps at the same time and didn’t reboot or anything, so who knows. What’s important is that it didn’t freeze up any other times or show any other signs of functioning improperly, so my only frustrations will be at accidentally pushing a crate off the side or into a corner.
Conclusions
There’s a ton of games in the App Store, ranging from free to $10 or more. At only $0.99 (for now – normally $1.99), I can see this game being bought up quickly and running up the “Top 25″ list pretty easily. I try to add my review to any application I install on my iPhone, and this was no exception.
Out of five stars, I gave it a full five. It has the entertainment, functions well, and is priced to please. If you like games that make you think, fire up the App Store on your iPhone or iPod Touch, search for ColorBuster, and buy it before they kill the 50% off sale.
I’ve wanted a head mounted display (HMD) for a long time. I’ve seen them in movies and I’ve seen tons of work with wearable computing (and would like to build something, myself), so I was absolutely thrilled to find the Vuzix iWear AV310 in my mailbox just waiting to be reviewed.
Look, feel, and function
The first challenge, I imagine, in creating a good head mounted display system is in building something that doesn’t look to nerdy, isn’t too bulky, and fits comfortably on your face. Vuzix has gotten pretty close on all three, which is about what I expect from a consumer product, even a high end one. The bulk is the real hurdle. They’re essentially cramming two TV screens in to something smaller than most remotes. The fact that it’s so small lends to how comfortable it is to wear, of course. The AV310 is pretty light, so it sits there on your face, hardly noticeable. That is to say, hardly noticeable by the person wearing it. To the rest of the world, it jumps out and says “cyborg”. “Cyborg” is a couple steps up from “geek”, and the AV310 looks at least cool enough to surpass just “geeky”. It’s pretty decently designed, actually. It’s just dark and curvy enough to make people wonder about it and where to get one. The nose piece is pretty rigid and is designed to keep everything in place, perhaps at the expense of some comfort. I adjusted it to be the most comfortable and eventually got used to it enough that I forgot about it while watching YouTube videos on my iPhone.
I loved that it comes with the iPhone/iPod connector. Better still, this connector is equipped with a mini USB power port for keeping your iPhone full of juice. That’s smart thinking, but almost an obvious need if I’m going to drain my iPhone’s battery by watching a movie on it. Of course, it also comes with a standard RCA cable for connecting to just about any home theater or gaming system. What I would have loved to also see would be another connector for my computer, but two out of three is pretty good.
Visual performance and interface
All that stuff above about how it looks and feels doesn’t mean a lot if the picture quality were to suffer for some reason. Gladly, that wasn’t the case here. The video wasn’t as crisp as my HD TV, but it was really good. It did seem a little bit washed out on darker videos like the trailer for 2012, but everything else looked great. And for those darker movies, the settings come in handy. In between the AV310 and whatever you’ve plugged it into is a small remote on the video cable. The remote lets you turn it on and off, but it also gets you into the settings with a tap of the power button. Using the power button you can move down the list of settings such as contrast, hue, saturation, and aspect ratio. A couple of additional physical controls exist, too. Under each eye is its individual focus. With a little patience, I was able to focus each eye for a perfect picture.
Something that became a good thing during some use, but otherwise a bit annoying was the gap between my face and the AV310. Through this gap, I could see my laptop, Rubik’s Cube, or other visual noise. When I was watching an instructional video on solving a Rubik’s cube, that was a good thing. When I was watching a movie, it was a little distracting. It wasn’t enough to keep me from enjoying my movie, but it was noticed. Fortunately, they have an eyeshield that you can attach to (seemingly) completely solve the gap issue. It goes for $14.95, but I think it’s worth it. It’s hard to really describe the experience, so I made this quick video to help give you an idea of what it was like to use the iWear AV310 video eyewear to watch an episode of Gadget Pron from G4TV.
How I used it
When I first tried the iWear AV310 with my iPhone, I thought it didn’t work. When I plugged it into the iPhone, I found myself looking at a message telling me that my device wasn’t made to work with the iPhone. I ignored it and eventually was happily watching video from my iPhone through the AV310. It worked great with a podcast and YouTube videos as well as videos I recorded on the phone. Next, I plugged it into my XBox. My wife loves her SyFy channel shows, so it was nice to be able to enjoy some gaming without taking over the big screen or making lots of noise. Finally, I hooked it back up to the iPhone and found a video on YouTube about how to solve a Rubik’s Cube. With the iWear AV310, I was able to see both the video and my Rubki’s Cube, but more importantly, I was mobile while keeping my hands free for other things or just being able to lay down without holding my iPhone up in the air to watch something.
Conclusions
Not all of the luster of owning a HMD wears off. After having it for a while, it’s still pretty cool to use and practical in some cases as well. The $250 price tag isn’t too bad for all it offers. It may scare off the casual gadget buyer or those who just want to buy it because it’s a really cool gadget to have, but those who have more practical uses for the AV310 have no reason not to buy one.
Once again, it’s time for me to unleash upon you all of the bookmarks I’ve collected over the last week that I think might interest my readers. I’ve been pretty busy with preparing for (and now enjoying) my vacation in Detroit that I haven’t had much time to really dive into these, but I think you’ll like them all the same.
I need a new phone contest – TestFreaks.com is having a contest and they’re giving away some nice cell phones, so go check it out before the contest ends.
View a comet – Comet Lulin is close enough to be seen with just binoculars and will be through mid-March. All you space geeks have plenty of viewing time.
FlickrEdit – I’ve always been a bit worried about what will happen if Flickr just loses my 5,000+ photos and how I could efficiently back them all up. I haven’t tried t yet, but this looks like a viable solution.
GE : Smart Grid – Their stock may be down, but GE is still doing some really cool things. I’ve seen a few examples of augmented reality in the last year or so, and GE even has their own DIY setup you can try at home. I plan to check it out when I get back to Phoenix.
Tramontana R Edition – Wanna feel like you’re flying in a fighter jet without ever leaving the ground? Fork over a half mill. and you can have a car that is more jet than automobile.
Bendable touch screens – ASU does some god stuff, an now they’re boasting some new flexible touch screen technology. It won’t be in consumer devices to quickly, but it’s getting closer.
3D eye tracking cell phone – One of the cooler things I’ve found this week, this cell phone interface is not only three dimensional, but it knows what angle you’re viewing from to adjust the view. Just watch the demo.
Quake Live – If you’ve ever wanted to play Quake in a web browser, you’re in luck because as of this week, now you can.
Webmaster Central on YouTube – If you have a web site or blog, you should be using Webmaster Central to get the most out of your search positions. Now they have a YouTube channel, where they actually show you how to use all the tools.
PSP2 photos? – There’s all sorts of rumors about the next PSP to come out. Follow the link for a mock-up from a fan that thinks this is what they could look like.
Admit it. You’ve always wanted to move objects with your mind just like Luke Skywalker, but without all the swamp training. More and more, we continue to study the intricacies of the human mind and technology advances faster than many people can keep up with. It’s no surprise, then, that something this cool would come our way so soon.
Mindflex™ Games from Mattel combines your own thought with their technology to make a small foam ball move on air. The game measures your brainwave activity via a light weight headset with sensors for your forehead and ear lobes. When you are concentrate on moving the ball, your brain wave activity is increased, telling the toy to increase the air flow, lifting the ball as can be seen in the video below.
While you might think that technology like this would surface in commercial applications before the toy market, it’s not all that surprising. Many of the coolest technologies have emerged embedded in toys, and for that reason, many of those toys are bought up by people like me who like to hack it into other stuff. For now, we’ll have to wait because it’s not available until this Fall. In the mean time, though, you can get a sneak peek at New York’s Toy Fair 2009 next week and at the web site, you can sign up to find out more when they have updates ready.
This guest post was written by T.J. Aaron from laptoplogic.com, where you can find the best laptop for your needs and read latest laptop reviews.
So you got a screaming new Xbox 360 over the holidays, finally! Maybe you got a game or two with the system, but you’re of course itching for something new and exciting to play. Luckily for you, the Xbox 360 has been out for over three years and you’ve got plenty of low cost options! Check out our recommendation for the best games to snap up for cheap.
Dark Sector This game is relatively unknown, but really is a diamond in the rough. Amazing graphics, pulse-pounding gameplay, and a great experience await you for under $10! There is a long single player campaign that is sure to keep you occupied for many nights, and who wouldn’t want to remove enemy body parts with a flying disc under your control?
Perfect Dark Zero Nintendo 64 aficionados will recognize the name Perfect Dark and either instantly get excited or make a face of disgust. Perfect Dark was rather innovative as far as gameplay on N64 was concerned, but ended up being a rather tedious game to play at the time. Launched with hugely positive reviews, the new adaptation of Perfect Dark features a stunning array of weapons and an involved story line that will keep you glued to the controller.
Project Gotham Racing 4 Don’t worry, we didn’t forget about you racing enthusiasts. Now this isn’t a hardcore simulation like the Forza series, but you won’t feel like you’re playing an 80’s arcade game. The graphics and variety of cars are stunning and online gameplay is a must with this title.
Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball 2 Ridiculously long title aside, this game is not one that entertains with quality. Clearly you are playing volleyball and there are some other minigames involved. But the true value in this game comes in the high quality models used to render the beautiful female cast of this tribute to male fantasy. Don’t expect something you play for hours every night, but this certainly is worth a spin for periodic entertainment.
Forza Motorsport 2 This game is for the hardcore racer in all of us. The physics are so real that you’ll start to feel like you can pilot your own tincan through the turns at Sebring or Laguna Seca. You have a dizzying array of cars to choose from, but the choices don’t stop there. Play in career or “arcade” mode, play single player or online, customize your car with a variety of parts upgrades and then tune your car with the higher level upgrades. This isn’t like Need for Speed where you adjust “turbo” and “brakes,” you get to adjust everything from tire pressure to suspension stiffness to gearing. This game is guaranteed to occupy your life, and that’s before you get sucked into the world of online racing.
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