GeekSugar

Spore Origins Hits the iPhone and iPod Touch

GeekSugar — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:03:04 -0700

Although Steve announced its release yesterday at the Let's Rock presentation, I got a chance to play with the newest game to hit the App Store at the Spore Release party last week. Spore Origins officially launched for the iPod Touch and iPhone on Monday and comes in at a cool $10 for your gaming pleasure.

Although the full version of Spore on your Mac or PC will take you all the way through Cell to Space stages, Spore Origins is condensed down into 30 levels in the Cell stage only (which was one of my faves anyway). You still get your chance to create, mold, and evolve as a creature, and of course you still get to hunt your food and (even sometimes be hunted) in your pool of muck. What's so cool about Spore Origins? Find out when you read more.

The iPhone and iPod Touch's accelerometer acts as your steering device, so you're getting the full experience of Spore on the go, but the extra added benefit of twisting and turning your iPhone or iPod to get where you need to go in the game. It's a great feature that's totally unique to the iPhone and iPod Touch that you won't get anywhere else.

Hot New Games Hitting Your iPod Touch and iPhone This Fall

GeekSugar — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:01:48 -0700

Yesterday, I got an early look at the newest games slated to hit the iPod Touch and iPhone this Fall and Winter. I was pretty impressed with the graphics and low learning curve it took just to pick up and play these newest games, but to be honest, they're going to have to compete with Spore Origins for my coveted iPhone play time! New titles include an awesome mobile version of Need for Speed, which looked like a blast to play, as well as a cute platformer called Rolando that has your character rolling along a course, which was totally reminiscent of the super-cute PSP game I loved called LocoRoco.

But my favorite of this batch had to be a Tetris inspired title that has you stacking blocks to reach a goal - simple, yet addictive. But unlike Tetris, you have the accelerometer to deal with, so you have to keep it steady! It's called Topple, and it looks like it would take up plenty of those free minutes I accumulate on the bus! Thankfully, Topple is available now in the App Store for 99 cents, so I can get my game on today!

More Details About Apple's New Nanos!

GeekSugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:30:35 -0700

If the name of Steve Job's latest presentation - Let's Rock - led you to believe that he would be unveiling new iPods, you would be right! But not only were we the first to see the new Nano design at the Yerba Buena Center For the Arts today in San Francisco, but we also got a sneak peek at some new yet-to-be-released games to hit the App Store, the details on the newest upgrades to iPod Touch, and the scoop on what the cool new features will be for iTunes 8.

The big news of the morning obviously was the new Nanos! This generation will be smaller, packed with more features, and more cost effective. Oh, did I mention the colors? The new Nano will make your plain old black and white versions green with envy. Not to mention purple, pink, red, blue, yellow, orange, and grey.

How much will the new Nano set you back? To get pricing, more product details, pics, and to find out what else is coming up in the world of Apple, just read more.

Also being included in the newest iTunes release, the Genius Playlist creator will analyze the current track you are playing and toss together a cool playlist based on the features of that song, giving you a mix of similar songs to listen to without having to hunt and peck through your music. Other goodies include an accelerometer, a built-in voice recorder, and a "Shake to Shuffle" feature. Yes, you really can shake it!

Thankfully, Steve wants us to save a little dough while enjoying our tunes! The new Nano will come in two versions: 8GB for $149 and 16GB for $199. Plus, they are available this week for you to pick up. My wallet already feels a little lighter. What else did Steve announce today? Here's a rundown:

iPod Touch will be smaller, sleeker, and louder with an on-board speaker. Plus, the Nike + iPod transmitter will be built right into the Touch - no more lame transmitter sticking out the bottom! The iPod Touch will come in three models: 8GB for $229, 16GB for $299, and $32GB for $399.
New games hitting the App Store include Spore Origins, Need for Speed: Undercover, and Real Soccer 09.
The iPod Classic will get a hefty storage bump, going from 80GB to 120GB with a $249 price tag.
iTunes will now offer HD TV shows, including those from NBC for $2.99
The update for your iPhone to 2.1 will fix bugs and dropped calls and will back up iTunes faster.

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