Pipe Mania

iTunes LinkPipe Mania is a strategy game by Virtual Programming. $4.99[A modified post from TheAppEra]Pipe Mania (previously Pipe Dreams) became a smash hit on platforms like the PC, PSP, DS and Wii. With the help of developer Robosoft this classic game has ventured onto the iPhone. I have never heard of this title, but it has been out for over 20 yeasr, originally being introduced all the way back in 1987, the year before I was born! What has kept this title a favorite for all generations of gamers is how its evolved with the platforms, providing more gameplay and better graphics. The great puzzle process used way back in the very early days...

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Interesting Contrast

Definitely a sign of the times: Two days ago, Apple announced another best non-holiday quarter ever, handily beating analysts' predictions. Today, the once-unstoppable Microsoft reported a 17% drop in revenue, marking the first full-year decline in revenue in Microsoft's history and missing analysts predictions by a wide margin. It's obviously a good time to be a Mac user. It's been a long time since I've heard anyone predict the death of Apple (a favorite pasttime of analysts and pundits for years) and ignorant comments about Macs being "toys" or "not for serious work" are almost non-existent except for a few bitter and lonely commenters on Reddit and Digg. The problems Microsoft is having, no they are not Microsoft's fault. It's the global slowdown and other things that they have no control...

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Waving the Red Flag

Craig Hockenberry has just posted a very important piece of information for anyone with applications on the App Store.. Go read ...

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Microsoft's Ads Redux

A while back, I took Microsoft's new Laptop Hunter series of television advertisements to task for being ill-advised. This line pretty much summed up my point:Price is the competitive advantage of generic brands and sweatshop-backed superstores.and this was the crux of my argument:Now, this [approach] will resonate with some people. There are always people who take a certain pride in buying things cheaply under the assumption that anytime you pay less you get a better value and it's a waste of time comparing the actual products. I doubt that people who think like that are a particularly large percentage of the population. Maybe they are, and maybe this is a brilliant ad, and I'm simply overestimating people. Only time will tell, but I suspect that these ads will help Apple as much as they...

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August 14 Workshop Update

The August 14 workshop, for which I am one of the two instructors is filling up fast. I'll be teaching the second part of the workshop on iPhone development; Steve Kochan, author of Programming in Objective-C 2.0, will be teaching the first part on Objective-C. You can sign up for either the 3-day iPhone session, the 3-day Objective-C session, or do the combined 6-day worksh...

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DJ Mix Tour

iTunes LinkDJ Mix Tour is a music game by Gameloft. $1.99[A Modified Post from TheAppEra]DJ Mix Tour is basically Gameloft’s version of Tap Tap Dance. In a way it is the same genre as this game but sadly, like Tap Tap Dance, it is also the worst in the series. I don’t know what it is about dance tracks and these games, but they generally don’t gel well together for me. There are a few big tracks like Poker Face and Just Dance by Lady Gaga which are good if you want to play these, but you might be better off with BeatRider Touch or Lady Gaga Revenge. Like I said there are a few big songs. On Guitar Rock Tour I could name and sing along to...

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To VBO or Not to VBO...

Daniel Pasco of Black Pixel Luminance has an interesting blog post today on the comparative performance between using VBOs and not using VBOs.Surprising results, to say the least, and it really makes you wonder why Apple is recommending VBOs for the iPho...

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Improved Blender Export

Thanks to some help from some readers, I've got a new and improved version of the Blender Export Script for Objective-C. This new version works correctly regardless of whether there's a texture. If you've used vertex paint, it will export the vertex colors. If you have neither vertex colors or a mapped texture, then it will just export the vertices and normals. It will also update the drawing code as appropriate to the data that's been exported.Also, new with this version, you don't need to triangulate the faces, nor do you need to apply modifiers. Those will happen automatically in the export without affecting your original model. That should make it easier to update and maintain the models you use in your iPhone apps.You can download the new script from the link above. I'm including the...

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International Athletics

iTunes LinkInternational Athletics is a sport game by Ghostlight. $5.99I am sure many of you have bought Playman's Track & Field for $0.99. The game featured an Athletics theme with simple controls of tapping on buttons as they appear. The game worked extremely well and left me feeling like that earned by $0.99 and probably deserved an extra dollar or two.When International Athletics was released I was very interested in how this game would work. For a higher price (Originally $9.99 before dropping down to $5.99) this game is a port of a top selling PSP game. International Athletics has alot more events to compete in with many game modes...

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