NerdNightmare

This is how I survived multiple five hour long flights on a crowded Southwest Airlines 737…

Shining Force, the legendary Strategy RPG for the Sega Genesis has recently been ported to the iPhone. I bought it day one, as I am a huge Shining Force fan. As a kid I grew up around Sega systems, the Genesis was the first console I ever owned, and the two Shining Force games for it are some of my all time favorite games.

If you have never had the opportunity to play Shining Force, here’s a basic run down. You play Max, the leader of the Shining Force, a group of warriors on a quest to stop Darksol from awakening an ultimate evil. As a strategy RPG you move your troops on a map and battle monsters. The combat is shown in quick battle vignettes which really add a lot to an otherwise very simple game.

Combat & Maps Galore!

If you need a game that will soak up some idle time, and you have an iPhone. Pick up this classic ASAP. Hopefully SEGA will port the sequel, Shining Force II, soon as it is an overall improvement over the first game.

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The president of EPIC Games Mark Rein recently posted on his twitter account the following:

“Soon we will be able to count mobile applications as well as we announced UDK will be able to generate iOS applications!”

This is huge news for indy developers that are familiar with the Unreal Development Kit and looking to bring their projects to mobile platforms. It is even bigger news for  iPhone/Pad gamers, as surely this will bring about a slew of new top-notch games.

For an example of what UDK can do on an iOS device, take a look at Epic Citadel

Just saw this post over on Market Watch. This is huge.

The Netflix iPhone app is out and it works surprisingly well on my two generation old iPhone 3g. My office does not get a strong 3G signal, and there is no WiFi here, but I was able to stream an episode of Family Guy with only a small amount of buffering.

I have used the Netflix app on the iPad, and the video looks a bit crisper on the smaller iPhone screen. If you have a NetFlix account and an iPhone there is really no reason to not get this free app.

Castlevania – Symphony of the Night, on the original Playstation, might just be my favorite video game of all time. The first time I played it was on Halloween night way back in 1997. I don’t remember my costume or what I did that night besides play Castlevania.

Here’s a story about Castlevania – SOTN. A friend of mine asked to borrow my Playstation and Castlevania for a few weeks back in high school because he was going to be grounded all summer for bad grades. I was leery at first. Playstation’s didn’t grow on trees, and my Baskin Robbins income was minuscule. Eventually I caved and let him borrow the system, after he signed a contract offering his first born child, his soul for eternity, and a kick in the nuts if he broke it, and a guarantee that he’d replace it. To this day he still claims that being stuck inside all summer with just Castlevania for entertainment was one of the best summers of his life.

And now here I am, it’s thirteen years later, and I have a new puzzle game on my iPhone. A puzzle game based on Castlevania – Symphony of the night.   My thoughts on the game after the jump…

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I recently picked up Jet Set Games new iPhone/Touch strategy game Highborn.

It reminds me a lot of one of my all time favorite game series from when I was a kid, Shining Force. In Highborn you control a hero and a small army of soldiers and battle opponents on different maps and locations in round based combat. You can also learn spells to help turn the tide of battle if needed. The story is humorous, and the character designs & animation are excellent.

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Steve Jobs just announced at the Apple iPhone4 press conference that they are going to give everyone a free case to make their iPhones work…. Ok. Good for them.

You shouldn’t need a case to make the the device work properly. I love the design of the new iPhone. The metal sides and thin frame sold me when Gizmodo posted the stolen prototype they bought. I don’t have a case on my iPhone G, nor did I have one on my iPhone 1. I don’t want a thick plastic shell creating a bulge in my pocket. I am an adult and can be careful enough not to worry about dropping it… To say that I need a case on my phone if I want better reception is a joke.

Make the phone itself better.

Apple is holding a press conference today about the iPhone4′s antenna issues. Steve Jobs is up on stage showing video’s of other manufacturer’s phones dropping bars when held in specific ways… Apple is claiming that phones arn’t perfect and the entire industry should strive to be better.

Personally I think that is bullshit. The problem is that the function of making a phone call on a modern smart phone is no longer priority no.1 Getting served a healthy portion of advertisement banners is more important to the bottom line.

More after the jump…

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READ THIS

Ohhhhhh man. A certain man in a turtle neck is not going to be to happy about this. C’mon iPhone version!

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Billed as both a to-do list and a streamlined RPG, EpicWin is a soon to be released iPhone app that rewards you with experience points & items for doing chores on a to-do list.

It’s being designed by the same guy who worked on Little Big Planet. I like the art style on the apps website…

EPICWINAPP

I’m not going to lie. I had an idea just like this a few years ago, but didn’t have the means to create it. Glad someone with more assets got a similar idea! The app is due out sometime next month.