reviews
Latest
X3F review: Bomberman Live
For longtime gamers, Bomberman is a staple. Bomberman is synonymous with having fun with your friends. For many gamers, the series introduced the kind of social multiplayer action that has become standard in many of today's games. For this reason, Bomberman Act: Zero was a major disappointment. Aside from the (arguably unnecessary) re-imagining of the classic characters, Act: Zero's glaring fault was the exclusion of local multiplayer. As Bomberman fans know, half the fun of the game is tied to interacting with your friends. Sure, Act: Zero had online play, but nothing compares to playing with buddies on the couch. Bomberman Live attempts to right all the wrongs of Act: Zero in one tiny, inexpensive package. Read on to find out how it fares.%Gallery-5187%
Underbelly of reviews on display at The Escapist
There's a tired adage, we're sure you've heard it, it's something like the two things you don't want to watch being made are sausages and laws. A new feature at The Escapist has convinced us that you might just want to add review scores to that list. Plenty of industry luminaries weigh in on the subject, including Gabe from Penny Arcade, Jeff Green of Games for Windows Magazine and Warren Spector, but the real dirt comes from some more anonymous sources. Found within are stories of reviewers having to change scores to not upset editor's pals and others not even logging into games before reviewing them.To emerge on the other side is to have a better understanding of how a review score is born and what it means to those whose lives are mixed up in it, but you may also not be able to look at that 7.5 the same way ever again. Consider yourself warned.
Kyle Orland eats games for lunch on new review site
With cinematics and tutorials galore in modern games, it's a wonder that we ever get around to the actual gameplay. Maybe that's why Joystiq's own Kyle Orland has started Games for Lunch, a unique videogame review blog that judges games on the first hour alone.Every weekday, Kyle sits down with one game, for one hour, and writes a play-by-play transcript of his experience and opinions. At the end of each review, Orland rates the game by deciding whether it's worth playing for more than an hour. The reviews are succinct and snappy, and they demonstrate just how much gameplay actually makes it into the first hour of the games. Already flush with pages of content, and updating daily with new reviews, Games for Lunch is worth checking out, if only for that magic hour.
Why the iPhone Will Fail
With all the mostly glowing and semi-glowing reviews starting to come in about the iPhone, I thought it might be interesting to read and provide to you a little counter perspective. Not that reading this article at Suckbusters gave me much reason to doubt my love for all-things iPhone, but its still nice to hear opposing viewpoints -- especially those that actually make a bit of sense and some good arguments.In the article, author David Platt outlines three key reasons for his prediction that the iPhone "is going to be a bigger marketing flop than Waterworld and Ishtar combined." If you know those movies, that's saying quite a bit. That said, what are his three key reasons? For starters, he complains that the designers of the iPhone have ignored the simplicity and ease of use demonstrated by the iPod and have instead designed a device that is not simple or easy to use.Second, he feels the iPhone "crams" too many features into a single unit which when used in combination will require "far more dedication than a user is willing to invest and remember." This, he says, "condemns the iPhone to a tiny niche at best." Lastly, Platt laments the iPhone's touch screen and lack of "tactile feedback" which will force users to look at the screen at all times while using it -- something, he says, they will "detest."Some valid points to be sure and perhaps worthy of consideration. But does any of it change your opinion about the iPhone? Or is it still the shiny, touch-screened soon-to-be love of your life it always was?
More iPhone reviews coming in -- Newsweek & USA TODAY
Two more reviews of that loveable scamp of a cellphone are out on the Interwebs, and it's more more more of the same: Steven Levy of Newsweek and Ed Baig of USA TODAY are saying it's time to start believing the hype. Both writers, like Pogue and Mossberg, point out the iPhone's weak spots (EDGE, no one-touch or voice dialing, limited apps, no video capture) while furthering the basic premise: by and large, the iPhone experience lives up to the insane advance billing. Levy's long and thorough review states it plainly early on, as he reports on the reaction to his iPhone use during a visit to Pittsburgh, PA: "[W]hen I showed the iPhone to people during that trip and in the days afterward-especially people under 25-the most common reaction was, "I have to have this," sometimes followed by a quick, if alarmingly reckless, consideration of what might need to be pawned in order to make the purchase.... And there it is: one of the most hyped consumer products ever comes pretty close to justifying the bombast."Baig puts it this way: "[W]ith a few exceptions, this expensive, glitzy wunderkind is indeed worth lusting after... That's saying a lot. After months of hype, Apple has delivered a prodigy - a slender fashion phone, a slick iPod and an Internet experience unlike any before it on a mobile handset."Interesting tidbits from both reviews: Levy got a call from Steve Jobs during his evaluation period, just to check on how he was doing (!), and he noted the new thinking behind Apple's buy-it-and-go-home iTunes activation plan. Baig's article includes a sidebar entitled "The Quest Begins" with the get-an-iPhone strategies of a few would-be buyers, and Baig encountered a feature I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else; when he finished watching A Bug's Life (it would have to be a Pixar film) on his iPhone, the device asked him if he wanted to clear the movie from memory to reclaim the space. Nice.via Apple 2.0
First "official" reviews of the iPhone are out
Sure, there's been a lot of speculation and discussion about the iPhone, its features and its usability in the mainstream and online press. We might even be guilty of a little speculation here at TUAW, too. I know, try to contain your surprise. Fortunately, speculation time is coming quickly to an end as release day approaches and we get real announcements of data plans and other details. In addition to all the "official" announcements, we've got some actual reviews of the device hitting the wires this evening.Some of the lauded Apple pundits dropping reviews today are Walt Mossberg and Katherine Boehret of the Wall Street Journal, who call the iPhone "a breakthrough handheld computer," and New York Times columnist David Pogue, who says the iPhone "matches most of its hype." To be sure, I expected these rather notable Apple fans to express positive reviews about the device. Still, it's good to see actual reviews in print which confirm what I, and many others, hoped the device would be. Reading these reviews, I'm even more convinced I want an iPhone on Friday. Of course, if I really want one, I probably should get in line now -- especially if more reviews like these come out.What about you, the highly intelligent and discerning TUAW reader? Do these reviews give you any more reason to get an iPhone, or do they make no difference at this point?Thanks Scott
NY Post says don't get "hung up" on the iPhone
NY Post contributor Glenn Fleishman writes that tens of thousands of customers will line up for the iPhone and he recommends that you not be one of them. It might be flashy, it might have lots of features, but with its small screen (compared to a laptop) and its high price tag (compared to an iPod), its lack of 3G and minimal onboard storage, and its two year calling commitment, Fleishman thinks you should wait for the next iPhone rather than buying this first release. If we weren't so busy trying to get our own iPhones to play with, TUAW might even admit that Fleishman makes several good points. Thanks, SimDan.Update: Fleishman has written a follow-up post on his personal weblog. He has used the iPhone (briefly) and the column was not meant as a review.
Ricoh Caplio GX100 reviewed
The chaps over at PhotograhyBLOG have an extensive (as in six pages) review of the handsome Ricoh Caplio GX100 that we told you about in March. Opinions from the experts concerning this 10 megapixel camera seem largely favorable, with high marks for design, features and ease-of-use, and only a few minor quibbles in the image-quality department. They seemed particularly excited about the Caplio's use of a RAW storage format, which the competition has apparently been moving away from. But hey, it's your $700, so if you really want to know all the details, follow the link to the full review.
O'Reilly posts iPod microphone shootout
Over at O'Reilly, Mark Nelson tested all three major iPod microphone add-ons and wrote about his results. He tried out the Belkin TuneTalk stereo, the Griffin iTalk Pro, and the XtremeMac MicroMemo. When all was said and done, all three solutions performed well despite the fact that they were all horrible battery hogs. The $50 iTalk Pro offered one-touch recording and three input levels but its built-in microphone picked up a lot of hard drive noise. The $60 MicroMemo used a handy boom that avoided picking up iPod noises but had no level controls and could only record mono audio. The $70 TuneTalk Stereo offers a USB port that allows you to record while your iPod is docked and charging but had stability issues for positioning and the microphone, like the iTalk Pro, picked up iPod hard drive noises. TUAW readers: have you bought an iPod mic? Which one did you buy? And are you happy with your purchase? Let us know in the comments. Full disclosure: I write for O'Reilly.
Current crop of HD radios worse than analog models?
We noted last week that the FCC's official approval of HD radio was good news for embattled terrestrial broadcasters, but Richard Menta of MP3 newswire clues us in to a dirty little secret on the consumer side of things: most of the hardware on the market today sucks. Specifically, Menta put three current models (Boston Acoustics' Recepter Radio HD, Polk Audio's I-Sonic Entertainment System, and the Accurian HD Radio from Radio Shack) up against three analog units he had lying around the house (his car stereo, a cheap Sony shower radio, and just for fun, a 1940 Zenith tube radio), and much to his surprise, even the crappiest of the latter group was able to pick up analog stations better than the most expensive HD device. Furthermore, the HD models did a terrible job picking up the digital stations they're meant to highlight in signal-rich central Jersey, as they were only able lock in one of the 13 channels promoted by the HD Radio Alliance with any regularity. Luckily this poor performance seems due to the lack of sensitivity in the tuners these radios are built with -- an issue that's easily solved -- so the real question is whether manufacturers have the will to start tossing better parts in. If not, things don't look very good for HD Radio, so all that NAB can really do is hope that its anti-merger smear campaign is gaining some ground
ThermalTake's gawdy iFlash+ PC fan reviewed
So we recently threw together a little rig of our own, and though we made sure to toss in at least four fans for keeping everything nice and cool, we has no idea that for a lot more money we could get ones that pull double duty as obnoxious billboards for flashing the internal temperature. So would we have done things differently had we known about ThermalTake's iFlash+ 120mm model with built-in POV (persistence of vision) display? Of course not, don't be silly. But for those of you who take pride in shlocking up your case mods as much as possible, Dark Vision Hardware reports that the iFlash+ does indeed live up to the hype, basically giving you the performance of ThermalTake's TT-1225A coupled with a bright, readable, and mostly pointless bit of ambient information. Reviewer Thomas gives the lively air mover a nine out of ten rating, harshing on it only for its curious but rather minor omission of a Fahrenheit mode (i.e. all temps are shown in Celsius). Still, you're not spending triple the price of a regular fan because of your need for real-time, completely accurate data anyway, so it's probably best to say that this product will be most pleasing to anyone who would actually consider buying it. If that's you, make sure to check out the vid after the break...
Wii Warm Up: Basis for buying
Console games, at fifty or even sixty dollars, represent a very significant purchase for many of us. And yet, many if not most gamers seem to have a tendency to pick up games on day one, without so much as a rental or demo to validate their purchase. They read the previews and look at composite scores, and then essentially gamble that they'll enjoy whatever title they've purchased.True, there are reviewers with whom people generally tend to agree. But how do you guys make your decisions, if not with a trial run first? Do you trust a specific company to deliver quality, or believe that a sequel to your favorite franchise will do justice to the series? Will you not purchase a game you were looking forward to if the game receives lower-than-expected ratings, such as the recent Sonic and the Secret Rings? Come one, come all, to the comments section! Right this way ....
Sony Ericsson's Walkman W880 reviewed
Sony Ericsson's venerable Walkman line just received a good dose of cool with the announcement and (pending?) release of the W880. Sony Ericsson has joined the thin-is-in crowd with this one, as the W880 comes in at a skinny and svelte 9.4mm thick -- pretty dainty for a candybar unit. This is one of the newest Sony Ericsson handsets we've been pleased to view and gawk at. Slim, trim, and comes in fightin' with such features like 2 cams (a VGA one for front-facing video calls), Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP and Memory Stick M2 support (alas, Sony's proprietary format) and...we'll say it again -- an ultra-slim shape that's more Samsung-ian than from the SE boys. A few things that stood out in the GSM Arena review was the inclusion of "multitasking" support (we can guess at the meaning there), EDGE being absent and the inclusion of a standard 3.5mm audio adapter for using your own high-end headphones with the W880. We wish all handset makers would do this -- since using those sweet Shure earphones are, well, worth it. GSM Arena's verdict with the in-depth review? This is one sweet candybar.[Thanks, Simon]
Toshiba's second-gen HD-XA2 reviewed
HD Guru has a review up of Toshiba's second-generation HD DVD player, the HD-XA2, which they gave top ratings. This is the higher-end of the two new HD DVD Toshiba models, and gets high marks for its improvements on the previous model, with faster loading times, 1080p support, a smaller form factor, and a much-improved chipset for upscaling standard-definition DVDs (the HD-A2 lacks 1080p and the improved upscaling chip). It includes the Silicon Optix Reon chip for converting your old library of DVDs into 1080p -- or any other resolution supported with the HDMI 1.3a connector -- and also supports the Deep Color space offered by the new HDMI specification, for improved color reproduction with compatible source material. According to HD Guru's tests, the Toshiba did better than Pioneer's competing first-generation BDP-HD1 Blu-ray player on upconverting SD DVDs, while matching it on quality for high-definition content. Unfortunately, while the prices and feature sets on both next-gen formats are getting better and better, even this second-gen player takes between 45 and 57 seconds to boot and play a movie. Maybe the third generation will treat us right.
No more class reviews, says Blizz
In a "fix warriors" thread last night, Tseric stated that class reviews, as we know them from the 1.x patches, are not going to be happening any more. To quote: 'Class Reviews' as they have been known in the past, are a thing of the past. The devs will make adjustments as they feel are merited, but they will likely be sprinkled between classes and delivered over patches. There will not be a future patch which will be deemed a 'class patch'. Does this mean that the devs think the classes are basically "done," with the exception of minor tweaks and balances? Perhaps; but on the other hand, most classes got what amounted to a full review with 2.0.1, so maybe they just plan on saving wide-scoping changes for the expansions, with adjustments tossed in from patch to patch as necessary.
Debunking a PSP myth: it has no good games
Anyone that has been around the Internet block or visited a game store lately may have heard someone claim the PSP has little to no good games on the platform. If you're anything like me, you like to wear your girlfriend's underwear and you also hate to hear bad words about the PSP. My personal PSP game collection is larger than my DS or Xbox 360 game libraries and after hearing about the lack of great games on the system so often, I began to wonder if perhaps I just had a terrible taste in games. While I can't prove that my gaming interests are worthwhile, I did dig up some info on the PSP library and whether or not there are many quality games on the system. It isn't just gaming fans who dis the PSP, critics do as well. Keeping that in mind, I wondered how the PSP game library critically stacked up against its competitor; the oft praised DS. What I found may be surprising. Data Collected from Metacritic Amount of US released PSP games rated 80 and above: 38 (not counting Advent Children since it isn't a game) Amount of US released DS games rated 80 and above: 28 (and 4 of those are versions of Nintendogs) So it seems that these same critics that praise PSP games, must have a short-term memory when they bash the system's lack of quality titles. I'm in no way trying to put down the DS with the example listed above, just attempting to prove that the PSP isn't devoid of quality like an episode of War at Home. Hopefully fellow PSP fanboys can use the above proof to dissuade negative words about your system of choice. In any case, it should make you feel good about owning the system.
X360F Review: XFPS - KB & Mouse on 360
digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Mouse_and_KB_on_360_not_all_it_s_cracked_up_to_be'; Allowing the use of a keyboard and mouse (or a Dual Shock) on the Xbox 360, the XFPS has created quite a stir here at 360 Fanboy. Hailed by PC using FPS fans as a godsend and decried by proponents of an equal playing field, it's a potentially controversial piece of hardware. When it comes to first person shooters, the advantages of a mouse and keyboard over a control pad cannot be denied, but is it fair for certain 360 players to have a distinct advantage over others? It's an interesting question, but ultimately the answer lies in how well the XFPS actually performs. We put the unit through its paces and see what it's worth.
PSP Fanboy review: Sonic Rivals
The Sonic franchise has certainly fallen quite a bit ever since it made the transition into 3D. The Adventure games failed to capture the feel of the original 2D platformers, and other spin-off games, like Shadow the Hedgehog are considered travesties at best. It seems like Sonic does best when trapped in two dimensions, as seen by this excellent Game Boy Advance and DS entries. On the PSP, Sonic Rivals attempts to blend traditional 2D gameplay with impressive new 3D graphics. The developers, Backbone Entertainment, have done a good job executing on some of Sonic's trademark features, but some poor design choices hold back the game from being as good as it can be.
PSP Fanboy review: Warhammer: Battle for Atluma
When I first heard of Warhammer: Battle for Atluma's pending release on the PSP, I got really excited. I've never played a Warhammer game, but I am a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and have been waiting for a good collectable card game for the PSP for a long time.Unfortunately, it looks like I may be waiting a little longer for that game.Now don't get me wrong, Battle for Atluma isn't terrible game, but I don't think it's going to win over many newcomers to the Warhammer universe.
Samsung NV7 reviewed
When Samsung decided to target the more discriminating consumer with its NV-series (NV = New Voyage -- thrilling!) of "Lifestyle" digicams, it chose to forgo the rather staid aesthetic of most of its older models for more distinctive, high quality designs -- but as with so many other "fashionable" products, The Photography Blog reports that you're getting more sizzle than steak when it comes to the seven megapixel NV7. On first glance it would seem that this hybrid cam has the potential to be a real winner: besides the attractive looks and tight build quality, you're getting a Schneider lens with long 7x optical zoom, a welcome tag team of digital as well as optical image stabilization, and several manual control options for finicky photographers. Unfortunately, for all its attractive features, the NV7 just don't take a very good picture. While it supposedly handles chromatic aberrations well and makes good use of that optical stabilization, images tend to come out looking very noisy, even at a low ISO 100 (maximum ISO is 1000, but both that setting and ISO 800 and reportedly unusable). Other faults include the rather ineffective digital Advanced Shake Reduction option, a steep learning curve for getting accustomed to the 13 unlabeled soft keys bordering the 2.5-inch LCD, and the fact that optical stabilization turns off after every shutdown. But the main problem here is those grainy images, so unless you're willing to overlook picture quality for eye-catching design, it sounds like you're best off spending your ~$475 on a shooter that gives you better performance.
