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'Zelda' fan creates an ocarina-controlled smart home
In the real world, an ocarina is a lot less functional than the magical one Link has in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. As Nintendo 64 lovers know, the Hyrulian hero can use his instrument to do things like manipulate the rain and switch between night and day. In our realm, ocarinas just sound nice. Allen Pan, better known as Sufficiently Advanced on YouTube, decided he was tired of playing his ocarina without mystical results. So, he did what any Zelda fan with the technological know-how would do: create a smart home setup controlled by an ocarina.
Daily iPhone App: Ocarina 2 makes for more virtual tunes
I'll be honest -- since the first Ocarina app came out, I've become a fan of Smule, the company behind it. Its mix of creative energy and technical know-how is a great match for Apple and a good example of software made well. But I have never really been a fan of Ocarina the app, just because I think blowing into your iPhone is kind of silly. Ocarina 2 doesn't dissuade that notion. It's about the same app as the first one, though Smule has wisely applied all of its knowledge from the intervening years, including a sort of Magic Piano-style play mode, as well as the freemium "get some tunes free, pay for more" model from Smule's past few games. There is still a freestyle mode to play with, as well as a world mode that lets you hear what other users are playing from around the rest of the globe. Ocarina 2 is a smooth, well-packaged app, and if you loved the first version, you'll enjoy this update. The freemium features might turn some people off, but in general, Ocarina 2 is a good time for players of all ages. I just wish it wasn't quite so, you know, silly.
Australia getting its own awesome Ocarina of Time 3D bundle
Though not nearly as radical as Greece's Deku Nut-packed bundle, Australia's getting its own special edition of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. Shedding the legumes and baseball cap of its Grecian counterpart, the Australian Ocarina Bundle -- available exclusively as a pre-order bonus from EB Games -- includes an Ocarina, some sheet music to help you play some of OoT's transportative jingles and a large box with which to contain said instrument and tabulature. Just a note, Nintendo of America: We are rapidly approaching the day where you won't be able to announce this kind of Ocarina-filled special edition for US release anymore, because the game will have already come out, and then we won't have an Ocarina, and then we'll be sad all the time. We really need you to come through for future us, Nintendo.
Smule's Dr. Ge Wang on what's next for the company and the App Store
Smule is one of the oldest names on the App Store. Ocarina was one of the App Store's first big successes, and they've continued to make music and social-based apps like their most recent app, Magic Fiddle for the iPad. Dr. Ge Wang is not only the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of the company, but he's also an assistant professor at Stanford. We caught him right after his CES keynote last week and asked him a few questions about what Smule's been up to lately and what they're working on next. Magic Fiddle has done very well, Wang told us, after releasing last year. "The very next day, it was actually our fastest app to reach the number one paid iPad app. We saw off the charts engagement with the app. So it's been really positive." Lots of users they've heard from are not necessarily violinists or magicians, just people interested in using their iPads to make music. Read on to hear more from Dr. Wang about why Smule's apps have gotten more complicated over time, and what the next app from Smule will be like.
Found Footage: Singing with a quartet of iPhones
Happy weekend! Here's a girl from Korea, named applegirl002 over on YouTube, playing Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" with a quartet of iPhones as accompaniment. Sure, the song's not that great, but look at those iPhones go! She's using I am T-Pain for autotuning the singing, Beatmaker for laying out the beats, and ... she says "Analog" in the video. However, I think it's miniSynth that she's actually got running on the last iPhone. You might not be gaga over Gaga (I'm definitely not), but running a whole choir of iPhones like that is quite impressive. It's also worth noting that she accomplished this feat without pulling in some of the more popular music apps like Bebot and Ocarina. It turns out that the iPhone is an excellent way to turn out some pretty complicated music.
10 cool videos of the iPhone as a music instrument
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/10_cool_videos_of_the_iPhone_as_a_music_instrument'; The hyperbole around the iPhone platform has become hyperbolic itself, so I'll spare you the deconstruction of what is now an obvious conclusion: the iPhone has musical chops. The dizzying array of apps on the store has led to quite a few musical apps as well. It makes sense, as the multi-touch screen is a divine interface for manipulating sound. Along with the dump truck of musical apps has come an even larger group of iPhone performers. I have yet to see impromptu drum circles made of iPhones, but you never know what the future will bring. We begin our afternoon concert with Jordan Rudess demoing one of my favorite musical apps, Bebot. Take it away, Jordan!
Smule raises $3.9 million in funding
There's money in them thar App Store! Smule, the company behind the popular Ocarina and Zephyr apps for the iPhone, has informed us that they raised a whopping $3.9 million from a round of venture funding led by a firm named Granite Ventures. That's a lot of capital -- while a lot of people are aiming to get their hands in the cookie jar in a big way in the burgeoning economy of the App Store, $3.9 million is the biggest single payout we've seen yet (the iFund actually paid out $100 million, but that was split among various companies and people, and we haven't heard specifics on exactly what they got). The company brags that they've attracted over one million users already, and that they will use the funding to "help people experience music as it's never been experienced before and in turn find new ways of bringing people together." We can't help but wish them well -- hopefully we'll see more high quality apps in the App Store, and hopefully that'll pay off for both investors and consumers.
Make a video with Cat Piano, win a DS
It's probably time for me to lay off of Smule -- I've said that their Ocarina app might be the silliest musical app in the App Store, but we have a new winner: Cat Piano is just plain loony: a piano made up of cats meowing, like those old Christmas recordings, but playable. There are a few different cat sounds to play (from "Furball" to "Housecat"), and even a regular piano if you just want to tickle the ivories a little bit. Most of the reviews on the App Store say people are using it to mess with their cats, but there's definitely a musical instrument here -- if Ocarina can be used as an instrument, the Cat Piano can, too.And in fact, the developers are challenging you to prove it -- they're giving away a Nintendo DS (interesting choice of prizes -- an iPod touch might be more apt) to the person who makes the best video using Cat Piano. I don't know if you could beat that Jingle Cats video, but you can certainly try. The contest starts on Thursday, and goes until March 20th, so you've got a little over a month to get the cat sounds down.Ocarina, you'll remember, also turned out some watchable videos, so we're interested to see what comes out of this contest.
2008 Best iPhone App Ever winners announced
The voting only went underway a while ago, but they've just announced the winners for the 2008 Best App Ever awards, celebrating (according to 148apps.com and the people they got to nominate and vote in their contest) the best iPhone apps of last year. As I said for the voting, you can probably take most of this with a grain of salt, but there's no question that there are some awesome apps in here, and probably at least one or two you'll be interested in checking out if you haven't yet.Shazam won big in the "Best Overall", "Most Innovative," and "Best WOW" categories, and that is well worth it: Shazam is super reliable and works great as a "music recognizer." Rolando picked up "Best Game Graphics," and "Best Game Controls." Fieldrunners also picked up two awards for "Best Strategy Game" and "Best Long-play Game."Unfortunately, the much-despised (by me) Ocarina won three total awards, including "Best 99 cent app" (I would have chosen Koi Pond over that one easily and that's one where Weightbot was made to win), but feel free to ignore me and my iPhone app crankiness. There are lots of great iPhone apps here (especially when you dive into the nominations), and overall, we're looking at the best of a terrific first year of iPhone development. Onward to 2009!
2008 Best App Ever awards voting is underway
The nominations are out and voting has begun for the "Best App Ever" awards for 2008, recognizing the best iPhone and iPod touch apps of the year. Nominations have already happened -- the public submitted almost 18,000 nominations, and a panel of developers and experts was assembled to finalize the choices. You can vote right now over on the website for the winners in categories like "Best App Ever," "Best Musical App," and "Most Creative Use of IPhone Hardware" all the way down to "Best Word Game."Quite a list of choices. Voting ends on January 6th (so get started testing those apps if there are some in here you've never heard of), and the winners will be announced next week at Macworld Expo.Unfortunately, the App Store changes so fast and is so varied that some of the most useful apps (SnapTell Explorer is in for the hardware award, but it's missing on the "Most Useful" list) are not on the list in favor of more popular or well-known apps (Weightbot is a great app and very well done, but "Most Innovative"? And you know how I feel about Ocarina). Still, as a popularity contest, it'll be fun to see what comes out as the winners, and I can guarantee that in all of the many categories presented, there are a few really great apps that will come to your attention for the first time.
Smule's Zephyr sends snowy messages around the world
As much as I hate to do it, I'm always willing to admit when I'm wrong, and I was wrong about Ocarina. Not about the app itself, per se -- I still think it's one of the silliest, most pointless apps I've seen on the App Store. But it has been nothing but popular since its release, so apparently lots of people out there are into it. That's fine -- I'm willing to accept that there are best-selling apps out there that I think are dumb.And maybe this will be another one: Smule, the company behind Ocarina, has decided to follow up with a new app called Zephyr (not to be confused with the MacBook cooling system) that seems just as silly to me. You can draw out messages with an airy sound-and-snowflake interface, and then send those messages blowing around the world (represented, in the official video above, by Las Vegas) to random people who, if they like your messages, will pass them on around the Internet. "What's the point?" you might say, and in that opinion, I'd agree with you. There are lots of ways to send messages around the world, and more than a few of them are quite free and will let you be clearer than drawing snow with wind sounds in the background.But then again, I didn't see a point to Ocarina, and that made plenty of money. Zephyr is available on the App Store right now for 99 cents. And if you do jump in and buy it, make sure to tell us exactly why in the comments below.
First Look: Ocarina for iPhone
If you're a Zelda nerd like most of us on the blog (not to mention any names), then you will most likely run out and buy the app we're about to discuss. Ocarina [iTunes link] is a new musical entry to the iTunes App Store that allows anyone to be just like Link in the Ocarina of Time (probably one of the best N64 games next to Super Mario 64... just sayin').When you launch Ocarina.app, you are presented with four buttons that control the pitch. You make sounds with the Ocarina by blowing into the microphone on the iPhone. You control the pitch of the sound by pressing one, two, or all of the four blue buttons. The more air you blow through the mic, the louder the sound gets. You can also tilt your iPhone up/down to change the vibrato depth, and left/right to change the vibrato rate. All of this is cool, but the real magic happens when you tap the green button just above the home button. A small menu appears, and allows you to tap on a globe. In the world view, you can hear other Ocarina players around the world as they toot along to jingles and their favorite songs. You can even rate the player's performance by tapping the little heart next to their name. If music isn't the player's forte, then press the fast forward button to skip them. I've used the application over the weekend, and have really liked it so far. I would like to see a favorites list added. It would be nice to mark certain players as favorites and be able to instantly start listening to them again. You can purchase Ocarina from the iTunes App Store for $.99 (US). Note that you must have an iPhone to use this application (no iPod touch).%Gallery-36585%
Turn your iPhone into an iOcarina with new app
We've seen the iPhone used for a great deal of useless enterprises -- the drinking of virtual beers, the swinging of virtual lightsabers, the placing of actual telephone calls to other people, etc. However, a new application from Smule serves a rather legendary purpose -- the salvation of Hyrule. Yes, by downloading the Smule Ocarina (now available on the iTunes App Store for $0.99), users can either travel seven years into the future to thwart the plans of an evil dictator, or three days into the past to prevent a lunar catastrophe.Two demo videos of the iOcarina are posted after the break. The first shows a man blowing his way through the Legend of Zelda theme song. The second, when played in reverse, reveals hidden Satanist propaganda.
Homebrew app Ocarina makes cheating that much easier
You've got to love the Homebrew community. They're constantly trying to cut corners and this latest app, Ocarina, is no different. Instead of spending time inputting button commands in-game, you can simply inject them, Game Genie or Action Replay-style, into the game. For example, in Twilight Princess, the Ocarina app allows the user to climb ladders super fast, have infinite bombs and use a variety of items underwater. Among other things, Link can also use the Spinner in a really imaginative way. [Thanks, RupeeClock!] The homebrew community has been hard at work creating wonderful experiences for you to enjoy with your Wii. Did you know about homebrew game Masteroids? Or how about the shmup OpenTyrian? Outside of games, people have been using the Balance Board to come up with some really neat stuff. Keep up with the homebrew scene by staying current with our Homebrew category!
Today's most retro hack: Four-player Ocarina of Time
Take what many consider the greatest game of all time. Add multi-player support, which everyone knows makes any game better. What do you get. An even greaterest game of all time, of course, which is what this four-player Ocarina of Time hack could very well be.Okay, maybe we're overselling what is, at this point, just a video of an early, choppy test version the hack. But considering it comes from the same people that brought us the ability to play as Dark Link and fight an Arwing in Ocarina of Time, we have no doubt he'll be able to pull it off. Whether the final result turns out more like Four Swords Adventures or The Wand of Gamelon, though, is still anyone's guess.[Thanks Tanks]
Nintendo Short Cuts entry is a thinly-veiled excuse for cosplay
Another entry for Nintendo's Short Cuts Showcase film contest has appeared on YouTube. You know, when we first read about this contest, we were expecting a lot of short films in different genres that cleverly integrated Nintendo elements into the storytelling-- conversations taking place during games of Mario Kart, a Clerks-style comedy set inside a game store, or something like that. But so far, the would-be Señor Spielbergos have all taken the direct, literal approach.This latest entry is the most direct yet-- a bunch of people dressed up like Zelda characters and adventured around on camera. It seems to follow Ocarina of Time, but then what Zelda fan works don't? Hey, even if they don't win, these kids were able to justify buying a Master Sword, so that's ... something.
DS Daily: Legend of Zelda: Item of Great Importance
According to the latest news about The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, the eponymous hourglass keeps your hearts from draining while in a cursed underwater shrine. Link must go from island to island to find sand so he can keep the hourglass full. Basically, he is addicted to sand.That sounds like an interesting gameplay mechanic, lending the game a sort of Fushigi no Dungeon-esque resource upkeep element (like keeping the light glowing in The Nightmare of Druaga.) However, that's not the issue for today's discussion. We want to talk about the item as it relates to Zelda's history. In most Zelda games since the N64 one, there has been an item in the title that is central to the game's plot and/or gameplay-- the Ocarina of Time and the very similar Wind Waker, Majora's Mask, Four Swords, the Minish Cap, and now the Phantom Hourglass. Do you think basing the game (and its title) around a single item is a neat storytelling convention, or lazy formulaic design? We are declaring this a Safe Zelda Bashing Zone. Don't be afraid to say something negative about Zelda! Here, we'll start: the first one didn't even have a subtitle, and it's still the best one.[News item via NeoGAF]
VC Monday Madness: post-game wrap-up 2/26/07
Well, it's that magical time of the week again where Wii owners get to download fresh digital data via the console's Virtual Console service. This week we've only got three titles, however one is easily argued as being the greatest game ever made (damn you Water Temple designers). So let's take a dip in the digital distribution service and see if these games are worth your hard-earned Wii Points, shall we?
The awesome just keeps on coming: more Virtual Console games [update 1]
Because the eight we just posted weren't good enough, we've got another ESRB confirmation ... this time for thirteen. We'll let the list do the talking for us:NES: Excitebike Ice Climber Dr. Mario Mario Brothers Ice Hockey Soccer Super Nintendo: Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Kirby's Super Star Super Metroid Kirby's Dream Land 3 Nintendo 64: Mario Kart 64 Starfox 64 Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time "Mario Brothers", which is technically the name of the arcade title already coming to the VC at launch, is presumably the actual Super Mario Bros., which failed to make it across the Pacific in time for November 19th. The biggest name on this list is certainly Mario RPG, a collaborative effort between Nintendo and Squaresoft USA (now known as Square-Enix). Besides being an absolutely excellent game, it shows that Square-Enix is committed to bringing some of the very best of its SNES golden-era RPGs to the Virtual Console. We don't want to say it, we shouldn't, really ... but dammit, we need to ... Chrono Trigger?[Thanks, Cian C.!][Update 1: Dammit, we can't count.]
Happy Zelda music day
Today is Friday, and you know what that means. That's right, it's time for a bunch of videos of people playing Zelda music! This ukulele performance (found via Wonderland) is pretty impressive, but continue reading for an equally impressive piano medley (from Video Game Pianist Martin Leung) and a little ditty played on a real ocarina!
