This is fantastic news! I had been review a lot of the classic games that have been coming to the iPhone, and often wondered when the heck is that darling Q*Bert gonna find its way there too.  I can’t wait to try it. Looks like it’s been submitted to the app store and they are just waiting for approval.

It has been approved and is now available for download… I’m off to grab a copy!!

Here is the site Touch Arcade having a look at this little cutie, (taken from their site):

Official ‘Q*Bert’ Is Jumping onto the iPhone | Touch Arcade

Official ‘Q*Bert’ Is Jumping onto the iPhone

Sony Pictures Television has given Touch Arcade an exclusive preview of their upcoming iPhone remake of the 1982 isometric arcade classic Q*Bert.

Q*bert is back! After more than 25 years, the colorful, lovable, jumpy arcade character of the 80’s is now available on iPhone and iPod Touch. And he’s got his very own blog too at www.qbert.com!

Kick it old school and play retro Q*bert in Arcade mode with authentic graphics and gameplay through 20 rounds across 5 challenging levels. Or, if you prefer your Q*bert smooooth, choose Modern mode for updated graphics. That’s just the beginning. Regular updates will bring really new gameplay!

Q*Bert for the iPhone features two play modes to satisfy whatever level of retro gamer you happen to be. Modern mode features updated graphics with a music track that gives the game a clean, modern feel. Arcade mode features the original graphics and sounds and delivers that pixellized, jaggy fix that hardcore retro fans hunger for. Both modes include the standard five different enemy types and four different friendly objects that carry the player from level to level.

The goal of the game is to traverse every cube in each level’s pyramid. Landing on a cube changes its color and once a pyramid has been fully changed, the player moves to the next level. But watch out — roving villains wander the map, trying to squash our orange, tube-nosed hero. And while, in the original, pyramids were the whole deal, Sony will soon be releasing all new kinds of levels with new characters to add variety to the game.

Sony has even given Q*Bert his very own blog for fans to enjoy.

Being an isometric game (the first?), Q*Bert involves diagonal movement across those ziggurats of glowing pixel goodness that is, by default, controlled with directional swipes anywhere on the screen. Alternate accelerometer controls are also offered and work better than one might expect. The controls work very well and anyone who ever fed a stream of quarters to the original stand-up cabinet way back when should thoroughly enjoy the iPhone remake.

See our gameplay video of the pre-release version for a closer look.

I had a friend, I’ll never forget her “Misty”, who was the main reason I was late for most of my time at Junior High School.  She had a pinball machine in her basement, and when her parents left for work, we unlocked the front door of the machine and rigged the change collector se we could play as many games as possible for no money.  It was bliss, even with all the detentions I ended up having!! Hope you enjoy this article as much as I did…

Original article here: pinball innovator steve kordek

pinball innovator steve kordek

steve kordek at the pinball expo in chicago a couple years ago
image courtesy of pinballnews

Back in 1948, steve kordek had never designed a game in his life. but when the head designer of
genco pinball company fell ill, kordek, then a young employee, took over trying to develop
the prototype for a new kind of pinball machine. kordek who is now 98, took the idea of the
‘flipper’, a now crucial component of pinball, from a competitor. originally, outfitted with six flippers,
he reduced his version to two, but which still had enough power to flip the ball back to the top of the
game board. he thought this was enough and that’s how the game has come to be known.

since then, kordek has gone on to design about 100 pinball games and worked hundreds more.
pinball has quintessentially been a chicago game, based loosely on the french game of bagatelle.
the first modern pinball machine began in 1931 when david gottlieb designed a tabletop
mechanical action model with a coin slot.

‘grand prix’ was one of kordek’s best-sellers

steve kordek’s ‘triple action’ which made almost all other pinball games obsolete
image courtesy of the pinball museum

the playing board of ‘triple action’ which was made of wood
image courtesy of the pinball museum

Hope you enjoyed that little blast from the past as much as I did! Lately I have been playing pinball on the iPhone and review for the wonderful WildWest that I wrote this week can be read from 148Apps.

Do you have happy pinball memories? Did you have a favorite table? Or are you preferring the computer versions to the real thing?

Link for the FREE version, with limited levels.

This is a time management game that is up there with the best of them. If you like the pressures of trying to satisfy all your customers and make a profit then this is a great game to play. And NO it is not just for girls, maybe you aren’t up for the challenge~

Sally has been on our devices before in the previous hit Sally’s Salon. That game earned her a deserved following. In addition to that, because the game was on other platforms, notably the DS, (but you can also play it on your computer) she seems unstoppable, which I’m happy about!

So, some good things about Sally’s Salon…
First look at the game you can see how games like these, from big developers, are so polished with their graphics. It is a slick interface, with very user intuitive controls. Sally herself is a real cutie and it was fun to be her in the salon.

The placement of the items in the game, with the waiting chairs at the back and then you move around the screen in an anti-clockwise way really makes great use of the screen size. The game packs a lot of things into that little screen yet manages to not look cramped or disorganized. A real credit to the developers.

The game has a lot of features, from the traveling around the world to set up new spas, to the goals set so you can achieve stars and hearts to better your score. As with all games though, features or no features, the important thing is, do you go back for more? I can honestly say I did not want to put this game down until I had conquered the entire world! That is always sign of a top game for me.

Features as listed on their site are:

* Drag & slide your customers to spa stations
* Use your finger to play micro-games like Hot Stones, Bath Bombs & much more!
* Shop for better upgrades/products for your sales shelf
* Use your power-ups to make customers happy
* Many personalities from busy moms to male models.
* Travel around the world to high-end spas.

There are a good variety of customers which is great, especially when you get the couples who don’t want to be separated so you must be sure to have 2 places everywhere or they won’t go. There is also a good range of upgrades to buy, from hiring staff, to better chairs & facilities. Also special ‘fragrant candles’ that you can get which do different things from calming the customers down to getting them to tip a little higher.

Also after each level is completed you get to restock the items she has for sale for the customers, and you get new products as you sell more and more. This is a nice extra earner.

You can play with different accounts, so the whole family can play which is nice.

The main thing that I don’t like about the game is I’ve finished it. I don’t understand why there isn’t an open-ended version, so I can just play Spa until I am filthy rich. Well, I do understand, I guess they worry they won’t then sell more of their games. Maybe they could release a slightly more expensive version that is unlimited play, or you could pay a small fee to buy upgrades or similar. I really was disappointed when it was over, and didn’t play it again, there was no point. This was why I awarded it such a low score for the replay value. Although you will be playing it from start to finish I’m sure, I just don’t think once you have completed it that you will then pick it up and play it all again. I have spoken to others who have played the game and have said the same.

Overall at the low price of $0.99 there is enough scope and addiction to satisfy, but I really think they have to add some kind of ’survival mode’, because once you have finished it there isn’t a lot to do. I did totally love playing it though, I wanted to play for longer!

Shazam FREE Developer: Shazam Entertanment Limited

Ocarina $0.99 Developer: Smule, Chuck Inc.

Well well well girls, who actually baked those cookies or is that as secret as your apps seem to be this time round?

This week they are looking at music as the category and they are convinced that they have some great apps for you.  Hattie talks you through Shazam, which is a great way to find out what the heck is the name of ‘that’ song. While Christine takes you through the delights that is Ocarina.  This app is $0.99 and she is ’singing’ it’s praises.

I think at one point she is almost off the couch with excitement over it! It’s getting heated in here folks~

CREDITS: This weeks episode was…

Filming/sound/photography by Nick Schneider

Styling / Hair / Make up and clothing sourced by Kate Swindells

Original Music / composition / performance Rob Lavers (the music is created by performing a musical score, then removing all the notes so you are left with the gaps and breaths – featured on our teasers – genius)

Other production bits were by the obsessive Christine Morris and of course starred the wonderful Hattie Medd.

Thanks to: @MartinSFP @bootooyou @sizemore and @ernmander

Hope you enjoyed the show and we look forward to seeing you in 2 weeks time…. hmmmm what ever do we have for you next?

Oops, not again, the girls seem to be enjoying the apps too much and have once again ran to 7 minutes of chat! Hope you will find the apps and ‘one more byte’ interesting as this week has a surprise in store.

Another face makes an appearance (two more in fact if we count Snoopy). Ric Morton is on hand (Via Skype) to offer you top 3 tips for iPhone development.  If you wondered where to start and needed motivation this could be the episode for you.

Get that all important app made and send it to the girls, so they have even more apps to dress through!

~ hope you enjoy

This episode sees some country gents (our gals) getting comfortable on the couch, as they look into the entertainment category for iPhone apps.

Hattie picked the free app LCube Lite. Christine features the Touch Poet app that lets you use modern words fed straight fromDigg (and other sources) and mixes them with the words of Shakespeare, E. A. Poe, Kipling and other Wordsworth. For only $0.99 you can write some fun poems and send them out using Twitter (or email)!

CREDITS: This weeks episode was…

Filming/sound/photography by Nick Schneider

Styling / Hair / Make up / clothing sourced by Kate Swindells

Original Music / composition / performance Rob Lavers (the music is created by performing a musical score, then removing all the notes so you are left with the gaps and breaths – featured on our teasers – genius)

Other production bits were by the obsessive Christine Morris and of course starred the wonderful Hattie Medd.

Coffee image used in one more byte was sourced from Flicker (Alex-S).

Hope you enjoyed the show and we look forward to seeing you in 2 weeks time, for what might be called our hungriest show to date!

ENTERTAINMENT

LCube Lite FREE Developer: CoolMoon Corp.

LCube $0.99 Developer: CoolMoon Corp.

Touch Poet $0.99 Developer: Morgan Brown Consultancy Ltd.

Touch Poet Lite FREE Developer: Morgan Brown Consultancy Ltd.

Do you already use these apps? Do you have a different favorite that you think the world should know about?

I came across this book through a Twitter contact @Joanne_Morley.

I had read Joanne’s tweets over a period of time and I found myself going to the blog and reading the advice and posts there regularly.  They were full of information, but more importantly, it was useful information!

Then a tweet came through about the launch of the book ‘The Brighter Marketing Bible”.  When I saw that  I asked her if I could read a copy to review it.  This was actually for two reasons.

1- On Twitter I am finding a community of people who help and support each other in their work and interests, and I want to pay back this community with offering my own help and support out to them.

2 – The book looked fantastic and I really wanted to read it!

I did asked Joanne why this book was written and she described it as

“Regarding why we wrote the book, we just wanted to make marketing simple and easy to understand for SMEs and small businesses and give them the practical guidance they need.”

Which  describes what it does really well.  There is information in the book at the start so you can read about them  more in depth,explaining their backgrounds and where they are coming from.

They are offering you two free chapters as PDF files so it really is try before you buy, I would suggest though having it as a book for frequent reference will be much more useful and you may even find yourself underlining and marking in the book all the ‘must try this’  bits.  (is it just me who does that?)

The book is written in the UK perspective, but the strategies I feel will transcend any boundary’s and you can adapt what you need, when you need.

If you are looking for SWOTS, PESTLE analysis and Boston Consulting matrices, you won’t find them here – just real-life marketing ideas, tips and guidance that will get results.

There is so much information in this book! There are exercises that will make you really take stock of your current marketing techniques (if you have them!).  Once you have established where you are at the moment and where you want to be, then you can use the exercises to figure out what you are doing (or not doing).  From there you can find out what you need to be doing to achieve your goal.

To make the most use of this book I think you need to look at it as a guide to get to where you want to be.  You should maybe skim the sections to see the overviews, and then really read, and read again the ideas presented.  I would even go so far as to  suggest you type up the bits you found particularly inspiring or relevant and put them up on the walls near your desk for reference.

The book is also clever in the way it is written in sections so that you can access and use the particular sections that are relevant to you at that point. You can reference this when you need to.

I wish them every success with this book they have written because it is done with you in mind, trying to get you to see how you can make it better and improve your current marketing.  The only problem you may find is that you will be put to work!

Resources:

You can read more in-depth information at the following links:

• This is the brighter marketing website:www.brightermarketing.com

• The blog can be found here: http://brightermarketing.com/blog

• And specifically the site for the book information is here:www.thebrightermarketingbible.com
• And of course you can purchase it via Amazon.

Hope you find it useful!

Excited to be a part of the 148Apps.com team, my first review (for an application called Trailers)  just got posted.  Feel free to check it out.  Or just browse 148Apps for all reviews on iPhone applications.  They also have current application news and let you know when something on sale. ~

Mmmmmm I love iPhone applications, just as much as coffee…

iPhone integration rating 4/5
User Interface rating 5/5
Reuse / Replay value 4/5

I don’t need to tell you about the explosion of Twitter users at the moment. Some people are now using Twitter as an alternative to Google.  What Summizer is great at is helping you get through all the ‘chatter’ to find the information you want, and present it in an easy to understand order. (you can search or just browse)

Since the first version of this application was released they have listened to what their audience has asked for and added some very useful features.

This includes the ability to reply to users and the all important ability to ReTweet! The refreshed searches highlight the new found tweets in that search which is great and you can also launch the links in Safari with the inclusion of a button to the application.

Viewing the links in the integrated browser works well and there isn’t a huge need for that, nice to have the option though.

Entering a search is easy and the results are displayed in easy to read interface.  Below was a search for Canada.  The searches you make can be saved, another great update, just  by clicking the save button.  Easy-Peasy. You can also refresh your saved trends / searches which is useful.

This image below is the search saved and then I can re-order my searches how I like, or delete them, using the standard iPhone interface.

Worth noting : You don’t need an account with Twitter, and can use this as a complete stand alone for research / information purposes. For example you may want to track comments about your product / movie / song or latest events.

If you are a Twitter user and want to take advantage of the ability to reTweet or reply, then you can set your account up in the settings panel.  Also you can disable the avatars so everything loads a bit quicker. (you can also enter your settings within the search if you click on reply, it will ask for your details there)

The value of this application lies in the strength of the Twitter users.

They provide you with up to the minute comments / links / images / events / reports… about any topic you are researching or just have an interest in.

The program provides you with the platform to easily navigate through the chatter and the inclusion of the ReTweet really makes all the difference to this application.  Link viewing without leaving the application is a must and it handles this well, after viewing your link, easily returning to the list so you can keep on reading.

The best way this could now be enhanced and justify the price, really is if it could integrate into one of the great Twitter clients.  That would really pack a powerful punch.  After looking into several of the Twitter clients around if one of them were to integrate Summizer then they would have a definitive lead over competitors.

One last thing – Great icon for this application!