Author Archive for ChiffaN
A project manager in a major telecommunications supplier, an iPhone junkie and lately - a TMA editor. Love long walks on the beach and my wife, who is the most beautiful girl on the face of this planet. You can also follow me on twitter for all things iPhone and project management (and some personal stuff as well): http://twitter.com/ChiffaNe
The Telltale of Hector – Straandlooper to team up with the well-known adventure games maker
There is luck, and then again – there is hard work. The App Store has been a place where many a developer has tried to find his fortune, though quite few have really succeeded. And while not a lot of folks can boast the millions of dollars made like Doodle Jump – BE WARNED: Insanely Addictive! or Angry Birds, some get their break in a different way. We’ve seen a number of iOS dev teams gobbled up by big-time names, with Chillingo being one of the more recent celebrated acquisitions. Others get a well-deserved deal and partner up with big-names to reach new heights in their endeavours.
And I’m happy to announce that one such deal has just been made public. Straandlooper, developer of the superb HECTOR: Badge of Carnage Ep1 (TMA Review), have teamed up with one of the leaders in the adventure games market – Telltale Games – to bring their adventure from the iOS to PC and Mac. Even better, episodes 2 and 3 are already in production and will be released later this year along with the re-release of episode 1 for the medium screen.
I will try and secure the interview with Straandlooper soon, meanwhile, make sure you read the hilarious semi-official press-release from the guys after the gap.
Todo in Review – Buy Milk… check; Take over world… pending
With the fast-paced business life of today, it’s often easy to forget the little things. And sometimes those things turn out not to be so little. Of course any sensible person knows the preferred way to keep track of all the stuff to do and remember is a post-it note on your desktop monitor. But this way, although awesome in many respects, presents an issue when you need to look up something while away from your desk. I know the obvious way out is to haul around your monitor with you, but a smart person would probably opt for something like Todo.
iTête à iTête – Interview with Mark DeForest from Cyan Worlds – Immersing you even more by letting you touch the game
If you were in any way connected or even remotely familiar with the video gaming industry in the 90′s, you couldn’t have missed Myst (TMA Review). This bestselling game of all time (at least until the dreaded ‘The Sims’ came along in 2002) has seen a superb re-release on the iOS about a year and a half ago and nabbed a special mention in our The App Store’s Best Adventure. And with the recent release of the Riven: The Sequel to Myst (TMA Review) I personally couldn’t pass up the unique opportunity to interview one of the leading minds behind the scenes – Mark DeForest, the CTO of Cyan Worlds.
Devil May Cry 4 refrain in Review – Let out your inner demon…
The Devil May Cry series is certainly one of the hallmarks of the console action/slashers. Known for spectacular stylized combos and a mix of both ranged and melee combat, it has set a standard few have been able to achieve. And it seems Nintendo and Sony have ever more reasons to be wary of the iOS devices, as Capcom has quite unexpectedly released a version of the latest reincarnation of the franchise on the App Store. Let’s see if Devil May Cry 4 refrain can live up to the benchmark set by the console versions of the series.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light in Review – Not quite the Tomb Raider we know…
Lara Croft is one of the most widely known game characters ever, in many ways revolutionizing the way females were perceived in the industry in the mid-90s. She has seen numerous appearances in games on almost every console imaginable and even has a couple of movies of her own to boot, starring the luscious Angelina Jolie. So you can imagine my surprise when without any kind of fanfare or publicity Square Enix released the first Lara Croft game for the iDevice platform late last year – Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.
AirPlayer in Review – Not to be confused with AirPlay…
About half a year ago you might’ve seen my incoherent but rapturous blabbering about Air Video, the app I’ve been relying on for watching movies and TV shows both on my iDevice and my TV via Apple’s AV Component Cable. Life has moved on since then and on one fateful birthday eve (quite recently in fact) I was gifted with a full-blown NAS (ReadyNAS Duo) – a Network Attached Storage device for the uninitiated. Seeing as it fully supported DLNA network playback I immediately went shopping for an app to do away with the PC middle-device altogether between me and my lovely shows. And after some digging I rested my inquiring mind on AirPlayer, which looked like the perfect answer to my needs.
Gamebook Adventures 4: Revenant Rising in Review – To undead and back again…
Not sure how many of our readers remember the Choose Your Own Adventure-type books, but I certainly have fond memories of them. Leveraging the power of imagination back when a computer would take up about a football stadium just to match the processing power of the current iPhone, they provided hours of fun and enjoyment for kids all around the world. And the fact that this seemingly obsolete genre has found a home on the iDevice warms my heart and fills my soul with optimism. Especially with the release of fresh and original titles developed specifically for the iOS, like the latest creation by Tin Man Games – Gamebook Adventures 4: Revenant Rising.
Escape the room 2 in Review – The only way out is… through the door
Escape the room genre is one of those casual spin-offs of full scale adventure games, born with the rise of Flash-based games. Since then it has become a beloved pastime for many office employees and after a while, found its way to the App Store as well. Unfortunately the quality of these titles on the iDevice differs wildly (remember Escape the Room: Magician’s WC (TMA Review)?) But Escape the room 2 is a whole other kettle of fish, having some serious muscle behind it from Tate Games, the dev team responsible for the excellent RPG Crimson Gem Saga (TMA Review).
WorldCard Mobile – business card reader & business card scanner in Review – A business card organizer that fits right inside you iPhone
As a Customer Facing Project Manager I get to meet a lot of people. Whether this is a new client, someone I meet at a conference, or even an occasional acquaintance on a flight, every single person I meet can play a very significant part in my future career. After all, a business man’s strength is often defined by the extent of his network. And of course to this day the widely accepted way to exchange contact information is still the good old business card exchange. Then when all’s said and done, you’ll still have to spend precious time manually entering the information into your contact organizer of choice. But what if you could just snap a picture of the card and have it magically appear in your contacts? Now you can with WorldCard Mobile – business card reader & business card scanner.
Dead Space in Review – If you want Survival Horror done right, leave it up to EA…
EA is one of the few major publishers that have truly embraced the App Store. Even better, many of their titles truly set a quality benchmark for others to follow, from the classic boarding goodness of SCRABBLE to becoming the mayor in SimCity Deluxe to the parkour action of Mirror’s Edge. And now they’ve has set out to redefine the 3rd Person Shooter genre with the highly anticipated release of Dead Space.
