Earlier this week, I got an email from out friends at Backflip Studios.  For me, emails like this are like Christmas in July…or Channukkah in August.  Backflip Studios are one of my favorite iOS game developers, and I am rarely disappointed when I get an email announcing a new game from them.   They have already had a busy summer, nearly doubling their catalogue with titles like Tunnel Shoot, Graffiti Ball, and Strike Knight, which were all released in the past months. 

Backflip’s latest offering, NinJump, turns the action on its side…literally.  This game resembles horizontal running games, with a twist.  Instead of running across the screen, the object is to climb two up the space between two buildings.  To put it another way, here is how Julian, the CEO of Backflip describes his latest creation:

I think it would best be described as a fast paced Ninja climbing game meets a twisted cousin of match three.  The object is to climb as high as you can while avoiding enemy birds, rabid squirrels and other crazed ninja’s.  However, enormous animated bonuses are given whenever you hit any three of these, in a row, in the air.

Let’s go ahead and look at this one element at a time.  First, you are a ninja, and everyone knows ninjas can climb effortlessly up a solid wall.  Here, you have two walls side by side, so climbing is no problem.  In fact, you do not need to do anything in order to climb.  As soon as the game begins, your ninja will automatically start running up the wall.

Before long, you will begin to encounter obstacles and enemies.  Birds fly at you, squirrels race across the screen, even enemy ninjas will attack you.  To evade these attacks and obstacles, just tap the screen in order to jump from one wall to the other.  While you are flying thru the air, your sword will fly with you, deflecting any attacks which may threaten you.  Hack three consecutive matching attacks (ie: three birds, three squirrels, or three throwing stars) in order to activate the bonus attack.

Other than activating the bonus attacks, however, there is really no need to attack the enemies.  The goal is to climb as high as possible, and that is all you need to do to earn points.  The result is the same whether you attack or simply dodge…though sometimes attacking can just be an awful lot more fun.

Of course, when you do reach unprecedented heights, you are going to want to share your progress with your friends.  For that, at the end of each game, you are given the option of posting your score to Twitter, Facebook, or even emailing it to your friends.  Like other Backflip games, this one will also connect with the Open feint network, allowing you to post your scores to the global leaderboard and compare your progress with players from around the world.  That being said, there are perplexingly no Open Feint achievements to be earned here, which was a bit of a disappointment.

NinJump was developed by BackFlip Studios, and is available for free from the iTunes App Store as an ad-based download.  A $0.99 in-app purchase will remove those pesky ads, though I did not find them to be a significant intrusion.  The game is currently available for iPhone and iPod Touch, but I found it played perfectly well on my iPad as well.

Finally, don’t think Backflip Studios is going to just sit back and rest on their laurels or enjoy their success.  They have big plans for the rest of the year, including:

• DYNAMITE SURFING
• DR. SHOCKER
• a soon-to-be announced game based on a cult film
• RAGDOLL BLASTER 2 (one of my favorites on the iPhone) for iPad

USB is the choice of connection for adding functionality to a computer.  Easy to use by just plugging the device in after installing the driver from a disc (or in some cases no additional drivers are needed), you’ll be ready to use your new device whether it’s a printer, hard drive, scanner, mouse, keyboard, etc. faster than you can say Universal Serial Bus.  I have 4 devices plugged in on my computer – a mouse, a keyboard, a scanner (which isn’t always plugged in), and a cord to sync my iPod.  So, how many USB devices are concurrently hooked up to your computer?

Green IT, what about the “green” home?  How much does it really cost for you to keep that computer on?  How much does it cost for a single iPod charge?  Well, those are questions that now can be answered easily with your new P3 Kill A Watt Electricity Load Meter and Monitor.  Get yours today from Newegg.com for only $14 with free shipping using coupon code EMCYWZP45.

Mariner Software, the authors of the popular software Mariner Write just turned 20 years old.  With the 2 decade celebration comes extreme savings to Mac users as all of their software will be going on sale for 40% off using coupon code 20YEARS.  Choose from titles that will help you organize receipts, manage recipes, do office and school type work from writing screenplays, poetry, journals, and more.  Want a bundle pack?  Get the Writers Pack for a whopping almost $100 off.  Act fast though as the celebration will end on midnight of August 15, 2010.

It’s Free App Friday at Handango today, and if you have a Windows Mobile device I suggest you to grab the free Resco Photo Manager for Windows Mobile before the deal is over!

Visit Handango online store, and you will add to your software collection one of the best photo management tool available. Using the code FAF813 you will be able to download Resco Photo Manager for Windows Mobile for 100% off its prize.

Here is what Resco Photo Manager allows you to do:

Touch optimized with gestures

3 interfaces to choose from: Browser, Viewer and Slideshow. Zoom, rotation and move gestures make image handling very comfortable.

Upload to the social networks: Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, Twitter

Users can choose among four popular social networks to upload their photos.

Quick image access

Home screen offers 4 main image databases: My Documents, Camera Roll, Favorites and My Albums.

Add GPS position

Add GPS position to any of the images and make diary of a trip. Afterwards locate the image on a map (using Google Maps).

Editing tools

Resize, crop, set image as Home Screen, color corrections, attach drawings and much more.

Slideshow

Impress your clients, colleagues or friends with a slide-show presentation!

Link: Handango