Wow!  What a mouthful for a name (we’ll call it PvZvNvP for short).  It sounds like some extreme combat where everyone goes for a free for all!  So, what’s this game about?  Well, if you like Angry Birds (you have played Angry Birds right?) then this game is right up your alley.  This game for those not familiar with Angry Birds is a physics puzzle shooter which Instead of dealing with cute little red birds and blue birds and the such, this time you’ll get to use kick-butt Pirates, Ninjas, Zombies, and Pandas to fight each other  (and just recently as of February they all get to fight Football players)!  Being provided with a review copy of the game, lets head out and see whether is worth your hard earned dollar (or 2 for the HD version).

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What crazy volume….10 billions downloads from the Apple App store with Neon Play’s Paper Glider application. 

Neon Play CEO Oli Christie received a telephone message from Apple saying, "Mr Christie. This is Apple in Cupertino. We have some good news to share with you…"

"We’ve been eagerly discussing the 10 billion app countdown in our game studio, so when I got a call from Apple Cupertino saying they had some "good news", I thought they might tell us they were featuring one of our apps on the App Store," said Oli Christie, CEO of Neon Play.

"So when they said that Neon Play’s Paper Glider was the 10 billionth app, I was completely and utterly dumbstruck. It’s a great piece of news for the whole Neon Play team. Paper Glider was already the number one app in the UK, so this is a double piece of great news for our studio."

Paper Glider is a free to download iPhone app. The aim of the game is simple – you need to flick a paper plane with your finger to try and get it out of the office window while avoiding ceiling fans. Once you’re out of the window you need to fly the plane as far as you can by using your limited amount of wind boosts.

The game has received over 2.5 million downloads to date and is currently no. 1 in the UK free apps and no. 2 in the US charts.

Congrats to Apple for 10 billion app downloads as well as Neon Play for making a wonderful app that got the 10 billion download award.

The iPad is about a year or so old.  It was released to much fanfare last year, about this time; and everybody and their brother went nuts for it.  At the time, it didn’t do much for me.  I had an iPhone and sold it.  I have a 2G iPod Touch, but don’t use it much.  At the time, the iPad seemed like nothing more than a giant iPod Touch (Wi-Fi only version) or a giant iPhone (3G version) that couldn’t make phone calls.

Now (hopefully), it can and is much, much more to a number of different people.  I’ve seen evidence that the iPad is seriously being integrated into the enterprise, though with highly focused purposes, and the full blown security and management applications you would expect to see on any other IT asset.

For me and my purposes, I’m not concerned with using it to match fabric swatches or to sell specific medical equipment.  I just want to be able to move from meeting to meeting with the ability to get through my day without HAVING to lug a laptop from place to place, conference room to conference room, office to office.  Basic stuff…

Specifically, I’m going to cover

• create and edit meeting notes (much like Microsoft’s One Note)
• Generate and track tasks, task lists and to-do’s
• send and receive e-mail,
• keep up with my ever changing calendar

This is basic PIM type stuff; but the addition of meeting notes isn’t. With the iPad’s size, weight and capabilities, getting all of this done should be a no brainer. Over the next few days and weeks, I’m going to be taking a long hard look at what the device can and cannot do in this regard.  Please watch JAMM as well as iTechGear.org for the articles, and we’ll see if Apple (and perhaps some 3rd party development houses) have given us something that really can work, or if they are only teasing us.

The Apple iPad at work…

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to write a fairly comprehensive roundup of this genre of hidden object games.  One of my favorite games in that roundup was The Mystery of the Crystal Portal from G5.  It was well written, challenging, and featured spectacular graphics.  My only problem with it was the end of the game, which really left you hanging off the edge of the cliff.  The point of the original game was to figure out how to activate the Crystal Portal in order to find your father.  The problem was: you find everything you need, activate the portal, step through…and that is it.  The game just ends there.  All that work to find out what is on the other side of the portal…and you never even get a glimpse.  what a letdown.

Fortunately, earlier this month, G5 released a follow up to the Crystal Portal game.  This one picks up right where the first installment ended, just as you are stepping through the portal to find the lost world of Atlantis.  In this game, once you have crossed through the portal, you have two overriding tasks to complete.  First, you must locate your father.  Then, with his help, figure out how to open a portal back home.  In the meantime, you will explore all of the many splendors of Atlantis.

Gameplay in this one is identical to the original game, which I thought worked extremely well.  Not only do you need to find the identified objects, first you must locate the “receptacle objects”.  Once these have been opened, they will tell you which objects to find.  You will need to find those objects and drag them into the receptacle.  Additionally, there are two new challenges at play here.  First, some of the objects are in pieces.  Before you can add them to the correct receptacle, you must repair or construct them.  Additionally, some receptacles cannot be completed without completing another receptacle first.  For example, one receptacle, when filled, might become or reveal an object which you will need to add to another receptacle.  By daisy chaining the objects like this, the game significantly adds to the challenge.  Toss in a few extra puzzles and challenges, and this is really an extremely well rounded game.

There are two here.  You can choose casual mode, which is more relaxing and allows quicker access to hints.   Advanced mode recharges the hint button much slower, and many hints are simply not available at all.  This mode is meant for advanced players looking for a challenge.  I liked the fact that these modes make the game accessible to both casual gamers and advanced players alike, however, I still felt the game was too short and easily finished…even in advanced mode. 

I absolutely loved this game.  While the changes from the original were subtle at times, they really added significantly to the challenge.  Plus…well,m G5 finally finished the story which was started in the first game in this series.  That alone is enough to make me happy.  I have really been extremely impressed by G5 lately.  With offerings like the Crystal Portal series, they are quickly becoming one of my favorite game developers on the iPad.

Check out The Crystal Portal 2 from G5 in the iTunes App Store for $6.99 on iPad and $4.99 on iPhone.  There is also a free version with limited gameplay.  While you are at it, check out the original Mystery of the Crystal Portal, which is now free for all iOS devices.

OK, SOLDIER!  LISTEN UP!  YOUR UNIT HAS BEEN DECIMATED.  YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE LEFT, AND YOUR POSITION HAS BEEN COMPRIMISED…BEHIND ENEMY LINES.  TIME TO BUCKLE DOWN AND GET READY TO START SHOOTING.  YOU HAVE A GUN AT YOUR DISPOSAL, HOPE THAT IS ENOUGH TO PROTECT YOU FROM THE ONSLAUGHT…GOOD LUCK!

In Artillery Brigade, you are the sole remaining survivor in your camp, and you are surrounded by enemies.  At first they will come on foot, but soon they will come at you using any means at their disposal…jeeps, tanks, troop transports, and even planes.  Survive the early rounds, and you will be assigned to defend more difficult positions against larger and more deadly attacks.  There are a total of 16 different missions in the campaign mode, including the tutorial, which did a fantastic job of teaching you about the the enemies in the game, your weapons, and the controls.

To defend your position, you will have an assortment of guns, falling into three categories: machine guns, antiaircraft cannons, and rockets.   Within each category, you can also advance to bigger and better guns.  You will be awarded these guns as you progress through the game, or you can jump start the process by purchasing them with in-app purchases.  I am not a real fan of using real money to purchase in-game advancement.  But that is just me.

OK, so let’s take a look at how the game actually works.  In the past, these survival games used to involve a lot of running around.  I really enjoyed that because the ability to move and escape the onslaught (or at least try) added an extra element to the game.  This latest generation of the genre, however, has changed that.  Now, you are in a fixed position.  Sure, you can swivel your view in order to defend a complete 360 degrees.  This works well enough, but I still prefer the ability to run and evade the onslaught.  Speaking of that onslaught, unlike many games in this genre, there is no indication of how far along you are in a particular level.  It would be nice if they would add some kind of indicator on the screen showing how many more enemies you need to kill in order to complete the level.

Your view in the game is looking over the barrel of your gun.  A radar in the upper right corner will show you the oncoming enemies.  Just swipe your finger across the screen in order to aim at the oncoming enemies (the blue line under your funs will show how far the enemies have advanced toward your position).  Tap the big gray button on the left to start firing.  To quickly aim at the nearest enemy, tap the red button on the bottom of the screen to swivel your gun and instantly aim it at the advancing enemies.  Next to that is the zoom.  Slide the zoom in order to adjust your sights to a greater or lesser magnification.  This allows you to fire on enemies who may still be further away, before they can hit you.  If you are in a level with multiple weapons, those buttons on the left hand side will allow you to switch between them.

This game also connects with both Game Center and the Aurora Feint community, meaning there are plenty on achievements to attempt and online high scores.

I was really impressed by this game.  It had fantastic graphics and animation, and served as a unique addition to the survival genre.  The difficulty level of the game started on the easy end, but quickly increased as more powerful and skilled enemies were introduced.  I found this progress to be appropriate as the game maintained a challenge without becoming frustrating.   Simply put, using your guns to blow away some fairly realistic looking oncoming enemies, is just a perfect way to blow off some pent up hostility.   I have been a pretty big fan of Bulkypix games, but I have not seen them offer anything like this before.  You will waste countless hours decimating wave after wave of enemies with this one.

OK, SOLDIER!  YOU HAVE BEEN BRIEFED.  YOU KNOW YOUR MISSION.  NOW, GRAB A GUN, GET OUT THERE, AND START SLAGGING SOME ENEMIES!

Artillary Brigade is available from Bulkypix for the low, introductory price of $0.99.  It is a universal app, which will work on all iOS devices.