Media Recap: October 2012

Posted on Wed 07 November 2012 • Tagged with Media Recap

These monthly summary posts will now be collapsed on the home page. You will still get the full post in your feed reader. I think it’s better not to water down the quality of the front page with lists of mediocre importance.

Summary: 3 games, 12 podcasts, 1 presentation, 1 novel, 3 different mangas

Games

  • The World Ends With You Solo Remix, iPad (iTunes Link)
    Is great and ridiculously expensive given that it’s not a universal binary. I have played the original version on the Nintendo DS without shelling out 45 Euro however, so I didn’t feel bad buying this game. In my opinion it’s one of those games that were able to highlight the NDS’s features and give an interesting new twist to the mobile RPG genre. The stylus-based combat was amazing on the NDS and still is on the iPad. I don’t intend to buy the iPhone version too.
  • Letterpress, iOS universal
    Letterpress is the perfect time waster if you happen to like word-based puzzle games against other people. It is entirely based on iOS’s Game Center and doesn’t cost a thing. You should shell out the measly 0.80€ for the in-app purchase to unlock the word list and more simultaneous matches.
  • Wizardlings, iOS universal (iTunes Link)
    Is awful. Don’t make me go there. I don’t know what the devs thought when ‘making a casual rpg’. RPGs are not about tedious clicking on each and every field of the map. RPGs are about character development (which there isn’t), about a danger from which something has to be prevented (somewhat there, only in the background though) and about the fun and interaction with NPCs and/or the environment during the game (which I couldn’t find in the whole first chapter). Also it’s ridiculously easy to mix up the two ingame currencies and the cash shop. They should not be in the same visual style. I’m all for consistency. But on a platform which let’s you go haywire for 15 minutes by default after entering your password (even for a free app) you shouldn’t do that. It reeks of disrespect for your users.

Podcasts

Presentations

  • Apple Special Event, October 2012
    Live-Stream. My interest in Apple and admittedly, considerable boredom on that particular evening led me to watch the live stream of this presentation. I’m curious to see how the 13 inch Macbook Pro Retina handles itself when tackling compilation, games and video heavy applications. I am thinking about switching my 13 inch Macbook Air against a 13 inch Pro if it’s generally well liked by reviewers. However, I’m a bit sceptic about both the low resolution (even though it’s retina density, you won’t make up screenspace by doubling the pixels…) and the integrated GPU. It seems like the 15 inch Pro would suit my needs a lot better but it’s also heavier than my current machine - which is a major downside for me as I easily get backpain.
    Also iTunes 11 has been postponed until the end of this month, but that’s okay if the rewrite is good. Take all the time you need, Apple. Just release a version which is as polished as possible.

Novels

  • Whispers at Moonrise - C.C. Hunter
    What’s there to say? The last but one part from the Shadow Falls series. It’s amusing, it’s fascinating, it’s entertaining. Read it if you’re into Urban Fantasy and are not scared off by not being the target audience if you’re male.

Mangas

This month was a heavy on mangas since I’ve decided to try and read some old favorites of mine. Shaman King is finished, Naruto is unfortunately ongoing and another favorite of mine, Hunter X Hunter is on hiatus. I’ve also looked into Air Gear which seemed quite nice.

  • Shaman King 7-12
  • Shaman King 14-20
  • Shaman King 21-33 (fin)
  • Air Gear 1-2
  • Naruto 1-19
  • Naruto 20-22