Any game that can be played one handed and with one button doesn’t even deserve a review. This game was quickly returned to GameAccess due to it’s awful and repetitive combat system. I suppose it wasn’t the smartest idea to play Darksiders and it’s infinitely superior competitor, “Dante’s Inferno” in the same day. Since this game didn’t hold my interest for very long with it’s awful Kameo styled design, this review isn’t going to be much longer. It’s a little disappointing that the hybrid of Zelda and God of War turned out so poorly, but since I have a GameAccess account, it didn’t cost any extra to send it back and get a new game. In conclusion: Rent before you buy. Any experienced gamer will find that this game doesn’t captivate or entrance in any way shape or form.

From time to time, I like to play with FL Studio. Whenever I’m messing around with it and make something, I’ll post it here. Here’s a song I made earlier today. It’s really nothing special, since I was just playing with it.

When I first start typing up this list, the intention was to make a “Top 10” list. However, in the middle of producing this blog post, I re-discovered Zenonia and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Zombies and have realized that making any kind of “Top 10” list would be absurd. There are tens of thousands of games on the marketplace, so to say that 10 of them top all others is just plain presumptuous. Now, here’s a list of great iPhone/iPod Touch games in particular order.

Dungeon Hunter ($4.99)

Anyone who remembers spending hours crawling the dungeons of Diablo or Neverwinter Nights should feel right at home with this game. This is your standard dungeon crawler polished as much as the hardware can allow. While the default controls suggest using the on-screen D-Pad, it’s the touch screen controls that really make this game shine. Tapping the screen makes the hero follow your finger, making dungeon crawling a very fluid experience on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Throw in lots of dungeons, countless items, and more gameplay than I certainly know what to do with and you have a very worthwhile purchase.

We Rule (Free)

We Rule is a very prominent addition to the latest trend of “Antfarm” games for the iPhone and iPod Touch that continues to do it’s thing while you’re not even playing. The best way to describe this game would be to call it a “Multiplayer Medieval SimCity”. You build your town and collect gold by farming crops. Building and decorating all nets you valuable experience points which level up your king and unlock more structures to be available for construction. Trying to make your kingdom look more extravagant than your friend’s can be very addicting. The servers can be buggy at times, but it’s a free game and it’s frequently updated.

All-In-One Gamebox ($0.99)

Any one of these games is worth the 99 cent price tag alone. The fact that you get 25 other games as well is just a bonus. The fact that they add another game to this for free from time to time just proves that you need this game in your collection.

Doodle Jump ($0.99)

If you remember xjump on old Linux systems, this game is for you. If not: This game is still for you. The object of the game is to hop higher up the platforms than anyone else on your friends list. Moving left and right is achieved by tilting the device left and right. There are plenty of monsters and obstacles to keep you from reaching your goal. Plus, this game is so addicting that you can’t afford NOT to buy it.

Tap Tap Revenge 3 (Free)

TAP TAP! TAP TAP REVENGE! TAP TAP! TAP TAP REVENNNNNGE!!! I always think of the disgusting pop-rock theme song tied to this game whenever I read the title. Fortunately, the game is much better than the theme song. First off: It’s quite similar to Rock Band on the iPhone/iPod Touch, but it’s free and has much more great independent artists than any other rhythm game. This game has opened my eyes to quite a few great music artists and is a great addition to anyone’s game library. And luckily, it’s as easy as a swipe and a tap to remove songs that you absolutely hate.

Plants vs. Zombies ($2.99)

This game is quite an interesting take on the whole “Tower Defence” genre. You make plants on the left side to stop the zombies on the right side from killing you. This is good, addictive fun and is an App Store favourite among many. There are many different plant types to choose from and there are many different zombie unit types to defend yourself against. There are also fun and interesting mini games that are used to break up the tedium of playing a “Tower Defence” game. If you like zombies, “Tower Defence” games, or are just a fan of Popcap, then you won’t be disappointed with this purchase.

Super Monkey Ball 2 ($4.99)

This is number one on the list of games that you wouldn’t want to play on the bus. The object of this game is to get the monkey from the beginning of the course to the exit. This is accomplished by tilting the device to tilt the world to make the monkey roll downhill in whichever direction you wish. This game is as addicting as it is frustrating and is highly recommended for people who appreciate clever use of the accelerometer.

Mega Man II ($0.99)

Every time I play this, I thank Capcom for having the foresight to retain ownership of the games they released on Nintendo’s hardware. It was actually pretty common for game companies to relinquish publishing rights to save money on the game-making process. For example: We will never see a port of GoldenEye, even though Rare doesn’t deal exclusively with Nintendo anymore, since Nintendo bought the rights to it. . If you don’t know what this is: Don’t buy it if you don’t like challenging 8-Bit platformers. If you like being spanked by a game that uses 8-bit sprites, then you won’t miss that dollar you spent on it.

Space Invaders: Infinity Gene ($4.99)

This game is truly unique. The game opens by making you play a round of arcade-style Space Invaders. Each time you complete a level, something changes about the graphics or gameplay. For example: You start out only able to move left and right. After one of the early levels are completed, you gain the ability to move forwards and backwards. There are a handful of ships to choose from, each having their own strengths and weaknesses. There are plenty of secret challenge levels and there’s even a mode that randomly generates levels. Not only does this game hold my interest, but the replayability factor makes it well worth the cost.

Eliminate Pro (Free)

This is the one game that continuously gets more playtime than any other game on my iPhone. In less than ten seconds from launching the app, you can be in a small 2 – 4 player deathmatch or a 2 player co-op match. Players earn credits to permanently upgrade their suits and weapons by playing multiplayer matches with an energized suit. Energizing a suit costs power cells which are purchased through the iTunes store and gradually accumulated through waiting. There are many different ways players can customize themselves for battle. Not only can a player choose from a wide variety of weapons and armor, but each item has upgradable stats. You never know what kind of build your enemies will have. The controls take a little bit of taking used to, but the price tag is right and it’s just too much fun not to play.

So I bought an iPhone and, thanks to some of the many apps available for the device, I have managed to replace most of the tasks that I would normally have done on the computer. The problem, though, is that the phone is still made by Apple. When I signed up for the iTunes Store, it sent me the activation email, which I clicked on. It didn’t work. The activation email would not activate my account. So I phone up Apple to see if I could get them to manually activate my account. They turned a 5 minute phone call into 30 minutes by transferring me to the wrong department…. twice. I know mistakes happen, but to be redirected to an undesired department twice just seems like mismanaged customer service. And believe me: I work at Plates Eatery and Catering. I know exactly what mismanagement looks like.

With that out of the way I was able to finally download apps. That’s where this device shines. Everything else about the phone is above average, but not the best: The screen, quality of phone communication, the layout, etc. Without the app store, the iPhone would have been left in the dust by phones with OLED screens and emulated NES games.

Using the keyboard takes some getting used to. I keep hitting “Enter” key instead of the “Backspace” key. I really think they shouldn’t have put those keys so close together. When you need to erase something, it’s usually done in that frantic “I need to get rid of that” frame of mind. When you need to erase something while you’re chatting on msn, it usually happens like: “Backspace” “Backspace” “Backspace” “Enter”, sending the half deleted message and confusing the poor person on the other end. I have tiny fingers too. I’d hate to see someone with big hands or fat fingers try to use it.

The browser is quick and responsive. Heavier sites, such as Digg, take a second or two longer than on a PC, but that’s more than tolerable considering the size of the device. Being able to use WiFi instead of 3G is a great feature. At home, I can use my iPhone without any fear of going over my data plan limit and losing a bunch of money.

The one thing that I don’t understand about the phone is Apple’s obsession with white accessories. They have a white phone and a black phone. I believe that it just should be common sense: If you buy a white phone, you should get white accessories and if you buy a black phone, you should get the black accessories. I find it odd that the accessories don’t match my phone. It almost makes me feel like I’m buying the phone from some 3rd world country where no one supervises the 5 year old children assembling the iPhone boxes.

In conclusion: It’s a great phone and I highly advise buying the iPhone 3GS 16GB. Hopefully more people will get them so I have people I know to compete against in Doodle Jump or Words With Friends. I’ll review specific apps on a later date.

As a growing abundance of our personal information is stored online, we have struggled to keep private data, well, private. Companies that hold that our information work around the clock to build more secure servers and protocols. Users are advised more and more urgently to make complicated passwords that brute-force methods cannot crack. And as one last defence against intruders, newer encryption methods make it near-impossible for hackers to read your files, even in the event of a security breach.

The most common form of hacking is repeatedly guessing at a person’s password until it finds one that works, usually referencing a dictionary of common words that the average computer user would use as his or her password. This is why members of popular websites are always advised to use numbers and letters in a password.

This growing trend of “Security Questions” has caused internet security to take a giant step backwards.  This is leaving a critical vulnerability in our online banking, email, and social networking sites. Just as with a password, a security question response can be guessed. Now, instead of one difficult to determine word, someone wanting your bank account information only needs to hack through two, guaranteed, easy ones.

Letting this new vulnerability sneak right under our noses is unacceptable. The person who invented and implemented this system has set back internet security by over a decade. Web sites need to cease this practice immediately; not force their users, themselves, to open the hole.

As some of you may know, I work at Plates Eatery & Catering in Courtenay, BC. I am the lowest paid cook in the Comox Valley and consequently view my boss as a half-step up from a common petty thief. Well, today he walks up to me and says, “We can talk after work if you want.” Thinking that the wording was weird, I just said, “Ok” and continued what I was doing. As a lot of you don’t know, when my boss is in a sour mood, his face locks in a permanent glaring position quite similar to a 4 year old glaring when he can’t have a chocolate bar during a grocery shop. Soon after the exchange, I noticed that he was locked in “Perma-glare mode” and quickly became nervous about the chat to come. And then I remembered the key words: “If you want”. Immediately after my shift ended, I quickly and quietly made my way up the stairs and passed the office and oversized mirror to get to the bathroom. I took off my work shirt, through on my coat, put on my backpack, and flew down the stairs. If he calls me on it tomorrow, I’ll just reply that the wording made the chat seem optional.

So I’ve decided to start up the blog again. Hopefully this time the site won’t be devastated by some random Russian hacker. I’m not sure what I did to deserve being brought down by the Russians. If the guy was considerate enough to post his message in English, maybe I would know why he took down my site.

Anyways: I hope people get something out of this. Enjoy.