Heart Wizard Package Kit: Image Source AWS

 Over three years ago, I had the opportunity to review the emWave Personal Stress Reliever. This is a portable handheld device that allows you to monitor your heartrate and control your overall stress level. Another product that has come across my desk is the Heart Wizard. This product also promotes itself as a stress reduction product.

The main difference between the emWave and the Heart Wizard is that the emWave is a stand alone product and the Heart Wizard works with a Windows based computer to be functional in anyway. What comes in the package:

• Heart Wizard: Pulse Wave Monitor – USD based adapter for the pulse sensor
• Ear clip bio Sensor
• CD: MS Windows 2000 – XP – Vista compatible software

Though the Heart Wizard is not a portable device in itself, a Windows based laptop or netbook can certainly allow you to take the whole package with you wherever you need to monitor and control your stress level.

First time running the software the program checks for any updates. If you have a slow download connection, I would suggest you leave the updating to another time. After this process you will be asked to log into your online account. I would have liked the ability to register an account from this login screen but I was not able to. Cancel just causes the program to exit. Back to the instructions, it does indicate that I must register an account before using the Heart Wizard. This is not perfectly clear because using the Heart Monitor to me means the pulse sensor and not the ability to run the software itself to setup the USB adapter.  Once the software has been intially installed, you can plug in the USB adapter to install the human interface driver software automatically.

Account Creation

 Next step for me was to create an online account by going to http://account.awscenter.com I would have prefered to have been sent to http://account.awscenter.com/Forms/Register.aspx instead of clicking create new account from the first page. Another beef I have is that the account creation screen says “Create a Heart Wizard Account” with a blank input screen. That area of the screen is not clearly marked as to the information to be entered. Reading the small grey print on the right hand side of the screen indicates I need to enter the registration code printed on the outside of the CD paper sleeve. Make sure you do not lose the sleeve. I would have prefered the registration code to be printed directly on the CD itself. The registration code has capital letters and numbers. You do not need to enter capital letters online for the registration code to be accepted. This can also create some confusion with novice computer users.

Health Snapshot2: Image Source AWS

 The software installed on the PC is only functional when you are logged into the companies website. This prevents anyone from using the product as a stand alone system which greatly reduces the useability of the product. A highspeed Internet connection is recommended.

The Heart Wizard hardware detects your pulse rate using the bio sensor which clips onto your ear lobe. The software then stores this information for future reference. The bio sensor is very comfortable and simple to attach. When the Heart Wizard is used on a regular basis, you can track your pulse rate over time and access your overall heart condition.

Simple tests are performed online to determine your stress level and initial heart rates.

Pros

• NONE

Cons

• Poor documentation and online setup.
• Does not provide stand alone functionality. Highspeed Internet connection required for operation.
• Only provides access to a portion of the online features plus a subcription is required for continued access to the saved progress data after 12 months.
• Too pricey just for the package itself since the bio senor plus adapter only works when connected to the Heart Wizard website via a separate computer system.
• Ownership of product cannot be transfered once the software has been registered online.
• MAC OS not supported

Conclusion

The overall layout of the online features are not very user friendly. The package does not provide the details that can be easily discussed with your home doctor which is very important when your health is the main reason for this package. The retail price of $289.00 USD is just too high for the Heart Wizard adapter even with a one year free online subscription worth $99.00 USD. The Heart Wizard sensor alone is sold @ $195.00 USD which is also too expensive for this type of product. 

Final Verdict: Not Recommended

Manufacturer: AWS

Basically, you play mankind’s last hope against an alien planet that sucks the life out of other planets to refuel its resources.  I’m pretty sure that came out of the “top 10 standard sci-fi plots” handbook, but that’s okay.  When you’re blowing things up you don’t really care about the plot.  Like most shooters, there’s plenty to blow up.  The game is a vertical shooter, which means you get a top down view of your ship and all your opponents.

Giga Force

The bad guys come at you in droves rather than in any sort of formation, and they are relentless in their attack.  I’ll use my famous quote – “it’s not a matter of IF you’ll get hit, but WHEN you’ll get hit.”  The environment also plays a big part in the game because you can’t hit any platforms or anything, so it’s often a matter of taking a bullet vs. getting wedged in a corner where you can’t escape.  The bad thing is that you only get like half a second of invulnerability when you respawn after dying, so it’s not unheard of to lose 2 or 3 lives because you died just as you were flying into some sort of structure and you can’t dodge it quick enough after respawning.

You have a life meter, and while you can get a shield that temporarily blocks shots, I don’t believe there’s any way to refill the meter (unless of course you die, in which case the meter will be full on your next life).  Your lives are limited, but I’m not sure how many you get, as it doesn’t say in the help and there is no counter on screen.  You also have a three level power up that gets fueled when you destroy bad guys.  As soon as you have enough power to activate a certain level of power up you can turn it on, and it will remain active until your power runs out, even if the level drops below what’s required to initially activate the power up.  Your power up meter is only fueled when you’re shooting the enemy with your standard weapon.

You can control the ship either with your stylus or with the d-pad.  Firing is automatic, so you don’t have to worry about that.  I tried using the d-pad, but my particular device is notorious for not playing well with games when it comes to the d-pad, and Giga Force is no exception.  The stylus control works quite well, however, and the touch point is actually below the ship, so you’re hand will never actually block your view.

The visuals are nothing out of the ordinary where space shooters are concerned, but they look good enough.  They ships are definitely colorful and well animated.  The sound is pretty standard shooter fare as well, but the music is really well done.  I think there might even be a different song for each level set, as well as a special song for the bosses.

Overall I was pretty pleased with Giga Force.  It’s old school shooter fun with a decent degree of challenge.  There’s nothing revolutionary about it, but I’m not sure the developer was going for that.  Unfortunately, there’s one thing that keeps my from flat out recommending the game.  There appears to be no save feature.  In fact, once you’ve started to play, the only way out of the game is a red X in the upper right corner, which kicks you completely out of the game instead of taking you back to the menu.  Once you start the game back up, you have to start all over.  There really needs to be a save feature.

Final Verdict: On The Fence
Product Home Page

[All About Quick Looks]

Manufacturer: Trispecs

Trispecs Bluetooth Sunglasses

Bluetooth headsets have become very popular in the last couple of years since many countries have instituted a law prohibiting drivers from using a cell phone that is held against your ear while driving. Most of these Bluetooth headsets have been the mono/single earpiece design. The lack of wireless stereo headsets was mainly due to the fact that a phone conversation is mono in nature plus the lack of software or Bluetooth stereo profile support. Now that the proper stereo profile A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution profile) and the remote control profile AVRCP (Audio/Video Remote Control Profile) has been created, we are able to take advantage of the stereo music that many cell phones support now wirelessly.  To add more style and functionality to the wireless stereo music enjoyment and cell phone call access, Trispecs has combined the stereo Bluetooth headset support into a stylist pair of sunglasses.

The Trispecs sunglasses are truly sunglasses with the added wireless music and cell phone support. The sunglasses come in various colors and in mens and womans styles. The lenses used in these sunglasses are manufactured by a company called SOLA Sunlens which is a brand of Carl Zeiss Vision. From a sunglass standpoint, these Trispecs are very light and comfortable to wear.

Product Specifications

Bluetooth Specification Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, backward compatible with 1.2

Bluetooth Profiles Handsfree, Stereo Headset, A2DP, AVRCP, GAVDP

Music Frequency Response 20 Hz – 20000Hz

Telephony Frequency Response 00 Hz – 3000Hz

Battery Type Integrated rechargeable Li-Ion Polymer

Battery life when fully charged Talk Time – 7 hrs

Battery life when fully charged Music Playing – 5 hrs

Battery life when fully charged Standby Time – 70 hrs

Charging Time Fast charge (to 80% capacity) in 1.5 hrs; Full charge in 2.5 hours

Connectivity Built in port for USB (Micro) cable connection

Additional Feature Firmware upgradeable via USB

Radio Frequency 2.4GHz, GFSK

Weight 52 g (1.8 oz)

Operation / Storage environment -10ºC to 50ºC; 5% to 90% relative humidity

Charging environment 0ºC to 45ºC

Black Trispecs Sunglasses – Image: Trispecs

The actual Bluetooth function is something you will need to get comfortable with if you have never used a Bluetooth headset with your cell phone before. For users that have used a Bluetooth headset before, the setup is straight forward and simple as any other Bluetooth headset. Once the sunglasses is setup to work with your cell phone, the sunglasses are a breeze to use anytime. The first step in setting up the headset/sunglasses for use with your cell phone is to pair the two devices. This is accomplished by turning on the Bluetooth on your cellphone and initiating the Bluetooth device search feature. You will need to refer to your owners manual for the exact instructions. 

The Trispecs has full player controls on the sunglasses.

• Call, volume up and volume down buttons on the left arm.
• Play, next and previous buttons on the right arm.

Left Controls Buttons

To initiate the pairing, first turn on the sunglasses by pulling the right earpiece out. Then press and hold the CALL Button on the left hand arm of the sunglassess until the LED on the right arm turns  solid RED. Then initiate the search for Bluetooth devices feature from your cell phone. Eventually the cell phone should detect the sunglasses as EYEWEAR. Now you can select EYEWEAR and then you should be prompted to enter a passkey. Just enter 0000 (zero,zero,zero,zero) as the four digit numerical passkey. Now, you should be ready to listen to music on your sunglasses. It is as simple as launching your music player on your cellphone and you should start to hear the music wirelessly on your sunglasses. If you do not hear anything on your headphones, you will need to refer to the actual cell phones instructions for further steps if necessary. Each cell phone is slightly different in how certain features are accessed.

Right Controls Buttons

On my Palm Treo 700wx, I initially ran into a number of issues. First my Palm smartphone did not come with any Bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP profiles. No problem I thought as I could go to the manufacturer of the phone or the provider of the samrtphone (Bell Mobility) to get a Bluetooth software update. First attempt was to get the software update from Palm. Palm does provide a Bluetooth update for the Palm Treo 700wx. Unfortunately the update is only available for the Palm Treo 700wx available from SPRINT in the States. Bell Mobility in Canada does not offer a Bluetooth update even on their website. I was truly disappointed that a software update available for the actual hardware is not available for my device since it is not offered by Bell Mobility which is the service provider here in Canada.

I did some additional digging on the Internet and came across a solution at XDA Developers. I do not recommend this third party update since it is time consuming, tedious and requires you to use a registry editor. Any incorrect changes made via a registry editor can easily crash your Smartphone if you are not careful.

Windows Mobile 5 Bluetooth Profile

The file to install and configure is available HERE if you feel the need to go this route (Attempt only at your own risk). What I was missing on my Palm Treo 700wx was the wireless Stereo profile that is indicated in the above image. Now that I have this, I am able to activate the feature through my Palm and send music to the sunglasses.

USB Bluetooth Adapters

Before I was able to get my Palm Treo 700wx working with the Trispecs sunglasses, I was able to take advantage of the sunglasses using my Bluetooth connection on my Windows Vista laptop. The real advantage of using the sunglasses on a windows PC is the ability to roam around the house and listen to music. Depending on how strong your Bluetooth wireless is on your PC/laptop, you might even be able to go outside to enjoy the weather or do some gardening. Since the signal is a wireless digital signal you either get full stereo sound or no sound at all once the signal gets weak. The weak signal issue is not a concern using the cell phone since the two devices should be close to each other at all times.

When connected to my smartphone, I had no issues with the signal being 15 – 20 feet away like when I left the phone on my desk. On my laptop the signal would extend 35 – 40 feet since the Bluetooth adapter I am using is a USB adapter with a built in external antenna. I was able to take my laptop outside and plug the laptop in a wall outlet to enjoy the great sunshine. Connecting to itunes online via my Wi-Fi connection allowed me full access to the wide range of online radio stations on my Trispecs Bluetooth sunglasses.

Since the A2DP and the AVRCP Bluetooth profiles are required on the mobile device, a list of current devices that support these profiles would have been a handy reference guide to have in the box or better yet, on the website. I was able to find a list on the Internet that is not up to date but does list some models that are most likely still used. You can go HERE to see the outdated list. Another list that has some of the newer devices is available HERE but might still be incomplete.

Audio Quality

The Trispecs comes with noise reduction circuitry therefore the reduction in external noise is certainly excellent. Sounds like cars and general outdoor noise was almost non existent when using the Trispecs. The downside to this is you sacrifice the bass response. The music can sound flat depending on the type of music being played. Jazz or orchestral music in many cases are not well suited for these headphones. Pop, rock and electronic music with lots of treble and bass in the original recording are fine. Since these are in ear headphones 3 different sizes of silicon tips are included. I had to use the smallest ones and I found those even a little tight.

The battery on the Trispecs lasts over 4 hours of continous music playback which is very good. Keep in mind if each song is about 4 minutes you will need at least 60 songs. Songs being an average 8 megs in file size means, 480 megs worth of mp3 songs are required to last 4 hours without repeating a song. If you use a better music format like AAC or WMA, the file sizes will be much larger therefore you will require to have 1 gig of memory or more on your mobile device to hold over 4 hours worth of music. In reality, most of us would never listen to 4+ hours of continuous music wearing these sunglasses but if you do, your mobile device may need a recharging long before your Trispecs will. Recharging of the Trispecs is done via a standard micro USB connection on the arm using the included USB cable and wall adapter. You can just use the USB cable on the PC/laptop but it will take slightly longer to fully recharge.

Phone Use

The Trispecs will switch between the music and phone when you press the PHONE button on the left arm. Answering the call is as simple as just pressing the CALL button. This will pick up the call and turn the music off. By pressing and holding the CALL button you can dismiss the call if you wish instead. Depending on the mobile device, the music maybe paused or muted. Muted means the music is still playing while you engage in the phone conversation but not heard. Once the call is complete, another press of the CALL button and your music is back. The handsfree Bluetooth Profile will allow you to dial by voice based on the stored names and numbers on your phone. This is the same as doing a voice dial on the phone directly except the voice is picked up by the built in mic on the Trispecs located at the front end of each arm on the inside.

One interesting thing occured to me when I was cycling with the Trispecs sunglasses. The covering to the arm joint on the left hand side fell off at some point. Only the double sided tape that was used to attach the covering still remained. I noticed this after I was back home. The temperature outside was around 18 degrees Celcius therefore not hot by any means. I mention the temperature since heat can soften many glues on tape. A careful examination of the covering on the right side indicated that the double sided tape is not that secure. I was able to easily remove the covering with one finger. I am guessing that the piece fell off when I was on the park trails going over some bumps. This certainly is a negative for something that costs $199.00 USD. The image below showing the missing corner cover plate on the left side was cleaned to remove the sticky double sided tape before the photo was taken.

Right Arm Corner With Cover Plate

Left Arm Corner With No Cover Plate

The nice thing with these sunglasses is that the curved end allow the sunglasses to stay securing attached to the face.

Cons:

• There are no specifications readily viewable on the Trispecs website. I was able to find some specs in a downloadable PDF press release file located HERE.
• No FAQ or commonly asked question to help those with simple issues.
• Website is fully Adobe Flash based therefore anyone without Flash installed on their computer will not see majority of the online information. You can go HERE which is the store section that fortunately does not use Flash at all and is easily accessible by any computer.
• You must have a mobile device that has the A2DP and the AVRCP Bluetooth profiles installed to take advantage of these glasses. This is only mentioned in the section of the multi-paged manual that specify how to pair the devices (page 6). The Eyewear Quick User Guide which most users will refer to does not mention at all that the A2Dp and AVRCP Bluetooth profiles are required on the signal originating device (cell phone or mobile device). 
• The sound quality lacks true bass response.
• The control buttons are too close together and only two small bumps on the middle button allows you to tell the other buttons apart. Not very user friendly since you cannot see the labels or the buttons while wearing the sunglasses.
• You must hold down the rewind button and then depress the retract headphone button to turn the unit off. This is very awkward to do. The retraction spring is very strong thus I would suggest you hold the earpiece also to avoid damage.
• When putting down the glasses, the earbud tends to face the surface therefore causing contact with the surface. This creates some concerns with unsanitary surface contact. If you flip the sunglasses upside down, this can accidentally depress the headphone retract button. Ok when the headphones are already retracted but not so good when the headphones are fully extended.
• The beep to indicate Bluetooth connection and the various female voice prompts has a volume level that is a little too high for my liking.
• The joint covering is not as secure as it could be.
• Comes with a soft case. I would have preferred a hard carry case.

Pros:

• Very light
• Great sunglass lens. Truly reduces the glare and light while outdoors.
• Easy to establish a connection once setup. Press and hold the call button until a solid led light appears on the right arm. The mobile device should recognize the signal and prompt for connection.
• Voice quality pickup is good when on the phone.
• Battery lasts at least 4 hours while listening to music continuously. The battery on the cell phone may require recharging before the Trispecs.

Installation Ease: 8 (If your mobile device supports A2DP and AVRCP out of the box).

Fun Factor: 8

Usability: 7

Documentation: 6

Online Support: 1

Overall Rating:

6.0

The Trispecs are truly an interesting piece of technology. Unfortunately the online support is lacking and without an up to date listing of supported devices, most curious buyers going to the Trispecs website may be reluctant to purchase these Bluetooth sunglasses. Those that do purchase without checking their mobile device first for compatibility will be disappointed if they discover later that the required Bluetooth software is not on their device. These Bluetooth sunglasses are certainly good in providing handsfree phone access and good music listening without all the wires. Many States and cities now make it illegal for you to use a cell phone while driving. You must be parked to use a cell phone. At least the Trispecs will allow you to place or recieve a call without taking your hands off the steering wheel. If you are interested in these sunglasses, make sure you double check your owners manual or the lists provided above to be certain your phone has the proper Bluetooth support first. Also check the manufacturers website of your Bluetooth phone or mobile device for any Bluetooth updates for maximum features and sound quality.

Trispecs

Trispecs Store

This style of game play, using real world clues to help you track down criminals, is one of the few types of game play I’ve seen that has managed to be both fun and educational. And, if you don’t feel like “learning” anything, it’s still quite the challenge pitting you wherewithal against the computer to see if you can find these tricky thieves. This game is for anyone seeking a fun challenge on their Windows Mobile device. If you’re not careful, you might even pick up a thing or two about the world around you as well!  Check out a video of the game here, and expect a full review soon after release.

I have read and heard from others that I can keep my current antenna if it was receiving good analog signals in the VHF and UHF signals. Some say, I have to switch to an actual digital antenna and the analog will not be good enough. So which is it? I have checked numerous sites for more accurate information and my brain is not as techno as it should be or too techno in this regard.

HERE is a good starting point. This is the US governments website and has simple to understand information about what sort of existing analog antenna you need to have to fully take advantage of the new digital signal. Most of you should be fine with what you they have already. The sticking point is that the location may have to change. Analog signals were easy to fine tune. By moving the antenna around the signal got better or worse just by looking at the TV screens image quality. The changes were instantaneous. Now with the digital signal, it takes time for the receiver to establish if the signal is received correctly or not and then translate this to an actual image, You will see a great digital picture or no picture at all. There is no longer a grey area which is a poor picture quality that existed with a week analog signal. This means the digital signal which consists of 1′s and 0′s are received in perfect order (great digital picture) or not (no picture). Keep in mind,the signal can degrade depending on weather conditions and this means your picture and sound may cut out completely during poor reception times showing you a blue or green screen The screen color depends on what your TV or digital receiver uses.

Anyone considering working with an existing outdoor antenna or plans on installing an outdoor antenna should request the help of at least two other people. Two people to help connect and position the antenna for mounting and one person to watch the TV and relay the results back to the people outside. Cellphones or two way radios are recommended. Shouting is not recommended.

The final conclusion is that your existing antenna that recieves both VHF and UHF signals is good for now. Check the government website mentioned above for details on how to tell if you have a VHF and UHF antenna. Basically a VHF antenna handles channels 2 – 13 and UHF handles anything above 13 to 99 therefore most people should be fine.

Device Used: Verizon XV6700

Software Type: Game

Developed By: Astraware, under license from PopCap Games

I love Astraware for the simple fact that while I might not enjoy every single one of their games, I know they have a knack for picking diverse, easy to get into and ultimately challenging games to bring to mobile platforms. Insaniquarium is certainly no exception to that rule. I never would have thought an aquarium maintenance simulation would actually be entertaining let alone challenging, but once again Astraware has managed to surprise me.

There are three game play modes to Insaniquarium Deluxe, but for the purpose of this review I’m going to focus mainly on Adventure mode. In this mode you have five tanks that you must conquer, each tank having five levels of difficulty. You start each level of each tank with two guppies and up to three different specialty pets, which I’ll talk more about later. You’re goal for each level is to raise enough money to progress through the three stages required in order to hatch a new pet. Once the pet has hatched you move on to the next stage. Your main source of revenue is from the fish that you raise. As they get bigger they start dropping coins, and when they are full grown they drop diamonds. When you collect these items you increase your available cash, which you can use to purchase more fish or other items to help you keep your tank in tip top shape.

Insaniquarium Image 1

So what are these pets? Pets are special animals that help you raise your fish and that can’t be killed by lack of proper feeding or by aliens. I will get to the aliens later. The first pet you get is Stinky the Snail, who scoots along the bottom of the cage and helps you collect the coins your fish drop. Some of my other favorites so far include Prego The Momma Fish, who periodically births a new guppy to save you some expenses and keep the tank populated, and Vert The Skelton, and fish skeleton that drops coins just like it were an adult guppy. There are many others to be discovered as well, but that’s up to you when you play the game. The trick to these pets is that they all do cool and useful things, but you can only use three at a time. The decision of which three to use at any given time gets harder as you acquire a larger range of pets to choose from.

Now you’re probably wondering what I meant when I mentioned “aliens” in the last paragraph. Well, it would appear that your fish tanks are so popular that they often get raided by a host of different aliens that love a good sushi bar. The aliens come in many shapes and sizes, but the one thing they have in common is their taste in fish – yours. That is, of course, except for the robot, that is more than happy to just shoot your fish. Thankfully you have a laser that you can use to dispatch these aliens, and there are certain pets that will help protect your fish from the aliens as well.

In addition to everything I’ve already described, there are items that you can buy throughout the course of each level. The main item, of course, is fish. If your native fish population – not counting special pets – ever gets down to zero, you’ve lost the level. You start each level with the ability to drop one food pellet at a time, and the food that you start out with doesn’t fill your fish for very long. Have no fear, though: you can upgrade the quality of your food as well as the number of pellets you can drop at one time. Depending on which tank you are playing you will have the opportunity to buy either one or two special items that will help you earn money. Often these items either work in conjunction with each other or with other elements in the tank. For example, in tank 1 you can buy a piranha. To keep it alive you must feed it a small guppy every once in a while, but in exchange for the meal, the piranha will produce a gem every once in a while as long as it’s alive. I felt these specialty purchases were great if you wanted them, but what frustrated me about them was that in adventure mode, you had to buy them before you could get to the last two items available for purchase.

Insaniquarium Image 2

The penultimate purchase you can make is an upgrade to your laser gun. There are four levels of upgrade, and as the aliens get tougher I would highly recommend these upgrades whenever possible. Finally we’ve arrived at the purchase that denotes what adventure mode is all about: the special pets. For each level of each tank in adventure mode you must hatch a special pet. Each pet goes through three phases before it hatches, and the pet on each level for a given tank is more expensive than the last.

Now you should have a pretty good feel for what you do in the game. So how do you play the game? For those who are lucky enough to have a touch screen, it’s actually quite simple. Everything is driven with the click of the stylus. For the most part this makes the game a simple matter of clicking the right place at the right time. There are a couple instances where this simple interface can be a problem, however. The big one is when you’re under attack by an alien. At that point all you can do is fire at the alien, which in theory is fine. Unfortunately, your fish tend to be stupid and swim towards the alien instead of away. The only mechanism you have for “directing” the fish is dropping food pellets, which admittedly only works when the fish are hungry. However, you don’t even have that luxury when you’re in attack mode. Also, you have to be in “empty” water in order to drop pellets, which gets harder to do as your tank becomes more populated. Granted that also adds to the thrill and tension of the game, but it can get annoying sometimes none the less. There is also a keyboard mode, but unfortunately there is no mention in the help on what keys to use. The only thing I was able to figure out in keyboard mode was how to move a cursor around the screen. Thankfully my device has a touch screen.

Insaniquarium Image 3

As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, Insaniquarium Deluxe actually has three game modes. The other two are Time Trial and Challenge mode. In Time Trial you can play each tank once you’ve beaten it in adventure mode. In this game you get a certain amount of time to raise as much money as you can. What I like about this mode is that in addition to starting with 3 pets, you can actually buy more pets along the way. The egg that you must hatch in adventure mode has been replaced by a “random pet” egg, and each time you click on it you get another random pet from your collection added to the tank. Of course, the price of the egg goes up with each click as well. I really didn’t care for Time Trial with tank one, but I found it a lot more engaging with tank two. Challenge mode is only playable once you’ve completed adventure mode, so I have nothing to report on that mode right now – I’m only on tank four in adventure mode.

Graphically the game is gorgeous. Each sprite has its own animation, and they went out of their way to make sure that each pet and alien was fairly different from every other one in the game. When you consider that you’re looking at 25 pets (five for each of five tanks), plus at least ten different aliens that I’ve run across so far, and the specials that are available by tank, that’s a lot of character design for this type of game. Each tank also has a unique backdrop, which just adds to the diversity of the visuals. At first I was a bit disappointed that there weren’t really any background animations, but when you consider everything that’s going on in the foreground, that would probably be overkill.

Insaniquarium Image 4

The sound effects are also well done, and for as much of you hear of collecting coins and slurping pellets when the tank is full, they actually don’t get annoying over time. I have to confess that my favorite sound effect is when a fish dies. I always picture some cheesy eighties Tom & Jerry cartoon when I hear it. The music is decent, though nothing spectacular. It’s almost what I’d expect someone to play next to a fish tank to give the fish a serene atmosphere. You won’t be singing it in your head a week from now like you do the theme to Tetris, though. I did appreciate the fact that each tank had its own theme, which seems to be less common these days with musical scores.

Graphics: 10

Sound: 9

Installation Ease: 10

Fun Factor: 10

Usability: 9

Documentation: 7

Adjustability: 9

Addon Packs: NO

Suitable For Young Kids: YES

Online Support: YES

CONS:

- Documentation a bit weak in spots
- The “one click does all” paradigm doesn’t always work

PROS:

- Game play
- Graphics
- Sound
- Pretty much everything

OVERALL:

Insaniquarium Deluxe is the perfect game for the casual gamer who’d like to give action games a try. It’s also great for anyone with an itchy trigger finger that still remembers what playing games BEFORE 3D was like. The simulation elements are quite fun as well. Overall it’s a wonderful mesh of two different genres that should appeal to a wide range of gamers. It’s also one of the best games Astraware has turned out in quite some time. I really can’t see much of a reason for anyone to pass this particular gem up.

Overall Rating: 9

Available Platforms: Windows Mobile, Palm OS

Developed By: Astraware, under license from PopCap Games

Images: Clickgamer

http://www.ludimate.com

Reviewed by Eric Pankoke

I’ll probably say this every time such a game comes along, but I love it when a developer takes a tested, seasoned concept and adds enough twists and turns to make it new and their own. Such is the case with Tilelander from Ludimate. The game obviously finds its roots in the classic Qix, but it won’t be long before you realize this isn’t your simple 80’s remake.

The premise behind the game is a bit silly, but then games like this were never really meant to have a plot. Tileland has been invaded by the Xyzons, and it’s up to you to stop them. “How?” you might ask. All you have to do is fill each level with tiles. Well, actually you can get away with just filling most of the level with tiles. Whenever you capture the last Xyzon on a level they will leave some flags, and this will help you complete the level without totally filling it. So how do you fill a level with tiles? You start each level “attached” to a tile. As you move around the level you create a trail, and as soon as you touch another tile the trail becomes a solid wall of tiles. If you touch a tile that will cause an area to be enclosed, all the space enclosed in that area will be filled with tiles. Additionally, any Xyzon caught in that area will be destroyed.

 Xyzons aren’t going to just let you surround them without a fight, however. The enemy will move around the screen in an attempt to destroy you. Some simply move up and down or left to right. Others will travel all around the screen in random patterns, while some will actually gravitate towards you. Certain Xyzons will actually produce other Xyzons to hunt you, while the shy kind will stay back and shoot at you any opportunity they get.

So besides capturing the enemy in tiles, how do you defend yourself? That’s where Tilelander sets itself apart from other games of this type. In many levels you have guns scattered throughout the screen. When you run into a gun it fires in the direction that you were moving. The second item you have to aid you in your quest is a tile that will actually create more tiles for you. At first this didn’t seem very useful, but it turns out that if you create a tile on the same area that a Xyzon is moving to, it will actually kill the Xyzon. The third, and in my opinion coolest, item at your disposal is a cloning device. This will create a “duplicate” of your ship that moves the same direction you do. However, if you move left and then stop, the clone will keep moving. In addition, clones can trigger guns, use the tile creation devices, and kill Xyzons by running into them (though some take multiple hits by clones). There are a few other items at your disposal as well, but you can check those out when you play the game.

There are two modes in the game. Arcade mode plays just as you’d expect from everything I’ve described above. The second mode, which comes in Easy, Normal and Hard flavors, has one interesting quirk to it. Xyzons will only move when you do! This restriction does not apply to Xyzon projectiles, though. However, if Xyzons only move when you do, and clones move even when you stop, hopefully you can see a huge benefit to clones in this mode. Personally, I prefer the second mode, though Arcade mode would provide an additional challenge if you’ve played through all levels in the other mode.

When I first started playing this game it seemed like just an above average Qix clone with a few twists. The more I replayed various levels, however, I really started to gain an appreciation for the work and creativity that went into coming up with some of these levels. A few of them were a bit tedious if you had to play them repeated times, but that was the exception to the rule. Some of them were brilliant, and you could tell by the themes that these guys have been video game fans for a long time, which was really neat.

The graphics in Tilelander are fairly simplistic, but serve the game well. Each of the Xyzons has a unique and discernable look, and of course your spaceship stands out from the crowd with its sleek, plus sign exterior. What’s really enjoyable about the graphics, however, is how the different tile types are used to create recognizable images of everything from Elvis to a stock market graph. Sometimes it’s almost a shame to have to ruin the cool designs Ludimate has created.

As with most puzzle games, the sound effects are nothing special, though everything did compliment its corresponding action. I did appreciate the fact that each tile type had a unique sound both when filling in an area and when being destroyed. The music was a mixed bag. What I heard of it was okay, but it seemed like on many levels there either wasn’t music or it was not playing correctly. On several occasions there was a lot of crackling but no sound, which lead me to believe that maybe their audio system wasn’t working 100% correctly on my machine.

Pros:

- Some nice twists to a vintage concept
- Several really well done level designs
- An overall polished package

Cons:

- Only being able to save every ten levels
- “Only” seventy levels
- Potential audio problems

The beauty of the Pocket PC is that it’s still trying to find its niche, so developers don’t feel constrained to the mass-market mentality that console developers have. As a result you get games like Tilelander, which takes a concept that works and makes it something unique. Hopefully this is just the first of many products to come out of the Ludimate stable.

Score: 9/10

www.max-studio.net

Reviewed by Eric Pankoke
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Burning Armor Code E
Winner of the Cutting Edge Coding Competition 2006

Given the right angle, there’s always room for another vertical shooter in my collection. Unfortunately, even after being rewritten using the EDGE gaming library, I’m not sure that Burning Armor has enough of an edge to rise to the top. Read on to find out of this is one flight worth taking, or if you should just let Burning Armor crash and burn…

Burning Armor appears to be your typical vertical scrolling shooter. You wade headlong into the enemy hoping to destroy them before they get to you. Some ships come at you in formations like 1942, while others just fly in and hang out until either they’ve destroyed you or you’ve taken care of them. Destroying smaller ships yield low value coins, while bigger ships produce high value coins or more importantly, power-ups. Power-ups range from increased firepower to full ship repair, so you want to be sure that you never miss a power-up if at all possible. You should keep in mind that power-ups are ship specific, so if you fail to destroy a particular big ship, don’t expect to find its power-up in the next big ship that comes along.

As with most shooters, you have a basic weapon that can be upgraded; in this case it happens to start out as a machine gun. In addition to that you have a hyper beam, which has unlimited use but must be charged in order to use it. To initiate the charging process you press the center of the D-Pad. Once the weapon is charged, your ship will slow down, indicating that it’s ready. Pressing the D-Pad again fires the weapon, which spends a few seconds destroying everything on screen. Once the beam is exhausted it goes through a preliminary recharge, which is separate from the charge that you initiate with the D-Pad. Finally you have the evade button, which just like in 1942 causes your plane to fly around in a loop, temporarily avoiding all bullets and ships on the screen. Once you’ve performed an evade, you need to wait for the evade meter to charge up before you can use that feature again.

Burning Armor has two modes: Normal and Turbo. Even when playing normal, I found this game overly difficult. So far I have not been able to beat the first level, and to be honest, as time passed I lost my desire to keep trying. The level design is not very interesting, the enemies aren’t all that original in how they attack, and it gets rather frustrating getting all the way to the end almost every time just to get trounced by the boss and have to start over. It would have been real nice to have an introductory level or something, so that mediocre players like myself could feel at least somewhat accomplished.

You have the choice of using the stylus or D-Pad to move your ship around the screen. Unfortunately, you don’t have the ability to map the rest of the hardware buttons yourself. This is a shame, because I would really have liked to use something besides the center of the D-Pad for the hyper beam. This certainly isn’t a major issue, but I don’t understand why most games don’t allow the remapping of controls any more, especially those of the action genre.

Burning Armor Code E

While not quite up to the level of Skyforce Reloaded or Claygun, the graphics in Burning Armor are still really good.  It’s nice to see a traditional shooter that doesn’t use traditional ship designs.  Sure, many of the aircraft have recognizable influences, but they still look original compared to what you see in most vertical shooters these days.  I also liked how they effectively used multiple layers to provide a feeling of depth, as aircraft on the lower level appeared smaller.  I realize this is not a new technique, but it’s a slick one that is quite often neglected in this sort of game.  My chief complaint as far as the graphics are concerned is that it was often difficult to see the ammunition that was being hurled at you, which seems to be quite common in this sort of game, especially on devices with smaller screens.  Fortunately, there is a low graphics detail setting which hides the clouds, a main contributor to the lack of visibility on the ammunition.

The music in Burning Armor is well done.  Sadly I can’t speak for whether or not the game has multiple tracks, since I have as yet to beat the first level, but if they’re as good as the one on the first level I’d say Burning Armor has a great soundtrack.  On the other hand, the sound effects are basically limited to the firing of your main weapon and explosions.  My suggestion is to leave the music on and turn off the sound effects.  You won’t be missing anything.

Pros:

It’s a vertical shooter
Good graphics, especially in the ship design
Soundtrack for first level is good

Cons:

Too difficult for my tastes
Lackluster level design
Can’t remap controls

Score: 6/10

Burning Armor is not necessarily a bad game.  Other than decent ship design, however, there’s nothing here that sets Burning Armor apart from the rest.  Add to that the insane difficulty level, and I would have to suggest booking a flight on Claygun or Skyforce Reloaded first.

Meltdown from Momentum Games
Reviewed by: Eric Pankoke

After playing Pocket Mini Golf 2 from Momentum Games, I had high expectations for Meltdown. Then, as I started seeing rather positive reviews from industry veterans that I greatly respect, the bar was raised. I am here to let you know that I was not in any way disappointed. Let the race to reactor core meltdown begin!

The premise behind Meltdown is simple. You play the part of Emgee, a nuclear power station safety control robot. Your job is to make sure that power stations run flawlessly. Unfortunately, this is not your day, as power station after power station is beginning to fall apart from rust and corrosion. To make matters worse, your legs won’t stop moving! You can’t let that slow you down, however, as you must deactivate a certain number of cores in each power station before they melt down and cause a nuclear explosion! Are you up to the task?

Emgee’s main two tools at his disposal are his super jump and his flight pack. Each has a meter on it, and the longer you hold down the button the more distance you’ll get out of the given tool. The caveat is this: the jump is only available when you’re on the ground (of course), but the flight pack is only available in the air. As soon as your feet leave the ground you can start charging your jet pack, but as soon as your feet touch the ground again that charge will be converted to your jump. Still sound pretty easy?

Here’s the element that binds the whole game together: timing. Sure you could charge your tools to full capacity every time, but you’ll never pass most of the levels that way, as you’ll continually overshoot targets (or undershoot, if a strong launch causes you to hit a pipe in the ceiling, for example). You may have to play through levels several times as you determine how much power will get you where you need to go, when you need to start powering up, and when you need to release the button. This goes for both jumping and flying. It’s also important to learn to use your environment. A low hanging platform may be your friend if you just want to turn around instead of making a long jump. Oh, and did I mention that each level is timed as well?

Momentum Meltdown

In addition to the clock and your perpetual movement, there are plenty of other obstacles as well. In the early levels you get simple things, such as core switches that have to be deactivated in a certain order and pools of coolant that will cause you to short circuit. As the levels progress you get more challenges, such as electric barriers that must be deactivated and radioactive gremlins that would like nothing more than to sample your circuits. Fortunately, some of these obstacles simply force you to start back at the beginning of the level, while keeping any already-triggered core switches flipped. However, anything that causes you to travel over parts of the level again wastes time, and time is definitely not on your side.

Pros:

Excellent Graphics
Spot On Sound
Unique, Challenging and Addictive Gameplay

Cons:

- Can be quite challenging for the less skilled player, even on “Easy” mode
- Have no control over when to use isotope rods
 -Have to replay all levels of a station to beat undefeated ones

Score: 9/10