Gaming 24 - A Lovely Battlefield

Gaming 24 - A Lovely Battlefield

Posted on 10th Apr 2011 at 10:21 by Podcast with 18 comments

Battlefield 3, Portal 2, Alice: Madness Returns and Crysis 2 - those are the topics of conversation this week. We also discuss why StarCraft II is awful, and why Clive thinks Shogun 2 is 'lovely,' rather than 'awesome.'

This week sees bit-gamer regulars Joe, Clive and Paul joined by a fresh face too; our new intern David Hing was brave enough to both lend us his vocal cords and sit opposite Harry this week. That boy has guts!

As well as the usual rants and discussions, the podcast also features the regular competitions and reader mail slots. We've got a new prize up for grabs this week too - a Speedlink Strike FX Wireless Gamepad, kindly provided by Speedlink - so listen in for your chance to win.

As ever, the bit-tech hardware podcast features music by Brad Sucks, and was recorded on Shure microphones. You can download the podcast direct, listen in-browser or subscribe through iTunes using the links below. Also, be sure to let us know your thoughts about the discussion in the forums.

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Gaming 24 - A Lovely Battlefield

Gaming 24 - A Lovely Battlefield

Posted on 10th Apr 2011 at 10:21 by Podcast with 18 comments

Battlefield 3, Portal 2, Alice: Madness Returns and Crysis 2 - those are the topics of conversation this week. We also discuss why StarCraft II is awful, and why Clive thinks Shogun 2 is 'lovely,' rather than 'awesome.'

This week sees bit-gamer regulars Joe, Clive and Paul joined by a fresh face too; our new intern David Hing was brave enough to both lend us his vocal cords and sit opposite Harry this week. That boy has guts!

As well as the usual rants and discussions, the podcast also features the regular competitions and reader mail slots. We've got a new prize up for grabs this week too - a Speedlink Strike FX Wireless Gamepad, kindly provided by Speedlink - so listen in for your chance to win.

As ever, the bit-tech hardware podcast features music by Brad Sucks, and was recorded on Shure microphones. You can download the podcast direct, listen in-browser or subscribe through iTunes using the links below. Also, be sure to let us know your thoughts about the discussion in the forums.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bit-tech/blog/~3/DYaWvCBbXtY/

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iPad Review: Sword and Sworcery EP

iPad Review: Sword and Sworcery EP

Posted on 11th Apr 2011 at 10:50 by David Hing with 12 comments

Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP for the iPad is like nothing else you have ever played. Described as ?a 21st century interpretation of the archetypical old school videogame adventure? it uses beautifully crafted pixel-scapes to do for video gaming what the impressionist painters did for art.

A collaborative project from indie studio Capybara, rock musicians and art from the Superbrothers themselves, Sword and Sworcery EP is a essentially a point and click adventure game that sees you cast as a warrior out to destroy an ancient evil. To do that you?ll need to solve puzzles, fight bears and collect an artefact called the Megatome ? so far, so adventure-game. What sets is apart from the likes of Kings Quest however are the lashings of surrealism, abstraction and poetry that somehow never slips into infuriating pretentiousness.


The real star isn?t the music or the mysticism, however, but the visual style. It?s absolutely perfect, causing us to frequently stop playing for a moment or two just to admire the scenery ? no mean feat considering the outstanding visual quality of most modern games. The landscapes are rich and detailed and invoke a near painterly quality. There?s a rare sense of artistry to Sword and Sworcery that we?ve not seen in a long, long time.

Sword and Sworcery?s music is still exemplary, however. The sound design has been meticulously crafted, fitting perfectly with the gameplay and creating an absorbing atmosphere that genuinely hooks you in to the moment. The sounds and music towards the end of our first session built a huge amount of tension and it was only after the threat ? which we won?t name to avoid spoiling it ? passed that we realised that our eyes were stinging due to lack of blinking.

A major drawback of most iPad and iPhone games is that they fail to make the most of the touchscreen interface or try to shoe horn in an ineffective d-pad. Point and click games seem like an assured win for touch-screens however, so Sword and Sworcery is a natural fit. It doesn?t limit itself to the conventions of the genre though, using screen-tilting mechanics regular switches from landscape to portrait to keep things interesting. In landscape mode you?re able to move around with your sword and shield equipped, while turning to portrait position opens your Megatome ? a combination spell book and help guide.


Sword and Sworcery isn?t all hard-core art-game, however ? there are points of genuine humour and awesome subtlety. At one point, for example, you have to travel into your dreams to find a lost key, which involves following a bear which dances like Ricky Gervais in the Office. It?s a moment which, like the game as a whole, feels beautifully surreal and yet oddly poignant.

Verdict: Sword and Sworcery could be a landmark in history of mobile gaming, proving to be the first title we?ve seen on the iPad platform which so wonderfully blurs the line between gaming and ambient art. Pensive, intelligent and wonderfully rich, you can feel the deep love and adoration for gaming that has gone into this project and it shines from its every pixel.

Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP is developed by a whole host of talented artist and is available for the iPad via the AppStore.

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Obama Panel to Curb Medicare Finds Foes in Both Parties

Mr. Obama wants to expand the power of the 15-member panel, which was created by the new health care law, to rein in Medicare costs.

But not only do Republicans and some Democrats oppose increasing the power of the board, they also want to eliminate it altogether. Opponents fear that the panel, known as the Independent Payment Advisory Board, would usurp Congressional spending power over one of the government?s most important and expensive social programs.

Under the law, spending cuts recommended by the presidentially appointed panel would take effect automatically unless Congress voted to block or change them. In general, federal courts could not review actions to carry out the board?s recommendations. The impact of the board?s decisions could be magnified because private insurers often use Medicare rates as a guide or a benchmark in paying doctors, hospitals and other providers.

Last week, in his speech on deficit reduction, Mr. Obama said he wanted to beef up the board?s cost-cutting powers in unspecified ways should the growth of Medicare spending exceed certain goals. Supporters say the board will be able to make tough decisions because it will be largely insulated from legislative politics.

Lawmakers do not agree. Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin and chairman of the House Budget Committee, called it ?a rationing board? and said Congress should not ?delegate Medicare decision-making to 15 people appointed by the president.? He said Mr. Obama?s proposal would allow the board to ?impose more price controls and more limitations on providers, which will end up cutting services to seniors.?

Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who introduced a bill last month to repeal the Medicare board, said the president?s proposal ?punts difficult decisions on health spending to an unelected, unaccountable board of bureaucrats.?

Representative Allyson Y. Schwartz, a Pennsylvania Democrat prominent on health care issues, said: ?It?s our constitutional duty, as members of Congress, to take responsibility for Medicare and not turn decisions over to a board. Abdicating this responsibility, whether to insurance companies or to an unelected commission, undermines our ability to represent our constituents, including seniors and the disabled.?

Ms. Schwartz signed up on Friday as co-sponsor of a bill to repeal the board.

The purpose of the panel, according to the health care law, is to reduce the rate of growth in Medicare spending per beneficiary. The law sets annual goals ? ?target growth rates? ? for Medicare spending below the average of the last 15 years.

Board members will be subject to Senate confirmation ? no easy feat in the current political climate. Terms are six years. Members can serve no more than two full consecutive terms. The White House has yet to submit any nominations for the board.

?Why have legislators?? asked Representative Pete Stark of California, the senior Democrat on the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health.

In some ways, Mr. Stark said, expanding the power of the board could be as bad as giving vouchers to Medicare beneficiaries to buy private insurance. ?In theory at least, you could set the vouchers at an adequate level,? he said. ?But, in its effort to limit the growth of Medicare spending, the board is likely to set inadequate payment rates for health care providers, which could endanger patient care.?

Representative Shelley Berkley, Democrat of Nevada, said she wanted to repeal the Medicare board. ?I have great faith that this administration can put together a strong, independent and knowledgeable board,? Ms. Berkley said, but she said she had less confidence in future administrations.

Mark Parkinson, president of the American Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes, said his members disliked the board because it would allow Congress and the president to ?subcontract out difficult decisions.?

Still, the idea of a more potent Medicare board could be a live option if the White House insisted on it in budget negotiations with Congress.

Mr. Obama said last week that he would ?reduce wasteful subsidies and erroneous payments,? cut spending on prescription drugs and take other steps to save $500 billion in Medicare and Medicaid by 2023. ?But if we?re wrong and Medicare costs rise faster than we expect,? he said, the Medicare board would have ?the authority to make additional savings by further improving Medicare.?

The president?s proposal would set stricter goals for Medicare spending and establish some type of automatic cost-cutting device as an ?enforcement mechanism,? but Mr. Obama did not say exactly how it would work.

Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, described the board as a backstop to ?ensure that health costs are reduced.? The board might not have to take action if the president?s other proposals slow the growth of Medicare spending, she said.

The board grew out of proposals by Mr. Obama and Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia.

?Medicare payment policy should be determined by experts, using evidence, not by the undue influence of special interests,? Mr. Rockefeller said.

AARP, the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association voiced concern about the president?s latest proposal.

?Relying on arbitrary spending targets is not a good way to make health policy, especially when decisions may be left to the unelected and unaccountable,? said A. Barry Rand, chief executive of AARP, the lobby for older Americans.

Under the law, the board cannot make recommendations to ?ration health care,? raise revenues or increase beneficiaries? premiums, deductibles or co-payments. This increases the likelihood that the board will try to save money by trimming Medicare payments to health care providers.

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Gaming 24 - A Lovely Battlefield

Gaming 24 - A Lovely Battlefield

Posted on 10th Apr 2011 at 10:21 by Podcast with 18 comments

Battlefield 3, Portal 2, Alice: Madness Returns and Crysis 2 - those are the topics of conversation this week. We also discuss why StarCraft II is awful, and why Clive thinks Shogun 2 is 'lovely,' rather than 'awesome.'

This week sees bit-gamer regulars Joe, Clive and Paul joined by a fresh face too; our new intern David Hing was brave enough to both lend us his vocal cords and sit opposite Harry this week. That boy has guts!

As well as the usual rants and discussions, the podcast also features the regular competitions and reader mail slots. We've got a new prize up for grabs this week too - a Speedlink Strike FX Wireless Gamepad, kindly provided by Speedlink - so listen in for your chance to win.

As ever, the bit-tech hardware podcast features music by Brad Sucks, and was recorded on Shure microphones. You can download the podcast direct, listen in-browser or subscribe through iTunes using the links below. Also, be sure to let us know your thoughts about the discussion in the forums.

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id Software releases new Rage footage, multiplayer details

New details about id Software's Rage has surfaced this week, giving gamers a taste of what they can expect from both single and multiplayer portions of the game. First announced in 2007, Rage is set in a post-apocalyptic world after the impact of Apophis, a real life asteroid that is expected to pass near Earth in 2036. Naturally, the player survives that catastrophe and is left to fend for themselves among other survivors, including eight or more hostile factions comprised of bandits and mutants.

Rage seems to incorporate gameplay elements from many genres. Although the title is primarily billed as a first-person shooter, players can race vehicles to earn money for upgrades, and there are RPG-like features such as an inventory system and side missions. The term "sandbox" is used to describe the gameplay, but we're not sure how open the world is -- we picture something like Borderlands. Rock, Paper, Shotgun says Rage has a classic id feel to it, but there's more "complexity and reasoning."

The co-op portion is called Legends of the Wasteland and serves as a prequel to the single-player story. Co-op missions are linked to the main campaign and offer somewhat of a backstory along with the "opportunity to revisit key locations from a different perspective." Meanwhile, the online multiplayer specifically focuses on car combat called "Rage Combat Rally" instead of the traditional foot-bound combat. Vehicles will be customizable via some type of unlock system akin to Call of Duty.

After being delayed, Rage is finally slated to launch for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 13. Preorders will be upgraded to the Anarchy Edition, which includes special in-game armor, two weapons and a vehicle. Although it looks like id is pouring a ton of effort into Rage, it doesn't seem to have as strong of a following as you'd expect. We imagine this is partly because some gamers are bored of post-apocalyptic fiction, having played titles like BioShock and Fallout in recent years.

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Cash from the crowd: The future of content monetization

Content. Media is all about the content. And content creators have taken monetizing their content into their own hands. One of the monetization options is advertising, while another is sponsorship. They?ve been around for a long time ? both online and offline ? but one less traditional method is making inroads: crowdsourced patronage.

Now patronage isn?t a new method by any means, but it?s hardly been exploited on the web as a monetization tool for those who want to support themselves while they get to follow their passion and simply create great content. There are several ways that patronage can come into play for those who want to use it, but it definitely involves a significant amount of time, ingenuity and following to make it all come together.

Jonathan Coulton is a prime example of what patronage can do for an artist. The well-known musician left his well-paying day job several years ago and began to do what he really loved to do: make music. He began by offering a song every week ? called Thing A Week ? via iTunes?for free.

?I admit it was kind of a stunt,? Coulton says. ?I felt like if I, if I did something that seems impossible or at least very difficult then people might pay attention and at that point?you know, I really was ? I was completely clueless. Clueless about how I was going to actually make a living this way. So, it seemed like strategy number one was just to get as much exposure as possible and that seemed like a pretty decent way to do it.?

Jonathan Coulton

As he created more and more quality content, he started to offer the songs for a price at his website. He also released his ?Things a Week? as a multi-volume album set that could be purchased as well. Much of his work is Creative Commons licensed, which allows his fans to share and spread his music as long as they don?t make any money from his work directly.

Soon, Coulton started to get more and more people turning up at his live shows ? where he got paid. He started selling merchandise based on his songs ? which he got paid for. He was asked to write a song for Valve?s popular Portal game ? and was asked to contribute another to its follow-up, Portal (which was released this Tuesday) ? both of which he got paid for. Coulton has developed a huge following and now makes a healthy living doing what he loves to do. And he did on his own terms and with the help of those who wanted to see him do well: those who love his music.

?I think when I first started this journey I really should have thought well, you know, I?ll attract some attention and then, you know, somebody is going to hire me to write a song for a television show or somebody is going to hire me to write music for commercials or something like that,? he admits. ?I never, I don?t think I really imagined that I was going to make money selling the music that I was writing, just, you know, the music I was writing just because that?s the music I wanted to write. It still seems kind of crazy that that?s, that?s how I make my living now.?

Leo Babauta is an example of how writing content for the web and asking for readers to help fuel his passion through patronage can work wonders. When he started Zen Habits, his design included advertising and affiliate badges. When you visit the site today, it bears little resemblance to the design it had when advertising and sponsorship were part of the site ? the only thing that remains the same is the quality content. And that?s what his readers want; that?s also why they supported him through donations and ebook purchases. He?s also become a trusted content creator ? running several sites, appearing at conferences and writing a few more books along the way. He makes his living doing what he loves to do ? and has cut out the middle man in the process.

Leo Babauta

Other creative types (such as Shawn Blanc) have recently taken to plying their craft on a full time basis, and are offering exclusive content to those readers who pay a monthly membership fee. The quality of the content and the availability of bonus material is what can really make the patronage system work ? and with the global audience that the internet provides, those entering the game now have a very good chance at doing what they love to do for a living ? as long as they keep up with their end of the bargain.

In the podcasting realm, Jesse Thorn of the Maximum Fun network of podcasts, Dan Benjamin of 5by5.tv and Leo Laporte have all incorporated some form of patronage or another into their monetization strategy. Thorn?s organization recently held their annual MaxFunDrive, and eclipsed their goal of 1200 donors by 89, all of whom donated varying amounts to help keep the podcasting network running its full arsenal of shows. Benjamin?s 5by5.tv has an audience that regularly puts the podcasts into the upper rankings of the iTunes charts ? and they also regularly donate to the cause. Both Benjamin and Laporte also incorporate sponsorship into their podcasts, yet both see donations from listeners as a big reason for their ability to create some of the best podcasts out there.

Online video is another form of content that has taken the web by storm. Major television networks are now optioning ?webisodic series? as part of their online strategy to engage more viewers. But there are those who have become well-known ? and well-supported ? creating videos for online consumption for quite some time. LoadingReadyRun is one such example.

The sketch comedy antics of this Canadian troupe has been delivered online since 2003 ? before the days of YouTube. While they create content for The Escapist, they are perhaps better known as the team behind Desert Bus for Hope, an annual fundraiser for Child?s Play that has them playing the worst video game ever for hours based on pledges from the online community. They have raised nearly half a million over 4 years and have seen their own stock rise as a result. Graham Stark and Paul Saunders, two of the founding members of LoadingReadyRun are able to make their living through their art, as contracted producers, some ad revenue and through the sales of merchandise.

?When we release a new shirt, our fans say ?Yeah, I?ll buy it?,? Stark says. ?Somebody told me once that to make a living as an artist you need 1000 dedicated fans.?

LoadingReadyRun

The crowdsourced patronage model is a growing trend, with more creators using it as a monetization strategy and services such as Flattr that make it easier for it to happen across the web. Getting audiences involved through actively inviting them to participate and contribute to the cause is what truly makes the web a collaborative space, and there?s no doubt that it will have a major hand in shaping the future of media.

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Cooling Down Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells

Startup company SiEnergy Systems has overcome a major barrier to commercializing solid-oxide fuel cells with a prototype that operates at temperatures hundreds of degrees lower than those on the market today. Working with Harvard materials science professor Shriram Ramanathan, SiEnergy Systems, based in Boston, has demonstrated a solid-oxide fuel cell that can operate at 500 degrees Celsius, as opposed to the 800 to 1,000 degrees required by existing devices. This allows the cell, which uses a thin-film electrolyte mechanically supported by a metal grid, to be much larger than similar devices fabricated before?on the order of centimeters in area, the size needed for practical applications, rather than micrometers.

Solid-oxide fuel cells, which can run a variety of fuels including diesel or natural gas, bring in oxygen from the air to be reduced at the cathode, and then pass the oxygen ions through a solid-oxide electrolye membrane to the anode, where the fuel is oxidized to produce electrons that are drawn out of the device. Their high operating temperatures are dictated by the fact that the ions move more quickly through the electrolyte at higher temperatures.

If the electrolyte is very thin?just a few hundred nanometers thick?a solid-oxide fuel cell can operate at lower temperatures. Such electrolytes can power very small demonstration devices, but until SiEnergy and Ramanathan's work, no one had been able to make an ultrathin solid-oxide membrane large enough for practical devices, says Harry Tuller, professor of materials science and engineering at MIT. "The challenge has been that the films, being so thin, are fragile and easily tear during processing or during heating and cooling cycles," says Tuller. When heated and cooled, the different materials of which they are made expand and contract at different rates, damaging the delicate film. "We and others have tried to support the films by one or more structural supports," he says, "but have not succeeded in doing so over as large an area."

In a paper published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, the researchers describe making an electrolyte membrane that is more stable both thermally and mechanically. They started with a 100-nanometer-thick electrolyte membrane made up of zirconia and yttrium. They deposited a supportive metallic grid on top of it, to hold the membrane in place while it was heated and cooled and, since the grid was made of conductive material, to act as the anode. They combined this with a dense, high-performance cathode previously developed by Ramanathan. In their published work, SiEnergy has demonstrated arrays of fuel cells each about five millimeters square. Ramanathan says the method can be scaled up to the centimeter-scale areas needed for devices.

SiEnergy's general manager, Vincent Chun, says this is just a first demonstration and the company is now working on integrating the thin fuel cells into full systems and testing fuels. Chun hopes the company's fuel cells will save on materials costs because they are so thin.Chun says the company plans to offer replacements for diesel generators and home heating and power-generation systems. 

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Plane With Michelle Obama Aborts Landing

The plane carrying the first lady, a military version of a Boeing 737, was three miles behind the C-17 but was supposed to be five miles behind, because of the possibility of encountering turbulence from the cargo plane?s wake. The planes were too close because of an error by a civilian air traffic controller at a low-altitude control center in Virginia, according to a government official involved in following up the incident. But the official described the event as ?routine.?

The controller in Virginia, handing the approaching plane off to the control of controllers in the tower at Andrews, at first misstated the distance separating the two planes, saying that they were four miles apart when in fact the gap had closed to three miles, the official said.

To try to spread the planes apart, controllers ordered the plane carrying Mrs. Obama to maneuver in broad turns like the letter S, as one skier would do to avoid coming up on another too quickly from behind.

But that was not enough, and the controllers in the tower at Andrews ultimately ordered the Boeing to ?go around? because they were concerned that the cargo jet would not have time to touch down, decelerate and exit the runway on a taxiway before the passenger plane crossed the runway threshold. That problem occurs dozens of times a day with airliners at civilian airports around the country, according to aviation experts.

The incident occurred just after 5 p.m. on Monday, the F.A.A. said in a statement, adding that ?the aircraft were never in any danger.? The agency did not say in its statement that the problem was controller error.

The incident was first reported on the Web site of The Washington Post.

Airliners sometimes execute ?go-arounds? because a pilot in the cockpit judges that the plane in front will not clear the runway soon enough; in this case, it was controllers in the tower at Andrews who ordered the plane carrying Mrs. Obama to go around. Although Andrews is a military field, all the controllers involved in this incident were F.A.A. employees.

?Go arounds? follow pre-established procedures that give the direction to turn and the altitude to which the plane should climb.

Following a big aircraft like a C-17 too closely is considered particularly risky at low altitude, when an upset would be more likely to lead to a crash. In this case, the altitude of the 737 was not immediately clear, but it was more than three miles from the runway threshold, because it was more than three miles behind the cargo jet and the cargo plane had not yet reached the runway, according to the government official.

While the aerial choreography in this case was not unusual, it comes after several weeks of high-profile problems in the air traffic system, which began in the Washington area.

On March 23, the sole controller on duty in the tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport, in Virginia across the Potomac River from Andrews, fell asleep at his post, and two arriving planes were unable to contact him. Both landed anyway. The controller on duty at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Nevada also failed to respond to calls from an incoming aircraft last week. And on Thursday, the official in charge of air traffic control, Henry P. Krakowski, the chief operating officer of the agency?s Air Traffic Organization, resigned.

At the time, the administrator of the F.A.A., J. Randolph Babbitt, said in a statement: ?Over the last few weeks we have seen examples of unprofessional conduct on the part of a few individuals that have rightly caused the traveling public to question our ability to ensure their safety. This conduct must stop immediately.?

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iPad Review: Sword and Sworcery EP

iPad Review: Sword and Sworcery EP

Posted on 11th Apr 2011 at 10:50 by David Hing with 12 comments

Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP for the iPad is like nothing else you have ever played. Described as ?a 21st century interpretation of the archetypical old school videogame adventure? it uses beautifully crafted pixel-scapes to do for video gaming what the impressionist painters did for art.

A collaborative project from indie studio Capybara, rock musicians and art from the Superbrothers themselves, Sword and Sworcery EP is a essentially a point and click adventure game that sees you cast as a warrior out to destroy an ancient evil. To do that you?ll need to solve puzzles, fight bears and collect an artefact called the Megatome ? so far, so adventure-game. What sets is apart from the likes of Kings Quest however are the lashings of surrealism, abstraction and poetry that somehow never slips into infuriating pretentiousness.


The real star isn?t the music or the mysticism, however, but the visual style. It?s absolutely perfect, causing us to frequently stop playing for a moment or two just to admire the scenery ? no mean feat considering the outstanding visual quality of most modern games. The landscapes are rich and detailed and invoke a near painterly quality. There?s a rare sense of artistry to Sword and Sworcery that we?ve not seen in a long, long time.

Sword and Sworcery?s music is still exemplary, however. The sound design has been meticulously crafted, fitting perfectly with the gameplay and creating an absorbing atmosphere that genuinely hooks you in to the moment. The sounds and music towards the end of our first session built a huge amount of tension and it was only after the threat ? which we won?t name to avoid spoiling it ? passed that we realised that our eyes were stinging due to lack of blinking.

A major drawback of most iPad and iPhone games is that they fail to make the most of the touchscreen interface or try to shoe horn in an ineffective d-pad. Point and click games seem like an assured win for touch-screens however, so Sword and Sworcery is a natural fit. It doesn?t limit itself to the conventions of the genre though, using screen-tilting mechanics regular switches from landscape to portrait to keep things interesting. In landscape mode you?re able to move around with your sword and shield equipped, while turning to portrait position opens your Megatome ? a combination spell book and help guide.


Sword and Sworcery isn?t all hard-core art-game, however ? there are points of genuine humour and awesome subtlety. At one point, for example, you have to travel into your dreams to find a lost key, which involves following a bear which dances like Ricky Gervais in the Office. It?s a moment which, like the game as a whole, feels beautifully surreal and yet oddly poignant.

Verdict: Sword and Sworcery could be a landmark in history of mobile gaming, proving to be the first title we?ve seen on the iPad platform which so wonderfully blurs the line between gaming and ambient art. Pensive, intelligent and wonderfully rich, you can feel the deep love and adoration for gaming that has gone into this project and it shines from its every pixel.

Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP is developed by a whole host of talented artist and is available for the iPad via the AppStore.

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