QR codes to some of my Favourite Games

Here are some QR codes to some of my favourite games (at the moment, sure it'll change in the future hehe):

Alchemy (see review here)

Edge full version and the demo

Minecraft Pocket Edition and the demo (see review here)

Osmos and the demo

World of Goo and the demo

Game Dev Story (see review here)

If you don't know what to do with these codes, have a look at my review on QR Droid

Game Review: Minecraft Pocket Edition

If you don't know what Minecraft is, chances are you've only started using the internet this very second. :)

Minecraft is the Indie game that took the world by storm. It's a big sandbox game where you can shape the world to your exact liking. Add to that the harvesting of resources and building stuff (anything from a small log cabin in the woods to deep underground mines and glorious works of art!), as well as zombies and sheep, and you've got a pretty amazing and addictive game!

People will complain about the blockiness of the graphics, but that is what gives this game so much charm and personality! It just shows you, a games doesn't necessarily need awesome and high detailed graphics to be awesome!

Now, the pocket edition is a work in progress, much like the desktop version was for so very long. As you can see in the above screen shot, we're on version 0.2.0 alpha. So at this stage, it's not even close to what the desktop version is, but it's definitely getting there!

I bought the game for $0.10 when Android had there massive app download drive, but you can still buy it for $6.99 - a little steep for my liking (very happy that I got it for ten cents!), but I foresee great things for this little gem in the mining (see what I did there?? Gem? Mining? Minecraft??? ;P

Luckily, a demo version is available, so you can get that to first check it out.

Get the full version here

And the demo version here

So, at this stage the game has two modes - Creative and Survival. Creative mode just gives you this big, randomly generated world which you can sculpt to your exact liking, where the Survival mode adds a few things, like gathering some resources, and fending of zombies at night!

Here is my little house by the sea, which I started when the game was still version 0.1.0 (no survival mode back then):

In the second screen shot, I'm actually flying (something you can only do in creative mode) - you'll also see the on-screen controls on the left. The button in the middle is to jump - double tap that one to fly.

I must say, the game's performance on my Galaxy S2 is extremely smooth and without drops in frames per second at all. It does take some getting used to using the onscreen controls like that. Looking around is done by tapping and moving your finger across the screen. If you tap an hold in one spot, you'll start digging that specific block if it's close enough.

Here's a few from my little house's "porch" :)

The survival mode introduces a few extra things, most notably zombies that want to do nothing but eat your brains. So the first thing you always do in a Survival game is build a shelter, so that you can survive the night's horrors!

As you can see in the above screenshot, I made my little shelter by digging out a cave in the side of a hill. I recommend doing that because it's quicker.

You'll also notice the health bar, so in Survival mode you can die! EEK! ;)

Furthermore, you can start gathering some resources, with which you can only build at this stage. In the desktop version, you can craft all kinds of stuff, like weapons, doors, furniture, traps, etc. I'm sure these will be added to the game as new versions get released! (Hopefully!)

With this version you have a limited range of blocks that you can place, but I'm sure this list will also keep growing as time goes by:

As you can see, you have an unlimited supply of most of the blocks and items, but some of them you have to gather in your adventures.

I was lucky and survived my first night :) I did face a few zombies, but that wasn't too hard:

Anyway, this is a really good little time waster, and the promise of more updates to expand the features of the game means it'll keep on getting better and better. (I'll keep everyone posted on the updates as they happen!)

One thing I haven't tried out though, is joining some friends in a multiplayer game. If you have, feel free to leave some comments on how that is! Also, if you've build a masterpiece, and would like it to be featured on this blog, please let me know, I'd love to show off some of your hard work here :D

Time to go build a basement for my house! (will post some screen shots of that later!)

Till next time!

A nice 3d Live Wallpaper

This is my live wallpaper at the moment:

It's basically a landscape with these floating islands (think Avatar), and this big planet in the skyline. All very nicely rendered in 3d. The free version only includes the one option, but if you buy it you get some extra scenes as well.

Here's a movie clip of it in action:

Note: Only Avalon's Falls are in the free version...

Get the free version here

Till next time!

50gigs free Cloud Storage by Box

I have some good news for all of you with Android devices. The guys from www.box.com have created an Android app, which you can get here, and by simply registering for a free account, they'll upgrade your storage space to a very very sweet 50 gigs!

Here's the instructions which I copied from their site:


This promotion ends on Friday, March 23, 2012 at 11:59pm PST, so grab your free 50GB on Box by following these steps:

1. Visit the Android Marketplace and download Box for Android
2. Log into your account or register for a new one directly from the app
3. Start sharing and collaborating in the cloud
4. (optional but recommended) Tell the world how you'll use your 50GB with the hashtag #Box50GB

As you can see the special is about to run out, so do it quick!

You can then backup your files online, like your photos and important documents. Very handy indeed, and 50 gigs is quite a lot, especially if it's free!

Hope you get it! I got mine a few minutes ago...

Till next time!

Nintendo Entertainment System (aka NES) Emulator

I'm going to cut right to the chase. See the below screen shots:

Yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you! I was playing Super Mario Brothers on my phone! To do something like that, you need something that we call an emulator, and together with that, you need the actual ROMs, which are the games themselves.

The emulator I'm using here is a very nice, and most importantly, free one called John NES Lite (NES Emulator).

Get it here.

The free version works just like the paid for one, but it is ad supported.

It includes several customization options. For example, you can hold the phone portrait or landscape, you can alter the size of the buttons on screen, you can take screen shots, etc.

Now the only thing you need to actually play some games on it, would be the games themselves. I am not sure how the copyrights and that kinda stuff works for games on the NES. I take it, if you own the game, you can download it without worrying.

To get some games, simply google "nes roms", download the roms, copy them to your phone, and the app should automatically scan your phone for new games :)

Ahh, nostalgia! Enjoy!

Upgraded to 2.3.4

With my Samsung Galaxy S2's built in Update method, I updated my phone to Android 2.3.4 a week or so ago.

I'm happy to report that it was quite straightforward to do, and you don't have to do it via Kies at all, you simply do it from the settings section of the phone.

Here's a quick tutorial on how to go about it:

First, go to Settings and scroll down to the bottom:

At the bottom of the list, you'll see the option for "About phone" - go ahead and tap on that:

This shows you all the info of your phone, and at the top is the option to do a Software Update for your phone. Tapping on that one gives you:

From here, just hit Update at the top, and follow the on-screen instructions. That's unfortunately as far as my instructions can go, because I've already updated mine, and when I try it, I simply get a message telling me there are no current updates available.

Just note, the update does take several minutes to complete, and while the update is in progress, you won't be able to use the phone (make and receive calls) at all. Make sure your phone is charged before you do something like this...

Till next time!

Android games on Humbe Indie Bundle

If you don't know what the Humble Indie Bundle is, allow me to tell you :)

Firstly, Indie is an abbreviation for Independent Developer. That means it is someone, or a small team, who, in their spare time, writes apps and games. These guys do amazing work, and it feels really good supporting them, as they put in many many hours of time and effort into creating awesome apps and games.

Now, the Humble Indie Bundle has a very unique concept. That is, YOU decide how much you're willing to pay for the specific bundle they have going on at the time. Be it $0.10, or like Notch (the developer of MineCraft) did once, $4096 - it remains up to you.

You can then even decide where your money goes to, be it the developers, a tip for the guys arranging the bundle, or some charities, or split up any which way between the three!

Another bonus is if you pay more than the average, you usually get a free game thrown in. I have also seen on several occasions that as the bundle's closing date gets closer, they add in more games!

I just bought Edge, Osmos, Anomaly and World of Goo for a very reasonable price (I did, after all, decide on how much I wanted to pay).

I'm busy downloading them, and will do a review on each one as I get around to it.

So, if you also wanna get into this amazing special, head over to http://www.humblebundle.com/ and support these awesome guys! You have 5 days left to do so!

The other awesome part is that these games are cross-platform!! So even if you don't have an Android phone yet, you can still get them on your Windows PC, your Mac as well as Linux.

Till next time!

Use your Galaxy S2 as a Portable Wifi Hotspot

One very nice feature of the Galaxy S2 (and some other phones in the Galaxy range), is the ability to use it as a portable wifi hotspot! This is fortunately very easy and simple to set up!

Go into your phone's settings:

There, tap on "Wireless and network", which brings you to this screen:

Here, tap on "Tethering and portable hotspot", which takes you here:

Now tap on "Portable Wi-Fi hotspot settings":

On this screen you can enable your wifi hotspot, and also configure the security settings and stuff like that for the phone:

I'd highly recommend using WPA2 PSK as your security setting, otherwise anyone in range can connect to your phone, and with the ludicrous data rates out there, this can get costly, REAL quick!

Now simply connect with your laptop/tablet/other cellphone to your phone's wifi hotspot, enter the password, and you should be good to go! Very handy for if you don't have a 3g dongle or built-in 3g in your laptop. Also if you're in South Africa, free wifi hotspots are a very scarce thing - also, the ones that do exist almost never work!

Enjoy!

How to make one of your MP3 files a ringtone

If you have the Samsung Galaxy S2 (or any other Galaxy range I'd reckon...), setting one of your music files as a ringtone isn't as straight forward as it should be.

One would think that to do this, you need to browse to the file with the file manager, but that doesn't give you the option to make a specific mp3 a ringtone.

You can do this, however... You need to do it from the built in Music app.

First is to go to and play the mp3 you would like to make your ringtone:

Now tap on the bottom left button of the phone (uhm, I don't know what to call that button actually haha! It's to the left of the home button in the middle on the phone) - this will bring up the options for the screen you're currently on, like so:

One of the options there is "Set as" - tap on that, which will give you this screen:

And voila, select the appropriate option, and you can now listen to Metallica whenever someone calls you :)