App of My Eye » San Francisco

Play Football

Art — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:43:52 +0000

Growing up a couple of blocks away from Candlestick Park, I’m obviously first and foremost a San Francisco 49ers fan, but I’m also a fan of all Bay Area teams, which includes the Oakland Raiders. As long as they aren’t playing the Niners, I always cheer for the Raiders and yesterday was no exception against the San Diego Chargers. I was hoping to see one of the Raiders defenders break through the Chargers offensive line and re-create the infamous Joe Theismann leg injury on Philip Rivers, whose smarmy face just annoys the crap out of me. Instead, I begin to see there might be some truth to those conspiracy theories by Raiders fans that the NFL really wants to keep the organization down. There’s no doubt that Louis Murphy had a TD. I mean, I knew it. My mom knew it. My 2-year old son knew it. There are probably tribes in the Amazon untouched by modern civilization, who knew it as well. Anyway, to get over such a despicable loss, I turned to my iPhone and played this gem of an app, Jebudas Communications’ Play Football, which helped me ease the pain. With three difficulty levels (high school, college and pro), play as the head coach trying to call the right plays at the right time. Before selecting among the over 130 plays, first start customizing your team name, colors, and field type. Listen to the on-going commentary in the game and follow the tracked stats for each indiviual player. Lead your team to victory while unlocking more plays in the process. Overall, this excellent head coaching sim game is a nice compliment to those immersed in all things football (fantasy league and latest Madden) during this time of year. Highly recommended. Price: $2.99.

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Samurai: Way of the Warrior

Art — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:23:54 +0000

Growing up in culturally diverse San Francisco has its privileges, one of which is the available programming that we were exposed to, especially on Saturdays. Of course, I personally kicked it off right with a little cartoon time: some Shirt Tales, a little Thundarr the Barbarian (Ookla the Mok, baby!), and finally Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. But eventually, after a Ma and Pa Kettle flick or a Shirley Temple vehicle on Channel 44, I would turn to Channel 2, Channel 20 and/or Channel 26 as one or all would show martial arts movies from midday through the afternoon. This is when I remember seeing Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance for the first time and being amazed by the violence and just the relationship between father, a ronin, and his toddler son. While it did not exactly rival Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai, it nevertheless was unforgettable then as it is now almost 25 years later, especially when reminded by games like Mad Finger Games’ Samurai: Way of the Warrior. This game is quite literally a ‘bloody’ tribute to those movies as well as recent samurai-inspired game franchises like Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden and Koei’s Dynasty Warriors. Visually stunning, Samurai: Way of the Warrior plays wonderfully with great controls cleverly using the touchscreen for combos. Plus, unlike most games in the App Store, this game has nice polish from solid gameplay testing as it automates movement right when you want it and not before or after. Presented in comic style, the storyline is easily digestable, while simply framing objectives. Although, in its most basic form, it’s a hack and slash game, it never feels repeative or gets boring. Highly recommended. Price: $2.99.

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iCaltrain: Caltrain 2009

Art — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:30:03 +0000

Many of us were recently unemployed, the casualty of cutbacks because of the economy or so we like to think, just to keep our confidence high in our skills and experience. That’s how neurotic at least I can be. In any case, we all pressed on looking for opportunities in a fierce job market, even expanding our commuter comfort zones to almost unrealistic proportions. Interview after interview took us to areas that we’ve never worked in before, especially in the South Bay, which is how we all came into first using iCaltrain: Caltrain 2009. Now updated, the app still provides reliable schedules, ticket prices, and zone info, while saving the most recent stations that you have used, even offline, in a very understandable interface. Furthermore, quick access to the next two trains, return trip info, and a multi-touch system map helps figure out when and where you will be, especially in a tight schedule. Just as highly recommended for the daily commuter as it is for the Caltrain virgins out there. Price: $1.99.

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