Be Excellent To Each Other

I've reviewed all of the iCade models, bar one of the small iPhone ones. For 30 quid, I'd say the Core is an excellent investment. Aesthetically, I prefer the original iCade (with its mini-cab stylings), but the Core innards are just as good (if very slightly spongier buttons), and the device works better when you're playing landscape games (albeit with the possibility of slightly covering the screen with your hands). I got my iCade for 40 quid in PC World, but I certainly wouldn't have wanted to pay more.

In terms of other models, don't get Atari's or Taito's, since they're designed specifically for their own apps and aren't fully iCade-compatible. On handheld models, they're mostly shit. Only the SteelSeries Free is worth buying, and it's fucking expensive. The cheapest I've seen it for is 50 quid. However, if you want a handheld controller, the alternatives are the likes of the iCade 8-Bitty and Gametel, which are mediocre.

Note that in terms of games, you might also find the iCade opens up further options for you. Some arcade titles work nicely with it (such as Midway's collection and Pac-Man, although I guess if you're using a flavour of MAME, that won't be so useful). Jeff Minter's Llamasoft games are all compatible, as are Match Panic (glorious with an iCade), Vectrex, Ice Rage, Retro Racing (which comes into its own when used with an iCade), and platform games like League of Evil 2. I don't use my iCade often, and some games it's compatible with aren't any better when connected (say, AirAttack HD), but, again, for 30 quid I'd buy one.

Elsewhere on iOS, The Room is only 69p today. Buy it, play in a dark, silent room, avoid the clues and have a great few hours: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-roo ... 39496?mt=8

Perception of value is a problem. A friend of mine said he felt oddly ripped off by The Room. He really enjoyed it, but it was three quid for a few hours’ entertainment. He realised he was being stupid in feeling that was expensive, but compared to, say, World of Goo, the experience hadn't lasted very long. Personally, I loved The Room. Given that it cost the same as a movie rental, I didn't feel short-changed at all. But for 69p, you'd have to be a fool to miss it, if you've an iPad and any interest whatsoever in exploratory adventure(ish) games.

It's just as bad. iOS games pages are full of people whining about money, or reviewing a game that's gone free so the dev can expand their market and moaning that THEY had to PAY 69p and OH THE INJUSTICE. There are also fuckwits who seem to think they deserve free content. When Tap! first launched, Newsstand was admittedly still quite new, but we got a TON of 1/5 reviews from people bitching that, after downloading our free app, they then had to pay for the magazine! How evil of us! I mean, these people had paid for their iPad and so they "didn't understand" why they should pay again for our product. (I take it Llamasoft fans also heard about people laying into Jeff Minter for embracing the tier-two price point rather than tier-one for his games? Because, clearly, £1.19—and now £1.49—is a bit much to pay for brand-new games from a gaming legend, when you'd have paid at least a third more in 1985.)

*and breathe*

Oh, and I'd second Dream of Pixels. I gave it a 4 when I reviewed it a while back.

Under our rating system, a four is a strong recommendation. We're not part of the 73% crowd. I played the game on and off for about a week before writing the review. As for Tap!, it's an iOS magazine, available from http://tapm.ag/appedition

We started out in print (the mag was initially iPad-sized), but went digital-only at the end of last summer. The iPad mag is driven by Future's in-house system that enables the team to create the iPad mag on an iPad (well, an iPad simulator), which is pretty cool. The iPhone/iPod version is, I think, currently the same PDF that Zinio subscribers get. We're mostly a recommendation mag, reviewing games (the section I edit), apps and kit, but there are also features in every issue. (Old git gamers might also recognise one of my section's writers: Zy Nicholson.)

Tell you what's good. Book of Heroes is good. It's a "free to play" turn-based sort-of MMORPG. You fight NPCs but you're always online and you can team up to do raids and stuff. It's pretty simply done, but hella addictive. You can, of course, spend a fortune on in-game currency, but you can earn it quite easily just by playing.

Recommended!

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/book-of ... 99097?mt=8

It's just as bad. iOS games pages are full of people whining about money, or reviewing a game that's gone free so the dev can expand their market and moaning that THEY had to PAY 69p and OH THE INJUSTICE.

I have downloaded it. First impressions are very Skinner box.

This always seems like madness to me. People have no context at all.

For context: Can Knockdown appears to be a free app. Therefore because of this, everyone is receiving challenge alerts because technically everyone "owns" the game even if you've never downloaded it. I've had dozens of alerts this weekend.

It does it so that you are tempted to download the app and play yourself.

It does it so that you are tempted to download the app and play yourself.

Well, duh!

Well it's both. It has undoubtedly been deliberately done by the developers of this shite game, but it is exploiting an oversight on Apple's part that shouldn't exist within Gamecenter. It's sending push notifications to people that can only be disabled by turning push notifications off for Gamecenter altogether. That's not by design.

This is totally nefarious and shouldn't be allowed. These developers (to whom I have never explicitly given my permission to contact me) have a direct route through to my private, personal, always-on phone via my chums who don't know any better. IT'S FUCKING 1984 OR SUTIN!

It shouldn't be possible for an app you don't have on your device, to send you notifications.

I could write a free app that calls you a cunt every 5 minutes and you would be powerless to stop it, unless you turned off all gamecentre notifications for all apps.

I could write a free app that calls you a cunt every 5 minutes and you would be powerless to stop it, unless you turned off all gamecentre notifications for all apps.

It isn't the game that sends you the notifications. It is Gamecenter. Which is an app you have on your phone. And can control the notifications for same as all other apps.

And it doesn't do it automatically, it does it when I choose to press the Challenge All Friends button. So what you are complaining about as app-spam is as a direct result of your chums challenging you.

As might you be if you were continually interrupted by fucking notifications about some shit iOS game you have no interest in playing.

It's good.

I have turned them off now, but that removes my ability to receive notifications that I actually wish to receive. How are you not getting this? Or are you being deliberately obtuse?

I would've thought "stop fucking spamming me" a reasonable request.

But never mind, there's a much easier solution to all of this.

It's not.

Which really doesn't surprise me.

Explain how the fuck I'm being an arse? You're spamming my phone, literally waking me up with fucking beeping notifications.

Why don't you remove WTB from your gamecentre, if he gets this pissy over it.

That's already taken care of.

But the reason I'm getting "this pissy" over it, is evidenced in the posts above, you fucking cretin. In case you haven't realised, I explained what was going on and then I was told that it was somehow my fault that this had happened. That's when I became annoyed.

I would've been gutted had I inadvertently bothered everyone on my friends list.

How very grown up of you!