Zephyrus of the Anemoi

So, for some unknown reason, App Store developers have started slashing their prices going into this weekend. I’m not one to ever complain about discounts, and I’m always happy to share any great deals I’ve found. First of all, credit where credit is due: several of these deals came to me from AppShopper.com (I use their app to keep a wish list of apps and I get an email whenever any go on sale), as well as AppAdvice.com (which is an excellent source of news for iPhone/iPod touch/iPad apps).

First up: Final Fantasy! Both FINAL FANTASY and FINAL FANTASY II went on sale this week for 55% off ($3.99 each), which is the cheapest I’ve ever seen them. I spent many, many hours with the original Final Fantasy for NES when I was younger and I’m happy to say that playing it on my iPhone brings me every bit as much joy as it did when I was a child. While having to tap each selection is not as fast as simply tapping the A button over and over, the graphics, the music, and the mild gameplay tweaks make the game entirely worth the extra attention I have to give the game. While Final Fantasy II is sometimes a bit confusing to navigate (I found myself lost a few times as I tried to remember what clue I was given as to where to go next), a quick web search and I was back on track. Plus, it’s the first Final Fantasy to have an honest to goodness narration, and one of the more unique leveling systems in any Final Fantasy game. I highly recommend both games.

Now, with the JRPG section out of the way, lets move on to some of the other great deals available from Cyan Worlds. You should recognize the name, as they are the company that produced one of the first CD-ROM games ever, and the bestselling game of its era. I’m talking about Myst, which is currently on sale for $1.99 to celebrate the release of their latest title: Stoneship. Cyan Worlds has another iPhone game on sale that is one of their classic titles that came before Myst called The Manhole: a point and click adventure about following a bunny into an underground world of adventure (or something like that, it looks bizarre but has excellent reviews).

Continuing in the adventure game genre, both of the classic LucasArts Monkey Island titles are on sale for $0.99. The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition has completely redesigned graphics and sound and is identical to the Xbox Live Arcade title of the same name. Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge got the same treatment as the first, and both are excellent games. If you’ve never played them, you should give them a chance, as they’re extremely entertaining, and very witty. If you have already played them, you should definitely play them again.

Next up, a first-person shooter favorite: Archetype. Designed from the ground-up for the iPhone as a multiplayer-only FPS, it is quite popular, and has been slashed to $0.99 in celebration of the release of Archetype HD for iPad. Even better, the game uses an auto-shoot mechanism that makes it much easier for FPS-newbies to get started.

And now I’ve got some great $0.99 titles to share with you.

• Osmos for iPhone – I can’t really describe it, so instead just watch this video here.
• Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor – A highly-acclaimed puzzle-platformer with gorgeous graphics and truly unique gameplay. You seriously should NOT miss out on this deal.
• Peggle - PopCap’s Super-awesome pachinko-style game. I bought this game when it first came out and was very happy with it. For $0.99 it’s an absolute steal for the amount of gameplay you get.
• Star Wars: Cantina – A restaurant/time-management sim game wherein you must focus on taking orders and delivering them quickly and correctly. There are plenty of games out there that follow this mechanic, but this one takes place in Mos FREAKIN’ Eisley. A more wretched hive of scum and villainy, you will not find on iOS.
• Civilization Revolution – If you like any of the Civilization games, you’ll enjoy this iPhone version of the classic series. Play as a variety of leaders throughout history as you attempt to conquer the world and crush your enemies. It’s currently 85% off, so you have no excuse not to pick this one up.
• Bookworm – Another PopCap classic, this one is a word game. I can’t count the number of hours my beautiful wife has spent on this game.
• Doom II RPG – This one went on sale recently and I picked it up then. I’ve recommended Wolfenstein RPG to just about anyone that’s ever asked my opinion on iPhone games and I don’t know anyone that was disappointed in the purchase. Doom II RPG follows the exact same formula and is a blast for fans of American-style classic RPGs.
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – One of the earliest iPhone games based on a big-name title uses a rather unique gameplay method of drawing symbols on the screen to trigger Force powers and progress through the game. I felt it was overpriced at its original price point, $0.99  is perfect for this rather simple game. Unfortunately, the game is rather choppy on the iPhone 4, but works great on my son’s 2nd gen iPod touch running iOS 4.1.
• NHL 2K11 – This one I haven’t played yet, but reviews of the game indicate that it’s a pretty solid game. Personally, any hockey game that I can play on-the-go is a solid investment. Especially for a dollar.

And now for some $1.99 games.

• Hills and Rivers Remain – A tactical strategy game from SQUARE-ENIX, I have been watching this game for a price drop for some time. Likely due to the same sale on the Final Fantasy titles mentioned above, this game is at the lowest price I’ve seen yet.
• Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night – Similar in style to Dr. Mario, this game follows a story similar to that of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but requires you to compete against AI villains in a head-to-head puzzle game to advance from room to room.
• Command and Conquer Red Alert – Command and Conquer with a touch interface. I honestly can’t explain it better than that. One of the best RTS games for iOS.
• Vanguard Storm – A unique defense game that requires you to position various units on a grid to do the most damage to oncoming enemies while protecting your units from taking damage, as well. Here’s an excellent video that demonstrates the gameplay.
• Star Wars: Trench Run – Fly an X-Wing. Attack TIE Fighters. Destroy the Death Star. Oh, and you can even take on Imperial starships using the turret of the Millennium Falcon. Why are you still reading this?! GO BUY THIS GAME!!!

Okay, that about wraps it up. There are lots of other games that are on sale, but I just don’t have the time to list all of them here. You can check out more of them over at AppAdvice here.

I stepped outside this morning, at my parents’ house. The boys came up Friday to spend the night with Grandma & Grandpa, just the two of them. Autumn and I came up yesterday, amidst the first fall storm. The clouds parted as we approached Troy and the sun came out. It was warm, but a breeze brought a hint of the oncoming winter.

Last night, we made a fire and roasted marshmallows, as the cold front rolled in. Autumn and I curled up next to the coals for a bit before turning in.

This morning, I went outside to get Autumn’s makeup bag from the car. My mom snapped Liam into his car seat. Avery dashed ahead of me, after snagging his iPod from inside. He jumped into the car and immediately dropped into “travel mode”.

The air was cold. “51 degrees,” mom said. I took a deep breath, taking in the smells of fall, filling my lungs with the cool, crisp air. My mind turned to football and high school as it always does when the air turns and the sun starts its months-long trip into hibernation. I thought about all the great memories of fall I’ve built: tossing Avery into a pile of leaves, apple picking with the family, bundling up Liam as he experienced his first peek at cold weather.

I smiled, grabbed the makeup bag, and walked back inside, warmed despite the breeze.

A friend of mine recently purchased an iPhone 4 and asked me “So what apps can I not live without?”

I started to list off several that I use regularly, but realized that the list was going to grow rather large, rather quickly. So, I sent him a quick email of the ones I have on my first two pages and promised him a follow-up email with the rest. Then, I compiled the list into a blog post for all of you out there just now getting an iPhone or an iPod touch for the first time. This is, by no means, an exhaustive list, and if you’d like to know what other apps I recommend, please check out my iPhone category for all posts I’ve made about the iPhone.

Apps that I feel are 100% necessary are rare, but there are several that I swear by for their “WOW!-factor” or just because they’re so much fun. This is that list. I’m sure, I have forgotten several, and I know that I’ll have to make another one eventually (thus, the use of penultimate above). But, it’ll get you started. So, without further ado. Okay, maybe one more ado.

Twitter – There are several of these apps, but the official Twitter app is probably the best.

Boxcar – So you can get push notifications when someone mentions you on Twitter, or when you receive an email at an email address that doesn’t support native push email, or any number of other things.

Facebook – This one’s obvious. If you have a Facebook account, you need a quick-and-easy way to keep in touch with those on the site. This app is not as feature-rich as the full site, or even the “touchOS” version, but it has push notifications and some other really nice features, so check it out.

Chirpie Pro – Let’s you quickly post to Twitter and Facebook simultaneously. There’s a free version, as well, but Pro is well worth it, if you use both Twitter and Facebook.

qStatus – Same idea as Chirpie Pro but with some other neat features, such as letting you see through your camera while typing (for tweeting on the go).

Simplenote – Best note-taking app on the store. Text is displayed in Helvetica for easy viewing, syncs automatically with server, has a pro version that stores revisions of your notes in case you accidentally delete or modify one and need to go back, and way more.

Meebo – Let’s you log in to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, gChat, and more and remain logged in for 24-48 hours after the app is closed. You’ll receive push notifications from anyone that sends you a message and chat history is saved on the server (unless you turn it off) so that you can even see what someone is talking about if they don’t respond for days. This is a must-have, in my opinion.

Byline – Syncs with Google reader for easy reading of your RSS feeds. Has a free version, as well, but this is one of the best ones I’ve seen on the app store in terms of features and interface. There are some visually amazing ones for iPad, but haven’t seen any of those that translate well to the iPhone.

NotifyMe 2 – To-do app that lets you set reminders for events with push notifications OR local notifications (no Internet required, but affects battery life a bit more). Excellent companion for reminders  you don’t want to put in Calendar for one reason or another.

Audio Flashlight for iPhone 4 – Free flashlight app that uses the LED flash for a flashlight, strobe light, and audio strobe.

The Weather Channel – I’ve tried several different weather apps for the iPhone, and while I stopped using this one for several months, the interface is still the best and the performance is (usually) rock-solid.

Dropbox – If you use Dropbox, this app is indispensable, as you can quickly and easily view your files, send links to them by email, and even save some to the internal memory of your device for quick access. If you don’t use Dropbox, sign up free here, and get an extra 250MB of storage for free.

1Password Pro – If you already use 1Password for Mac & Windows (a password, software license, identity, credit card, and secure notes database program), this app lets you sync your data to your iPhone so you have it on the go. The latest version of the app synchronizes your info with Dropbox, so that you can keep everything up-to-date, no matter where you are. 1Password is shareware on the Mac (and Windows), so you can test it out and see how you like it.

SoundHound ∞ – You’ve probably heard of Shazam, which is okay, but SoundHound goes above and beyond, letting you hum a song, or even just type the lyrics in to find out what it’s called. There’s a free version that works like the free version of Shazam (limited number of song requests per month), but the full version is well worth the money if you are constantly hearing a song on the radio and want to know what it is.

Netflix – Instant streaming from Netflix over WiFi AND 3G. This can eat up your data plan VERY fast, so be mindful of that when on 3G. The quality is phenomenal, even over 3G.

5 Minutes to Kill (Yourself) – All [adult swim] games are on sale for a short period of time, so you need to pick them up as soon as possible. You can play any of them for free on the [adult swim] site (Flash required) and decide which you like the best. This one is pretty fun and takes 5 minutes or less to play. I think the title explains it well enough.

Robot Unicorn Attack – Another [adult swim] game, and easily their most successful to date. It plays similar to Canabalt and other “endless-side-scrolling-sprinters” that you may have seen, but it has an awesome soundtrack and amazing graphics. Plus it’s hilarious.

N.O.V.A. – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance – If you like first-person shooters (and especially if you like Halo), this game will have you feeling right at home. With a pretty impressive campaign, gorgeous graphics, and a rock-solid multiplayer experience, this game really shows that the iPhone can play just about any game type you’ve ever experienced.

Pinball Remote – When coupled with The Pinball on your Mac, turns your iPhone into the ultimate pinball machine controller. One table is free and two more can be purchased from within the app. Very cool.

Plants vs. Zombies – The ultimate in “backyard defense” games. Honestly, anything by PopCap is going to be amazing on your iPhone, but this one goes above and beyond. The iPad version has additional features, but the iPhone version still contains the entire core of the game.

Final Fantasy – The game that started it all, now on the iPhone. If you’ve enjoyed any Final Fantasy game and you want to see where it all began, you need to check this out. Even if you played the original NES classic, this version contains new graphics, a new translation, and some gameplay tweaks to make it work playing all over again.

Wolfenstein RPG – The iPhone lends itself perfectly to RPGs, and this reinvention of an id Software classic is no exception. If you love Wolfenstein and you love RPGs, you’ll love this.

Ocarina – Turns your iPhone into a working Ocarina. I even have songs I’ve transcribed for easy playing on my website.

Epic Citadel – This is a tech demo of a game that Epic (yeah, the guys behind Gears of War and Unreal Tournament) is currently developing. Graphics like this have never been seen on a mobile phone. Ever. And they make the PSP look weak.

So that’s it. That’s the list of iPhone apps I recommend to anyone picking up an iPhone or iPod touch for the first time and completely overwhelmed by the content on the App Store. I hope that it has helped you, at least somewhat, to make your new device sing.