CHASING SPACESHIPS...

After noticing my friend post a blog stating her best iPhone apps (http://electricxcity.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/the-best-and-worst-iphone-apps/), I have decided to do a counter blog stating what I think are the best available apps for iPhone’s arch-rival Google Android.

During the summer I happened to have owned an iPhone but due to practical issues involving my job and the expenses of the device itself (plus contract), I decided to take advantage of o2’s cooling-off period and get a refund. Then just last week I happened to get myself a HTC Wildfire which is more than enough for me in terms of features and is the right size handset.

I have to admit, Apple are still way ahead in terms of both quality and quantity of apps. But this is because developers are treating the iPhone & iPad as #1 priority due to their popularity in comparison with Android and other operating systems such as Ovi and Symbian. But the main apps that near enough everyone has such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are there for Android and are fantastic to use. I would include Angry Birds but unfortunately it doesn’t work for the HTC Wildfire yet due to it’s hardware capabilities.

Here is a list of my personal favourite apps for Android:

BARCODE SCANNER - Free

You know those pixelated messes of squares (see left) you get in envelopes and certain web-sites. Well these are called QR codes and can be scanned in using Android’s very own barcode scanner to find what they belong to. The main objective of this is on Android App websites so you can easily find an app (with its own unique QR code) to download. See the problem with Android Market is that they don’t have a desktop program (like iTunes) to download apps on your computer, it has to be from your own handset only. So the barcode scanner is an easy way to scan apps shown on websites rather than type in search terms in the marketplace. You have to use the camera and put a red line on the QR code for it to scan, it’s pretty nifty and also works for normal barcodes to find ISBNs, etc.

BEBBLED - Free

This is a very simple-looking yet challenging puzzle game where you have to eliminate at least 3 connecting bubbles of the same colour to gain a certain amount of points in a maximum amount of moves. There are about 25 levels and am currently stuck on the 7th one. Would highly recommend to anyone who just wants a small game to pass the time.

DOODLE JUMP - £2.60

Doodle Jump (developed by Lima Sky) is currently one of the biggest games on the iPhone and is also on Android. It’s more expensive on Android which is one of the downfalls as well as the lack of updates and minimal lag. But apart from that, this is one of the most addictive games I have ever played. You use the phone’s accelerometer to guide this green character has high up as possible by titling left or right. He can bounce on different platforms and avoid aliens, monsters and black-holes along the way, but the higher he goes up the higher the score is. The gameplay is pretty smooth and the design is so simplistic it’s charming. Maybe my favourite app I’ve downloaded due to its high addictiveness.

Another alternative to this game is Hamster Climb where you’re a hamster who has to jump on boxes to go as high as possible. This game is free due to it not being as good as Doodle Jump in terms of graphics or gameplay,  but it’s still a lot of fun.

FOTMOB FOOTBALL SCORES - Free

Any football fan should definitely download this app because it’s extremely useful if you want to know live scores and tables on the move. It’s very easy to use and contains live scores from near-enough every single league and competition in the world. And you can select which ones you want to view on one pane with a few clicks of unchecking. It even tells you the line-ups, bookings and substitutions, as well as who scores the goals. I actually prefer this to the BBC Sports Centre app due to its more simplistic interface.

MOVIES - Free

Developed by Flixster, this is what I think is the ultimate app for movies. Not only does it tell you which films are coming but, but it also tells you all the showtimes for these films in your most local cinemas, and also incoprates Rotten Tomatoes ratings for each film so that you can decide whether to dedicate your time to seeing it or not. Again, the interface makes it very easy to use and the top panels of cinemas, coming soon, and what’s out on DVD makes it very convenient for whenever you’re on a night out in the cinema or if you want to rent out a DVD in advance. The RT ratings is the real clincher for me though, which makes the app a complete package.

SHAZAM - Free (for 5 tags per month)

This is on the iPhone as well but it works exactly the same. In my opinion, this is one of the best smartphone apps in general due to how clever and useful it can be. Shazam is a service which can identify near enough any song which is playing. So if you hear a song in a shop for example that you like but you don’t know what it’s called, you can use Shazam to record the song for it to be sent to ‘Shazam Headquarters’ and they can tell you what the title/artist is and even provide you with a link to buy it. One problem with this though is that if you want to use it a lot, then you will be limited to 5 tags a month before you have to pay a certain fee for unlimited use. Apart from that, it’s an amazing little tool.

TOSS IT - Free

Toss It is a fun little game which involves having to throw a scrunched up piece of paper by swiping it, into a bucket/bin. For an Android game, the graphics aren’t bad and the levels do get more challenging as it goes on. One great thing about the first level (left) in particular is the various wind resistances from the stand-up fan which can alter where you throw the piece of paper each time. It makes the process of throwing the piece of paper a lot more interesting than just throwing it straight on all the time. There’s also a current streak scoreboard, and an all-time best one for that particular level so you can keep challenging yourself. Levels range from offices, rooms, and outdoor areas which provide different distances and wind speeds along the way.

NOTE: THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS, SO IF YOU STILL NEED TO SEE THE FILM THEN DO NOT CONTINUE TO READ.

Wall Street (directed by Oliver Stone in 1987) was an absolute masterpiece and is ranked as one of my favourite films of all time. I wasn’t expecting this sequel to be as good but I didn’t expect it to be such a let down.

The plot involves the previous film’s primary character Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) released from prision after 8 years for insider trading (as mentioned in the first film), and trying to reconnect with his daughter Winnie (played by Carey Mulligan) who happens to be engaged to young, up-and-coming broker Jake Moore (played by Shia LaBeouf). Then with Gekko becoming involved with Jake’s plan to get revenge on a chief banker (Josh Brolin) who Jake thinks was repsonsible for the suicide of his mentor (Frank Langella).

The main problem I found with this film was that Gekko was hardly in it!!! It mainly focused on Jake and Winnie’s on/off romance, and what Jake was doing as his profession. The first scene starts with Gekko coming out of prison and then we don’t see him until about half an hour later when he does a talk promoting his book. He does make a speech in this but has nowhere near the intensity or excitement as the memorable ‘Greed is Good’ from the first film. What I hated was how they cross-faded only important elements of the speech, unlike ‘Greed is Good’ when the whole speech was un-interupted. I know this was done to save time but listening to a whole speech only adds to the dramatics in my opinion.

Talking about the technical aspects of the film, the New York landscapes were beautiful and well shot but came across as too clear therefore lacking the intensity of the first film which involved muted colours, especially the orange skies in the beginning. There are also moments where it gets too flashy in terms of editing with multiple CNN screens and the digitalised Fusion graphics (Jake’s aim in his workplace is to invest in Fusion energy or some shit like that) which actually makes the whole atmosphere of the film’s content too boring. This was extremely over-used, making it part-responsible for making the film lose its way towards the end. The first film on the other hand contained similar business jargon but it was used to a minimum, allowing the plot to become more fast-paced developing a smoother flow, therefore giving it a more enjoyable feel.

There was a great scene in the film where Gekko and Jake start talking properly inside a train, on a journey back to their homes. It just had a really good atmosphere about it, and along with some kick-ass train-related transitions it came across rather effectively. Though I really didn’t care about the “key scene” where Jake and Josh Brolin’s character have a motorcycle race and end up arguing, this along with a lot of the film’s content involving these two and Mulligan just made me lose interest and demand for more Michael Douglas.

Charlie Sheen’s cameo (as Wall Street 1’s protagonist Bud Fox) on the other hand was incredible, where he and Gekko bump into each other at a dinner along with the rest of the cast. Out of 20-30 people in the cinema, I was the only one laughing my head off. The chemistry between Gekko and Fox was timeless, which included brief exchanges involving the last film. Gekko enquiring about Bluestar Airlines, and Fox asking Gekko if Blue Horseshoe still loved Anacott Steel made me smile. This actually reminded me of Wall Street. But Jesus…Charlie Sheen’s let himself go, hasn’t he.

I felt really sorry for Michael Douglas because in terms of acting, he was clearly outstanding. But unfortunately he was a victim of bad writing, the charcter of Gordon Gekko was more about his attempts out re-connecting with his daughter rather than anything else. In the first Wall Street, Gekko was a hard-nosed bastard who didn’t care about who he hurt or whatever he did, as long as he was making money. This was what made him such an iconic character in 80’s cinema, but in this I cannot recall any killer one-liners made along the lines of “…I’m going to tear out his eyeballs and suck his fucking skull.” There was a moment when he was “back” when he works in London after fleeing his apartment while getting suited up and having his hair slicked back, but it was pretty weak. He does an act where he takes £100 million out of his daughter’s trust fund and invests it for himself (which is pretty bad), but he corrects it later on which really isn’t the true Gekko way. ;)

I had to admit (not being exactly Shia LeBeouf’s number 1 fan), I thought Shia LeBeouf was ok as the “new Charlie Sheen”, he played his given role well with professionalism but he didn’t really add anything special to it. There was just something he lacked, giving the role a very generic feel. Carey Mulligan was also too plain and didn’t really add anything exciting into the story, she was a big part as said before but the whole daughter angle shouldn’t have even been in it making the film uncomfortable. And I really didn’t enjoy watching Brolin’s antogonist role as it was extremely uninspired, and lacked any big threat.

I won’t reveal the ending but in my opinion, it was predictable and fairly cliche; on par with a lot of current films these days.

Overall I would give the film about 4/10 due to mainly the mediocre screenplay, the film’s length, and the supporting cast short of any excitement. There are marks for Michael Douglas’ acting, a selection of editing and technical aspects, and Charlie Sheen’s awesome cameo. Without the positives, it would’ve been a generic romance/business film not worthy of existing. In conclusion, I felt very disapointed, and will be trying very hard in the future to pretend that the timeless classic which was the original Wall Street didn’t even have a sequel.

So here is a battle that has been going on for many a year now, and with the football season recently kicked off here is for another year the latest installments of EA Sport’s FIFA 11, and Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2011.

After downloading and excessively playing the demos of both games on the Playstation 3, I have decided to give you a brief summary on each game, and a comparison.

I have to admit, I have been a FIFA fan throughout the whole next-gen movement and even though this is the case, I am giving you a direct comparison between the two in terms of gameplay, graphics and other aspects as fair as I can.

FIFA 11

FIFA has won the battle amongst reviewers and consumers for a few years now due to having a very successful next-gen model that they have made slight improvements to each year. I have to admit, it is the same for this year with again slight improvements.

The gameplay is slightly better than last year’s with controlling the ball being a lot more realistic due to a smoother analog control, and tackles can be better executed with the right time without getting booked or giving away a free kick.  They seemed to have improved referee leniance to when you collide with a player, in FIFA 10 you near enough conceded a free kick every time you touched someone but it’s not much of a case this time. It is a lot trickier to score in this game (I play on Intermediate level by the way), but this adds to the realism of FIFA’s simulation style due to the much improved intelligence of the CPU.

The graphics are near enough similar to last year’s version which do look amazing but still not as realistic as PES. FIFA still has a computer look to most of the players which lacks total realism in terms of today’s next-gen graphics.

One flaw with FIFA though is the new penalty taking system which was first introduced in 2010 World Cup South Africa, where you have to get a counter to a central green point rather than further red areas before holding the power gauge to the desired amount of power. This is meant to be a new control for measuring confidence when taking a penalty, but I found that I can only successfully score a penalty dead centre whereas if i go any other direction with the counter on green it still goes way out. It’s a good idea but it becomes extremely difficult and takes a lot of practice in comparison to the simple penalty-taking processes us football gamers have enjoyed throughout the years.

As usual, FIFA’s soundtrack also kicks ass from what I’ve heard so far with acts such as Gorillaz and Charlotte Gainsbourg providing the choons.

PES 2011

One huge positive about PES is that the graphics have improved from last year and I have to say, they look considerably superior to FIFA’s. The face likenesses are incredible and the pitch itself looks very realistic along with the surroundings. I really enjoy watching the close-up replay footages due to their smoothness in terms of frame rate and player movements.

But I wish I can say that about the actual gameplay, I found the controls as a whole to be a bit too sensitive. Running with the ball is a lot trickier, passing the ball is slightly harder to execute, and losing the ball is pretty easy. The default speed of the game as well is a bit too slow compared to FIFA, unless you alter the speed to +2 via the options but you shouldn’t really have to do that. On the other hand, it is a lot easier to score a goal in PES, especially in long range, which part of it is due to the goalkeeper intelligence which lacks in comparison to FIFA; and also with PES sticking to its tradition of an arcade style football game whereas FIFA is more simulation-based. Not as much as previous versions but you still see it.

FINAL VERDICT

At the end of the day, both games are great but they have very contrasting factors. If you want a game with amazing graphics then get PES, if you want a real football gameplay experience the get FIFA. It’s a case of style or substance.

I would personally recommend FIFA as it offers a lot more as a whole package in terms of game modes and options. The graphics are just as good as PES but you get a much better football experience due to the superior controls and flow of gameplay. When it comes to running and passing with PES, it does get a bit more frustrating, whereas FIFA it’s a lot more accurate and flows a lot smoother. The atmosphere of FIFA in terms of crowd + commentary audio only add to the full experience. But before playing a FIFA match, just get a lot of penalty-taking practice in…because you’ll need it.

Winner - FIFA 11

We have the Mercury Music Prize, the funny PopJustice one, and now here is one of my own.

Two rules apply to this. 1) You have to be British, and 2) The album has to be fudging awesome!!!

‘Sweet 7’ by Sugababes was considered but (cue sarcasm) its’ pure awesomeness was just far too good for this list. ;)

So here is a short-list consisting of the 10 best British albums that were released from 1st August 2009 - 20th July 2010…

Flaws - Bombay Bicycle Club

Ready for the Weekend - Calvin Harris

Bang Goes The Knighthood - The Divine Comedy

Lights - Ellie Goulding

There is Love in You - Four Tet

Complete Me - Frankmusik

Fly Yellow Moon - Fyfe Dangerfield

Ellipse - Imogen Heap

Night Train - Keane

Tourist History - Two Door Cinema Club

The result will be announced after the Mercury and £20 prizes are announced. :)

NOTE: THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS, SO IF YOU STILL NEED TO SEE THE FILM THEN DO NOT CONTINUE TO READ.

I went to the cinema to see Toy Story 3 and I have to say that I was very satisfied and this was seeing it in 2D. I found that you don’t need to see a film in 3D to appreciate a well-written story.

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Here is now PopJustice’s hilarious take on the Mercury Music Prize where they nominate the best British pop singles, and once again here is the shortlist…

‘Bad Boys’ by Alexandra Burke
‘One Touch’ by Mini Viva
‘Left My Heart In Tokyo’ by Mini Viva
‘Bittersweet’ by Sophie Ellis-Bextor
‘I Won’t Kneel’ by Groove Armada
‘Kickstarts’ by Example
‘Wonderful Life’ by Hurts
‘Real Late Starter’ by Nerina Pallot
‘Never Leave You’ by Tinchy feat Amelle
‘I Wish’ by Mini Viva
‘Once’ by Diana Vickers
‘I Am Not A Robot’ by Marina & The Diamonds

Read more about this: http://www.popjustice.com/#ixzz0uDeYeYhe

I’m not a fan of most of these songs, but I’m thinking why is I Am Not A Robot nominated when Hollywood is a far more superior track from Marina?

Out of these, I like Tinchy ft Amelle, Sophie E-B and all the Mini Vivas. And Example’s ‘Kickstarts’ is a pretty kick-ass choon.

But in terms of prediction, I’m going to keep it short and sweet.

Mini Viva’s One Touch ALL THE WAY!!!!! It’s just that amazing.

Prediction - ‘One Touch’ by Mini Viva