Section: Gaming News, Handhelds, iPhone & iPod Touch, Game-Companies, Developers, Genres, Action, Puzzle

A new action/puzzle game has just appeared on iTunes for the iPhone/iPod touch, thanks to ngmoco – Dr. Awesome, Microsurgeon M.D.. Now, I know Dr. Awesome’s finger pointing stance, and the title, may lead you to initially think this is some sort of Trauma Center knock off, but it isn’t. Instead, it focuses more on the puzzle element of removing a virus from a patient by cutting down the area space it can infect.

I may be dating myself, but it looks like Dr. Awesome, Microsurgeon M.D. is a lot like that old puzzle game, Qix. You have to narrow down the playing field and contain the virus in a small area to save the patient. There are also powerups that you can collect to make lifesaving easier. An interesting touch is that your “patients” are actually people in your contact list – adds a nice personal touch to the game.

Honestly, for $1.99, Dr. Awesome, Microsurgeon M.D. may be worth a quick try. Its only a 14.1mb download. It does need iPhone 2.1 software though, if you want to play it. Its also great for all audience, as its rated for ages four and up and can be played in English, French, German, Japanese or Spanish, according to the iTunes product page. Besides, with a name like Dr. Awesome, its got to be good.

Read [Yahoo Finance] Also Read [Centre Daily Times] Site [Dr. Awesome, Microsurgeon MD] Product Page [iTunes]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Scanning through the old Google reader last night I came across a post at psdtuts.com called “9 Information Design Tips to Make You a Better Web Designer” – I’m not sure if I have been sheltered, not paying attention – or if this article is just that good…but this is a definite thought changer for me.

It’s probably the least glamorous part of web design, but information design is by no means the least important. Locating and consuming information is the quintessential web task, far surpassing buying, playing and communicating, all of which include a good portion of information design themselves. How users find and then avail themselves of all that information is affected by how it is structured and presented. Thus every web designer should be equipped to make qualified and informed decisions on just how to do this.

TOM: That is a great statement – just nails the point.

He fist point is right on:

1 – Be methodical
1. Understand the Site’s Content, Processes and Purpose
2. Prioritize and Look for User Paths
3. Organize the Information

TOM: Simple – but right on.  You cannot design if you have no concept of the content and then, pay attention to how the user will navigate the site – what things do they need instant access to and what things can be more organically found.

The rest of the article is good – and hopefully you’ll read it, but one more quote:

5 – Design text that wants to be read

I’m not sure if I’m just getting older, or if spending all my time in front of a screen is just making me picky, but lately it really bugs me when I’m presented with text that doesn’t compel me to read it. The aim of a site design is usually to transmit information and most of that is written text, so focusing on displaying it well should be a priority.

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Section: Features, Lists, Handhelds, iPhone & iPod Touch, Updates, Apple App Store

It’s our second edition of the App Store gaming update! This week wasn’t as bad to put together as last week’s, though the insane amounts of turkey didn’t help things.

In this edition of the update we added two new sections entitled: “What’s Free” and “Games you might like.“ I won’t bother explaining to you the complex definitions of these sections, as I’m sure you folks can figure them out. Since we are still in beta, we can tinker around with the list week to week to find just the right format for you guys. As always, feedback is appreciated so feel free to let us know how much you love the list or heaven forbid, hate it!

We also hope to provide reviews for these games at some point so look out for those as well! Now, on to the list: Read More

Google Chrome was an awesome toy when it first appeared on our internets. Then came the talk of how it has an identifier and how it means that Google knows even more about you. Some people became frightened and ran away from Chrome, seeking solace in her older counterparts Firefox,  Safari, and Opera. Others, who were on Mac and other platforms chose to work with the Chromium backbone and build there own browser.

Far be it from me to rain on those folks ideas, but I decided I wanted a portable version of the browser and waited patiently for someone else to code it. Iron which also has a standard install version which I run on my main PC, has a handy little USB stick friendly edition which caters to my need to keep my favorite software in my pocket. Both flavors of Iron grant the user the sense of security they may want, and help keep the open source train going. Also, Iron comes packing a newer build of Webkit

Whether you believe Google software is going to become self aware and start cranking out Terminators, or even if you don’t mind a single corporation knowing just about all your business, Iron will probably suit your needs.

No related posts.

Image by hyku via Flickr

After our CEO Chuck decided to live blog the API Summit – it stirred up some interesting convo.  Some was positive, some not so much, but I think the end result will be very good.  He posted a very nice summary on his blog.

From the “non-CEO crowd”, there was my buddy Jason.  He’s also had some very good comments on his blog:

I don’t envision an environment where the likes of Jeff Jarvis, Steve Outing, Alan Mutter and those types get up and preach to the choir. They are fine and do a lot of good and I have no problem with any of them.

But the kinds of people I want in a room that can really end up making real change in our industry are those like Nick Bilton, Ryan Sholin, Pat Thornton, David Kohn, beat blogger Matt Neznanski, Tom Altman, and those on the Crunchberry team.

What it boils down to is we’ve got to stop talking and do SOMETHING.  Yes, let’s get it on.  And the best way “we” know is to treat this like any other “new”, “new media”, “web 2.0″ problem…we must BarCamp.

Now presenting BarCamp:newsinnovation (not me – Jason set it up and a bunch of people have already said “yes”).  I like the verbiabe he uses:

The idea is to get energetic, tech-savvy, open-minded individuals who embrace the chaos in the media industry because the ability to do really cool things still exist. We also need find those people outside of our industry who love to consume news and information and are great thinkers and innovators.

So we’ll see how it goes…please join in and help out.

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