When I was a kid, there was nothing cooler than pro wrestling. Turning on the TV to find larger than life individuals with cartoon personas wailing on each other to the delight of packed arenas was a sensory overload experience that few programs could match. Over time, though, the program aged, and so did I. Like the rest of the country at the time, I was captivated by the obscene brutality of the “Attitude Era”, and the new stars it created like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and The Rock, but after that pro wrestling just lost its appeal.
Still though, I’ve got enough nostalgic love for pro wrestling, that occasionally the right spark can rekindle that old passion for it. This usually happens when I play the “Smackdown v.s. Raw” games, as the series genuinely good multiplayer mode is easy enough for anyone to get into, whatever the source material may be. However, those games have become watered down over the years, as the lack of competition have forced them into such a complacency that the series has lost that light hearted, casual fun aspect that makes pro wrestling, in any format, so entertaining in the first place.
That’s why we need a revolution. “Wrestling Revolution” is an android app that offers a simplified touch control system that allows for all of the basic strikes, grapples, and special moves the sport is known for. It also has the standard match types like 1 on 1, tag team, and battle royals, along with the regular arsenal of usable weapons such as chairs, tables, and title belts. On so many levels, it is your basic wrestling game, just with touch controls that perform well enough to not get in your way too often.
So why is it my app of the week? Because it’s loaded with that pure fun I was talking about earlier. The roster is so good it’s criminal (seriously, you may have to edit some of the names, but the available likenesses make sure you don’t have to stretch your imagination too much) and their vibrant sprites perform a surprisingly good range of animations for the various maneuvers available. This game harkens back to the arcade style of the classic “WWF Wrestlefest”, and is all the better for it. The one feature that’s not a throwback at all, and is actually quite innovative, is the games “episodic” format. While this mode is still a work in progress, it actually boasts updated weekly storylines that promise to make the game different every time you play it. The feature isn’t quite there yet, but parts of it are still leagues ahead of the same ole, same ole single player mode of its major league counterpart in terms of ambition.
There’s more to the game of course, such as create a character modes and the like, but in the end you want this app because it’s so much pure fun. While I can’t promise that it will make a believer out of non-wrestling fans, for a free app ($.99 for the PPV add-on), if you’ve ever had an ounce of love for the sport, and own an android, you owe it to yourself to give this one a shot. It’s may not be as technically sound as Mr. Perfect, as flashy as a Ric Flair entrance from the 80’s, or a complete revolutionist like CM Punk. It does, however, remind me of Andre the Giant. Obvious, blunt, but consistently entertaining enough to make it an easy app of the week.
There’s really nothing original to “Jar on a Bar.” Aesthetically, it immediately brings to mind “Angry Birds,” and the basic concept is so dated that they used to call it “Jenga.” But that doesn’t matter, because for a mere 99 cents, you get one of the most addictive puzzlers to come to the app market in some time, originality be damned.
Let me backtrack a bit and explain. “Jar on a Bar” stars a fish in a bowl trapped precariously atop a ready to fall stack of pallets, glass, and other increasingly nefarious obstacles. Your job is simple: Get that fish to the ground and back into the water without breaking the bowl, all while trying to spill as little of the water in it as possible for bonus points. Sounds simple, right? Well, as you can imagine, as the game progresses through its 60 plus levels, things keep getting more and more complicated, until the point that this game of “Jenga” becomes a real mind-twister.
I mentioned “Angry Birds” earlier, and that’s because at its core, the game’s main concept of removing various obstacles to reach your goal is highly reminiscent of that classic app. However, “Jar on a Bar” is more about manipulation than destruction. Its well implemented physics system accounts for everything from weight to momentum, and forces you to master it before you can make any progress in the later stages. You may have to push a block to a certain point to gain just the right leverage, or momentarily put the fish in danger in order to set up the right move correctly. You not only have to consider your next step at all times, but the next several after that as well. It creates just the right combination of on your feet decisions and long term strategy that makes the best puzzle games so memorable, and executes it very well. There is also an in-app store but, while it does feature some cool objects, overall it doesn’t add much to the core gameplay of “Jar on a Bar.” The good news is it doesn’t have to, and it far from hinders the experience.
I could be wrong on this, but I don’t expect “Jar on a Bar” to take over the world like some of the games that inspired it have. However, the 99 cent asking price is a steal, turning this into a must-buy for anyone that has half an interest in puzzle games. Quite simply, it is one of the best and most addictive new puzzlers, and overall app games, I’ve come across in a while, and it is a more than deserving app of the week.
I’m beginning a new mission to try and find the best apps available for smartphones and tablets everywhere. While this mission may one week develop into a noble pursuit of finding useful, game-changing applications, or even just innovative time-killers, for this first edition, I can’t help but share my unhealthy fascination with an app that celebrates one of the greatest and most stupid innovations of the internet age.
I speak, of course, about the animated GIF file.
Short for Graphical Interchange Format, the GIF file is another bitmap image format that is easy to use and fairly versatile. But its real potential wasn’t realized until the 90s when people started to animate their GIF files, allowing for them to display a few precious seconds of motion in a repetitive loop. Then suddenly, after one dancing baby became an overnight sensation, the animated GIF established itself as a staple of internet humor.
Now with the free iPhone app Loopcam, you have the ability to create your own animated GIF files to one day slow down the load time of a webpage and lead to potential seizures. It’s an incredibly simple app that streamlines GIF creation into a few-step process. From there, Loopcam gives you the ability to share your creations with the world via e-mail, texts and all of the usual social media outlets. While there are other, similar apps out there, Loopcam’s user friendly nature and range of features make it the standout of the pack.
The GIF is one internet joke that looks to stay, and that’s largely due to the many, creative “shouldn’t be funny but somehow is” ways that people have used the format. Loopcam allows that same user creativity to thrive anywhere you may be, and for that reason stands triumphant as my first app of the week.
Chances are you have a lot going on in your life. Personal friendships, family, work, and hobbies all have you running in several different directions, and it never seems as if you have enough time to sit down and organize or schedule out your life. Advances in technology have made organizing and scheduling out your day as easy as turning on your smartphone.
There are several different mobile apps that are designed with the intent to help you organize your daily hectic schedule. If you are finding it hard to balance your daily schedule, grab your prepaid Android phones, iPhones and other smartphones and start downloading the following mobile apps.
Evernote
Say good-bye to the old post-it notes, and say hello to Evernote. The Evernote app is a great way to help you make the world-famous ‘to-do’ list. These lists can list everything from items you need to pick up at the store, to places you need to go to for the day. Evernote allows you to leave three different types of notes including text, audio and pictures, which means there’s no reason you should forget to do something due to your busy schedule.
Pageonce Personal Finance
Sometimes when life gets so busy you honestly forget to balance your checkbook or keep track of your bank account balance. When you download the Pageonce Personal Finance app you will never face a situation where you are left wondering about your finances. Pageonce Personal Finance works by collecting all your information from bank accounts, credit cards, and other accounts, and displays it all at the touch of a button. This allows you to keep track of your personal finances even when you are on the go.
Google Calendar
Never miss an appointment or event again with the Google Calendar. Google Calendar can take numerous dates and appointments from your mobile phone, Outlook calendar, and other computer and phone applications, and places that information into one place. No longer will you have to page through hundreds of appointments to find out what is going on. When you download the Google Calendar you will have everything you need to know at the touch of a button.
Remember the Milk
Ever have a situation where you went to the store and couldn’t remember what you went there for? When you download Remember the Milk you can create numerous lists of items that you need to remember to pick up. The lists can be organized by date, content, or priority allowing you to make sure everything gets taken care properly. The best part is you can program Remember the Milk to send you reminders via text message or email, so there is no reason why you would forget to pick something up at the store.
Life really is like a three-ring circus. Numerous mobile apps can provide you with the tools you need to organize and optimize your busy, hectic and sometimes crazy daily life.
This week Saturday Night Live is celebrating the end of its’ 37th season on air (yes, you read that right) by pulling out the usual bags of tricks. That includes rock god Mick Jagger taking on hosting duties, while Arcade Fire and the Foo Fighters provide the marquee music interludes (plus there will be comedy sketches…at least I think they still do those).
But while the cast and crew will mostly be sticking to the traditional SNL formula for success, they are throwing one new variable into the mix for this monumental occasion. That comes in the form of a partnership with the Facebook app Color.
Some of you may remember Color as the app that allowed you to share your photos and short (about 30 seconds) live video clips with a network of your closest friends. More likely though, you remember the story of how the program managed to raise $41 million dollars for its launch, only to fade into obscurity sometimes after that. It’s not that the program didn’t work; it just didn’t manage to catch on in the ever growing app market.
But now, thanks to a new partnership with Verizon, Color is looking to make a big comeback. Not only will Verizon start making the app standard on all new Android phones, but Color has also beefed up its’ own services, particularly in the video area which now has a better broadcast quality, sound with your live feed (for Verizon customers), and the ability to notify your friends immediately for live broadcast.
To celebrate (and most importantly, to promote), Color will be teaming with SNL to have the actors, crew, and guests take backstage footage of the evening, and fill in the breaks and commercials with exclusive footage that will be broadcast to anyone who friends Verizon on Facebook.
Color certainly seems more focused this time around. It’s no wonder either considering the recent $1 billion Instagram acquisition by Facebook, and how Facebook itself is preparing for the richest public offering anyone has ever seen. But if you’re looking for the new Color’s greatest motivation…that may actually be Twitter. It’s a smart move to try to set up a service that could be similar to Twitter, but uses video instead since that would seem to be the logical progression of the medium.
If you’re interested in the footage,you just have to like Verizon on Facebook, and download the Color for Facebook app on your mobile device. While Verizon customers are the only ones that get sound with the feed, anyone can sign up for it.
It’s easy to see that the team behind Color believes in their product, and their dedication to getting their name out there shows that. If the SNL show is a success, it’s easy to imagine the public imagination taking hold of this app and making something unique out of it.
And , maybe Mick will even sing “Start Me Up” for them.
Baseball fans love their stats, particularly fantasy owners looking for an edge. Whether you’re a certified stat geek or your fantasy league’s reigning champ, you could spend hours digging through the vast pool of information found in the Bill James Baseball IQ app. Created by Steve Selfors in collaboration with noted historian and stat savant Bill James and developer American Eagle, Baseball IQ sets itself apart from other statistics-based baseball apps by putting the sport’s endless stream of useful data into the hands of its most rabid fans with full color graphics that are easy to both navigate and understand.
Say, for example, you want to see how Toronto’s Jose Bautista, the game’s current home run king, has fared against Yankees ace CC Sabathia throughout his career. Well, for starters, that’s just too simple for this app. In fact, with a few clicks, you can see Sabathia’s lifetime stats against every hitter on Toronto’s roster (Bautista, incidentally, is 0-30 against the large lefty with 14 strikeouts…yikes). Want to see a location breakdown for Bautista’s 14 Ks vs. Sabathia? Check out the K Zone chart. Wondering how those numbers stack up against Bautista’s stats against other Yankee starters, or any other pitcher in the game over the last year? Last two years? Last three years? Check. With Hit Locator, you can see where Bautista is most likely to hit the ball in certain situations (against particular pitchers, in a specific ballpark, with an 0-2 count, etc.), and with Hit Zone, you can see the location of pitches in and around the strike zone where Bautista tends to get his hits. Of course, these breakdowns are available for every player in the game over the last three years, and the app also allows you to stack one player’s stats up against another’s over a set time period and against particular teams and/or pitchers. Pretty cool.
But we’re just scratching the surface here. The bottom line is, you’ll find stats on the Bill James Baseball IQ app that you won’t see anywhere else, giving you the knowledge you need to impress your friends at the bar while continuing to dominate those same friends in your fantasy baseball league.
Cinco de Mayo is one of our favorite holidays for all the reasons you might expect. The focus is on drinking and fun, so it ranks up there with St. Patrick’s Day as a holiday that’s easy to enjoy.
We thought that a gallery of photos of the beautiful and voluptuous Cristy Mendivil would be a perfect way to celebrate the holiday here on the site and get you ready to have some fun tonight. Cristy is an amazing model of Mexican heritage, and we’re pretty sure she’s gearing up for a fun night as well! The photos above feature Cristy in some sexy bikinis and lingerie from her original Girl Next Door shoot and her Blast from the Past shoot. If you like beautiful Latin women, check out our gallery of hot Latin models as well.
Also, check out our Cinco de Mayo e-card app, where you can have some fun planning your evening with your friends. So order up some premium tequila like Cabo Wabo and get ready for a wild night. There’s nothing like tequila to get the party going!
