Hello all! Last year, I started off the new year with a video game review. Well, I guess we have a trend going here! Hopefully, the rest of this year will go like the last one did. It was a good year for me; even so, I’d like this year to go a little bit better.

In my last two posts, I talked about my new toy, the 5.5 generation iPod. Before I went video-download crazy on it, I just had to get a new game for it. It comes with simple games pre-loaded on it: Solitaire, Parachute, Music Quiz and Brick (a “Breakout” style game). Even though these games are fun, I say they’re simple because in quality they are about two steps above Pong. Apple recently caved in to their consumer’s demands and contracted some developers to make some high quality games.

After looking at all the choices, I decided on Vortex. This game is another “Breakout” style game, with features similar to Arkanoid and Tempest. The similarities end there… this is “Breakout” on caffeine and crack! You control a paddle that, like Tempest, moves in a 360 degree motion around the rim of an arena. The object is to clear the arena of all regular bricks. Like Arkanoid, there are power bricks that give special qualities when caught by the paddle. The game seems simple enough but, once you progress further, the challenges naturally increase.

The graphics are awesome, the sound is great and, even on a small screen, you can find yourself becoming immersed in gameplay and time completely forgotten! Each stage’s backdrop is rendered beautifully and every piece of the game is made out in crisp detail. There are options to change the way you control the paddle, difficulty settings and separate volume settings for music and sound effects. While the game music is great, you can even opt to have your own iPod’s music selected as the game music, though you have to have the music playing before you select the game. Even though I primarily listen to metal, I recommend some good trance music (Astral Projection is my personal favorite!). You can even save your game in play, if the need arises, and come back to it later!

All in all I highly recommend this as an immediate download for anyone who has a video-enabled iPod. Even though it’s $4.99, it’s defintely worth more than that. Compared to the other games offered, the 360 degree gameplay lends itself very well to the clickwheel control scheme. I have played this game for awhile now and, even on “Newbie” setting, I’ve only gotten to the around the sixth level. A very challenging game, for sure!

There are other good quality games available on Apple’s iTunes Music Store. My other considerations were Mini Golf, Zuma, Tetris and Bejeweled. Cubis 2 also looked good, if not a little confusing but I may be wrong.

This concludes yet another review, brought to you by The Esoterik Blog. On a side note, I stayed home from work today to recuperate from a head cold. I’m sick at the beginning of the year, just like last year! I feel ok, aside from lower energy and a scratchy throat. UGH!

Technorati Tags: Vortex, iPod, iPod Games, iTunes, iTMS, Game Reviews, Arkanoid, Tempest, Breakout, Astral Projection

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Years celebration. We certainly did!

Of course, we did the traditional dinner at Red Lobster. Yes, it’s not tradtional for anyone else, but this is something we’ve been doing for several years now. I’m not a big seafood fan (except shrimp!), but Christine loves the stuff, so we kind of keep our visits to that restaurant for special occasions like this.

Afterwards, we got home, laid on the bed and put the TV on whatever channel had the best coverage. Man, they do a terrific makeup job on Dick Clark; You almost can’t tell that he’s 150 years old! (Just kidding, Mr. Clark!) With beer in hand, we toasted the new year with a clink, but not a kiss. I remedied that this morning!

I also brought in the new year doing something slightly illegal, but currently being debated in our court system. Under the current DCMA agreement, if you buy one title of whatever on a media format, you have to use it for the playback device it’s for. If you want to play it on a different format, you have to buy the media again! No converting allowed. Well, while celebrating the new year, I had the computer ripping one of my DVD’s for use with my new iPod. Hey, it’s not like I’m giving it away to anyone else, right? That’s what the current laws are meant to stop people from doing in the first place! What I’m doing is “true fair use”.

Well, I have to end this with a promise to blog more often this year. I’ll try to put up a list of New Year’s resolutions on a different entry soon. I am also working on a game review, so stay tuned for that one!

I wish everyone in our families, friends and whomever reads the blog an awesome start to the new year! Cheers!

Technorati Tags: New Year, Red Lobster, DCMA, iPod, Fair Use