Biggs found the phone to be far superior than the G1 in nearly every aspect, but how about against the Verizon-bound Motorola Droid? That’s what I want to know and would advise folks looking to jump on the Android bandwagon to wait until we found that out.

Rumored for God knows how long, and teased for months, the Sony PSP Go is finally available at your friendly neighborhood retailer. We have one—well, I have one—and have been playing with it for a couple of days now. As such, consider this a review. Spoiler: It’s not bad, but not great either.

What is the PSP Go? Nearest I can tell, it’s Sony’s attempt to usher in the Download Era. No more visiting the local shop to buy Game 3: Yes, It’s a Sequel to the Sequel, or waiting for the UPS man to bring your Amazon or Newegg order. Nope, all you’ll have to do is fire up your device, which, in this case, is the PSP Go, connect to a virtual store, then download the latest game directly to the device’s storage. Congratulations, you’re now the proud owner of Game 3, all without having to leave the comfort of your home. The concept itself, I think, is fantastic, and has been used by the likes of Steam for some time now. Who needs a pile of discs, and their plastic shells, when all you want is the game itself? That’s my attitude, though I can totally understand when people say, “I want the disc!” Your business is your business, and who am I to judge how you want to play your games?

Even Sony recognizes that there’s bound to be more than a few people who aren’t quite ready to give up their discs, which is why the PSP-3000 isn’t going anywhere for a while. (In fact, there’s gonna be a wicked Gran Turismo bundle coming out later this month, which, if I didn’t already have an old PSP (and now the Go), I’d be all over.) Expect the PSP Go and PSP-3000 to co-exist for some time, just like how the Nintendo DS and GameBoy Advance co-existed for some time. Should the PSP Go prove to be any sort of success, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sony axe the PSP-3000 in the future.

So that’s the philosophy of the PSP Go: a neat little device that’s able to download PSP (and PS One classic) games from the Internet.

While the philosophy is fine, and is one I subscribe to, the actual execution isn’t all there. If the PSP Go were a pro wrestling match, and I were using the Wrestling Observer five-star rating system (which I’ll be doing from now on with my reviews, thank you very much), I’d give the PSP Go a solid three point five (3.5) out of five stars. It’s not a perfect device, and it’s just shy of being very good; it’s good. (For comparison’s sake, I’d give the Zune HD a four point five (4.5) out of five: if only the screen were a little more legible in direct sunlight it would the best piece of hardware I’ve ever owned. It really is that good.)

So what’s wrong with the PSP Go? Let’s talk about what’s right first, then get into its shortcomings.

Eu gosto de…

• See you in Hell, UMDs. The UMD could be the worst disc format I’ve ever used. It’s clunky and brittle all at the same time (doesn’t it feel like a slight wind could shatter a UMD?), dreadfully slow, and, in 2009, entirely unnecessary. With flash storage being so cheap these, not to mention so fast, I’m very happy to see Sony kill of the UMD in the PSP Go. That’s right: If you didn’t already know, there’s no UMD drive in the PSP Go. At the moment, that means that your collection of UMD-based PSP games are 100 percent obsolete, provided you don’t plan on keeping a PSP-3000 (or older) handy. Sony has said that it’s planning some sort of trade-in program for the future, but it’s currently being held back by legal reasons. Or, if you’re a cynic, perhaps Sony wants us to buy Vice City Stories or Soulcalibur all over again, this time from the PlayStation Network?

• The general size and shape of the device. The PSP-3000 isn’t exactly huge, but unless you’re wearing Rocawear jeans you’re gonna have a hard time fitting it in your pocket. The PSP Go’s display has the same resolution as previous models (480×272), but on a smaller screen, so images “look sharper,” in layman’s terms. It slides open and shut sorta like the T-Mobile G1 (or pick your slider phone), but never feels like it’s going to break on you. The PSP Go also just looks neat, maybe not as neat as the Zune HD, but neat nonetheless; you tell it was recently designed, whereas the PSP-3000 looks so 2005 by this point.

• The screen. The screen, she is not bad. I played Gran Turismo, Rock Band, and Silent Hill (the PS One game), and all the games looked pretty good to me. I understand “pretty good” is more or less a worthless phrase, but at no point did I think, “Well this screen is rubbish.” Once again, playing the thing in direct sunlight just isn’t going to happen, but you probably assumed as much by now. Besides, I imagine playing this while on-the-go, as it were: on the train, at the airport, etc. If you’re on the Copacabana in Rio playing a portable video game system you may have to check yourself.

Eu não gosto de…

• The download speed. This, I feel, is the single worst part about the PSP G0: it only has 802.11b Wi-Fi! I’m sorry, is this 2003? For a system that’s supposed to usher in the dawn of a new era, this is the absolute dumbest thing Sony could have done. What’s the price difference between an 802.11b and 802.11g chipset? (The Rock: It doesn’t matter that the price difference is!) How much money did Sony lose already with the PS3, $400 zillion? Man up and go with 802.11g. Let me illustrate how slow this is, and keep in mind that I have the fastest residential Internet connection in the United States of America: Gran Turismo for the PSP weighs in at 937MB. It took 21 minutes to download the game, and a further 20 to actually install it. This is not good enough! At that point, I may as well have driven to the store, bought a physical copy of the game, stopped at Taco Bell, then watched a good chunk of The Ultimate Fighter all in the time it took to download and install.

• Game prices. Downloaded from PSN, Gran Turismo cost the same price as it does at retail stores: $39.99 (plus tax! bite me, New York state!) Couldn’t Sony throw us, say, a $5 discount because we’re not buying a physical item that costs money to produce, then ship, then sit on Wal-Mart’s shelves? Isn’t that one of the allures of downloading content, that it cuts out the middleman (the retail stores like Best Buy), and has zero costs associated with production? It’s not like there’s a truck that deliver the ISO from Sony’s servers to my PSP Go, a truck that needs gas, has a driver who’s on a salary, etc. These prices need to be lowered because, otherwise, what’s the point? I already said how it’s not terribly fast to download the game, and now it’s not any less expensive? Lame.

• The nub. If it’s at all possible, I will never use that thing. The physical location of the nub is fine, I have no problems there, but it just feels useless. (Needless to say, I’ve been using the D-Pad to play Gran Turismo, like I did in 1998 when the first game came out.) Would it be impossible to include an actual analog stick? (The D-Pad, for the record, feels more “clicky” than “pushy,” if that makes any sense.)

Conclusão

Again, using the Wrestling Observer five-star rating system, I’d give the PSP Go a fair three point five (3.5) out of five. It’s not going to light the world on fire like the iPhone or anything, but it’s not a huge bucket of fail either. The Wi-Fi is murderously slow, and for something that’s supposed to be all about downloads, well, I think that’s an oversight on Sony’s part. Once your games have downloaded, though, then you’ve got as much space on there as you want. The PSP Go comes with 16GB of built-in storage, which is expandable up to 32GB with the addition of a Memory Stick Micro card. (Are there even 32GB of PSP games worth playing out there? So that’s plenty of space, unless you want to watch movies and whatnot, which I patently have zero interest in.)

So, not bad, but could have been a little bit better, absolutely.

T-Mobile’s original Android phone, the G1, is now selling for $130 (with a two-year contract) direct from T-Mobile’s web site. That’s a $20 price reduction, although savvy bargain shoppers know that you can find the G1 from plenty of reputable places for around $100.

Does that mean, then, that stores like Amazon and Walmart, for instance, will soon be discounting the G1 down to around $80 like they just don’t care? I guess we’ll find out. At $80, the G1 is pretty much a no-brainer if you’re already on T-Mobile or you’re looking to switch.

T-Mobile G1 [T-Mobile via TmoNews]

Short Version: If you’re the proud owner of a battery sucking 3G device like the iPhone, G1, Pre or any small gadget that can be recharged via miniUSB or microUSB then you’ll want to listen to what I have to say. At $45, the Energizer XP2000 is without a doubt, the best external power solution that you can buy today.

Extended Version

The entire line of Xpal power solutions seem reasonably priced and offer a variety of charging options depending on your gadget collection. The XP2000 packs a 2000 mAh rechargeable battery, which is just enough to bring back most of my mobile devices back from the dead once (Hero, Curve 8900, G1, iPhone 3G). Recharging the XP2000 takes a few hours and can be done via USB, AC or a 12V outlet.

Packaged in a handsome zipper case, the XP2000 comes with a 12V USB adapter, USB cable, miniUSB, microUSB, Nokia and iPhone/iPod tips as well as an AC USB adapter.

I know it’s not a hybrid case/battery pack, but I suggest spending the $45 on this then something like the Mophie Juice packs. In fact, the Mophie Juice Pack Air that I reviewed back in April is now broken and no longer recharges my iPhone 3G. That’s a total of three (maybe four) battery packs from Mophie that have stopped working less than six months after receiving them for review.

Big name battery purveyors like Energizer rarely back janky products, so it’s a safe bet that the Xpal line of products will work for more than a year (I hope).

XP2000 [Product Page]

I actually bought and use a very similar battery from Seidio for my T-Mobile G1 and I’ve been pretty happy with it (full review here). The Pre version is rated at 1350mAh and promises about 20% extra capacity, which should add a nice bump to your daily usage.

Innocell 1350 Extended Life Battery [Seidio via SlashGear]

Live from the HTC press event.

• 7:13 AM: johnbiggs OK. So we have the Sense and the Hero today.
• 7:13 AM: johnbiggs The CEO just showed up to talk about Sense. Not much info.
• 7:14 AM: johnbiggs CMO John Wang
• 7:14 AM: johnbiggs Now on stage.
• 7:14 AM: johnbiggs “Phones have too many features made by techies.”
• 7:14 AM: johnbiggs HTC Sense
• 7:15 AM: johnbiggs “HTC Sense is a holistic experience that put people at the center by simply making things work as they should”
• 7:15 AM: johnbiggs You are the center.
• 7:16 AM: johnbiggs Bring all of your things to the surface. It is so much like Palm Pre interface it’s scary. Uses cards.
• 7:16 AM: johnbiggs Lots of widgets.
• 7:16 AM: johnbiggs Set your scene for the weekend – change the way it looks on the weekend.
• 7:19 AM: johnbiggs You can slide between icons to see different info on a person. One contact card has your contact’s smses, IMs, pictures on Flickr, etc.
• 7:20 AM: johnbiggs Land at a new place: clock, weather, appointments change
• 7:21 AM: johnbiggs search: in internet, search google, in twitter search twitter, in calendar, search only calendar
• 7:21 AM: johnbiggs Multi-touch – pinch in email to change text size
• 7:21 AM: johnbiggs
• 7:22 AM: johnbiggs
• 7:23 AM: johnbiggs
• 7:23 AM: johnbiggs
• 7:23 AM: johnbiggs Now releasing HTC Hero – first product to use Sense.
• 7:24 AM: johnbiggs
• 7:24 AM: johnbiggs Teflon coated
• 7:24 AM: johnbiggs so it doesn’t get messy
• 7:24 AM: johnbiggs wacky, right?
• 7:25 AM: johnbiggs
• 7:26 AM: johnbiggs
• 7:26 AM: johnbiggs Lots of “man on the street” interviews – “Very nice! Can I go with this?”
• 7:26 AM: johnbiggs
• 7:27 AM: johnbiggs The phone looks very similar to the G1. Angle bottom. Probably will end up as the T-Mobile G3.
• 7:27 AM: johnbiggs Finish is “soft to the touch” not cold and slippery… like the iPhone?
• 7:27 AM: johnbiggs Resists dirt and stains
• 7:27 AM: johnbiggs
• 7:28 AM: johnbiggs anti-fingerprint finish on hero
• 7:28 AM: johnbiggs “You shouldn’t be polishing your phone.”
• 7:28 AM: johnbiggs Sorry images aren’t popping up.
• 7:29 AM: johnbiggs Ah. I guess they are.
• 7:29 AM: johnbiggs GPS, digital compass, and tilt sensor.
• 7:30 AM: johnbiggs You can mute an incoming call just by turning the phone over.
• 7:30 AM: johnbiggs 5-megapixel camera
• 7:30 AM: johnbiggs Announcing Adobe Flash support
• 7:31 AM: johnbiggs Error correction and spellcheck for typing
• 7:31 AM: johnbiggs
• 7:31 AM: johnbiggs Coming this Summer
• 7:32 AM: johnbiggs So what we have here is Android with an amazing overlay. This is the Palm Pre++
• 7:33 AM: johnbiggs T-Mo and Orange are the local partners in Europe. Available in Europe in July. Asia in the end of summer.
• 7:34 AM: johnbiggs Heading over to the demo pit. Thanks for watching.

The HTC Hero delivers powerful, compatible video playback performance using Flash technology, and interactive content enabled by ActionScript® 2.0. Users can enjoy and navigate through Web videos using intuitive video controls. With progressive streaming of large MP3 audio files from a Web server and the local file storage, the HTC Hero provides a seamless audio experience. Support for Sorenson and On2 VP6 codecs enables higher quality video and playback of existing Web content. A demo of the user experience enabled by the Flash Platform on the HTC Hero and the Android operating system can be viewed at www.adobe.com/go/htchero.

Not official word on availability right now but it should arrive with the new Hero handset this summer and in the US later this year on, it is assumed, T-Mobile’s version of the Hero device. There is no information on whether this implementation will be available on other handsets – the G1, for example – at this time.

Adobe and HTC Bring Flash Platform to Android
New HTC Hero Delivers More Complete Web Browsing Experience with Adobe Flash Technology
SAN JOSE, Calif. and LONDON — June 24, 2009 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) and HTC, a global designer of mobile phones, today announced that the new HTC Hero is the first Android phone to ship with support for Adobe® Flash® Platform technology. The new phone delivers a more complete Web browsing experience and provides access to a broad variety of Flash technology based content available on the Web today.
“As the first Android device with Flash, the new HTC Hero represents a key milestone for Android and the Flash Platform. With close to 80 percent of all videos online delivered with Adobe Flash technology, consumers want to access rich Web content on-the-go.” said David Wadhwani, vice president and general manager, Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “The collaboration with HTC offers people a more complete Flash based Web browsing experience today and presents an important step towards full Web browsing with Flash Player 10 on mobile phones in the future.”
The new HTC Hero is a key element of the HTC experience and a new generation of HTC mobile phones and devices. Users can browse and discover a broad set of Web content and applications not supported by mobile phones in the past. People can also view YouTube videos using Flash technology, and enable full screen viewing mode by simply double tapping the screen.
“Adobe Flash is an important core technology for people interacting and experiencing the Web, it is only natural to be offering it on the new HTC Hero first,” said John Wang, chief marketing officer, HTC Corporation. “We look forward to continuing our close collaboration with Adobe and to bringing Flash Player 10 support to our phones in the future.”
The HTC Hero delivers powerful, compatible video playback performance using Flash technology, and interactive content enabled by ActionScript® 2.0. Users can enjoy and navigate through Web videos using intuitive video controls. With progressive streaming of large MP3 audio files from a Web server and the local file storage, the HTC Hero provides a seamless audio experience. Support for Sorenson and On2 VP6 codecs enables higher quality video and playback of existing Web content. A demo of the user experience enabled by the Flash Platform on the HTC Hero and the Android operating system can be viewed at www.adobe.com/go/htchero.
HTC Participates in Open Screen Project
HTC also announced its participation in the Open Screen Project, a broad industry effort to deliver a consistent runtime across screens and to provide access to all Flash technology based Web content in the future. As a contributor to the initiative, HTC is collaborating with Adobe and more than 25 other industry leaders to bring Flash Player 10 and full Web browsing to the next generation of Android based smartphones and other mobile computing platforms and devices. For more details on the Open Screen Project, visit www.openscreenproject.org.
About Adobe Flash Platform
The Adobe Flash Platform is a complete system of integrated tools, frameworks, clients and servers for the development of Web applications, content and video that runs consistently across operating systems and devices. Adobe Flash Player content reaches over 98 percent of Internet-enabled desktops, and Adobe Flash technology is the No.1 platform for video on the Web. In addition, the mobile runtime has shipped and delivered Flash technology based content on close to 40 percent of all new mobile phones and devices in 2008. For more information about the Adobe Flash Platform visit www.adobe.com/flashplatform. For details on the goals set for the Adobe Flash Platform as part of the Open Screen Project, visit www.openscreenproject.org
About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.
About HTC
HTC Corporation (HTC) is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile phone industry and continues to pioneer industry-leading mobile experiences through design, usability and innovation that is sparked by how the mobile phone can improve how people live and communicate. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under ticker 2498. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.

]]> http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/24/flash-comes-to-android/feed/ 42 http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/23/wiimbledon-2009-sponsors-donations-and-other-general-news/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/23/wiimbledon-2009-sponsors-donations-and-other-general-news/#comments Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:19:23 +0000 Peter Ha http://www.crunchgear.com/?p=96848 This year’s Wiimbledon is fast approaching (Saturday the 27th), but it’s not too late to sign up for the tournament. Jump on over to the EventBrite page and register for the tournament. Wiimbledon is free to all, but you’ll have to pay to play. Barcade is once again hosting the event and they’ve committed to matching our donations to Child’s Play. ]]> This year’s Wiimbledon is fast approaching (Saturday the 27th), but it’s not too late to sign up for the tournament. Jump on over to the EventBrite page and register for the tournament. Wiimbledon is free to all, but you’ll have to pay to play. Barcade is once again hosting the event and they’ve committed to matching our donations to Child’s Play.

So, you’re wondering how you can donate or snag some product, right? If you’re unable to make the event in Brooklyn then you can either donate directly to Child’s Play via their Paypal account (please add a note to your donation referencing Wiimbledon and CrunchGear) or bid on items that CrunchGear has allocated for Wiimbledon on this page. (It’s a little ghetto because it’s my personal eBay page, but I’ve linked all auction pages to the Child’s Play Charity and they’re getting all the proceeds). Check out all the items now. We’ll be adding to it over the next day so keep checking back.

And all of those products up for auction or as prizes would not have been possible without the generous donations of the following companies. From everyone at CrunchGear and Wiimbledon, we thank you.

A big thanks to Geek Squad for providing technical support at the event and for donating all six Wiis that will be used at the event and auctioned off later.

Nyko is onboard this year as the Official Racket of Wiimbledon with the Wand and it rocks.

We wouldn’t be having this tournament if it weren’t for Toshiba. Thanks for lending us six 42-inch Regza ZV650s for the event.

We love Dyson at CrunchGear and we love them even more for donating two DC25 Animals and two DC16 Animals. They never lose suction!

Casio, thanks for donating the EX-FS10 high-speed digital camera. Who doesn’t want to see their videos at 1000fps?

Now that Nintendo has pulled their head out and added support for SD cards, we can’t thank Lexar enough for donating 10 2GB gaming edition SD cards.

If you’re on Verizon then thank HTC for donating two Touch Pros to the cause.

Who wants the new Sidekick LX 2009? How about a G1? Thanks, T-Mobile!

Thanks to THX for donating a Mako 2.1 speaker system. These are my personal favorites and they’re a bombass set of speakers.

Thanks to VIA for donating an A2000 storage server. You know what you’re going to do with this.

Need a Wii racing wheel or iPod speakers? Logitech has you covered with the PureFi Anytime iPod speakers and a Wii racing wheel.

Virgin America always takes care of us and we thank them for donating four Main Cabin tickets.

Lowepro, thanks for donating a gaggle of camera bags.

Need instant access to the Web? Verizon has you covered with the MiFi.

Never run out of batteries while playing your Wii ever again! Thanks to Duracell for providing rechargeable batteries.

I hear it’s the Year of the netbook. Thanks to Lenovo for hooking us up with the S10.

Need a phone? How about one or five from Samsung Mobile? We have the T-Mobile t349, AT&T Propel, T-Mobile Gravity, Verizon Juke and a Verizon Saga.

Have a lot of movies sitting on your computer? Wouldn’t you rather watch it all on your TV? Western Digital to the rescue with two WD TVs.

Pentax, you’re the best. Thanks for hooking us up with two E70 digital cameras.

This is just the short list as we have many more fabulous items up for grabs. I’ll be updating as we go. There’s still time to donate products, too! Just shoot me an e-mail at peterha at crunchgear dot com.

Update: AT&T Wireless is jumping on the bandwagon with a Samsung Jack.

And please don’t forget to donate your old gadgets to Gazelle.

Oh, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and RSVP on Facebook.

]]> http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/23/wiimbledon-2009-sponsors-donations-and-other-general-news/feed/ 9 http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/23/gamebone-iphone-gamepad-cooler-than-it-sounds-doubles-as-battery-extender/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/23/gamebone-iphone-gamepad-cooler-than-it-sounds-doubles-as-battery-extender/#comments Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:30:46 +0000 Doug Aamoth http://www.crunchgear.com/?p=96800 Oh, I get it. Because it's shaped like a bone. I was thinking of something else. Here's the GameBone Pro, a gamepad for the iPhone and iPod touch. It connects via Bluetooth or 30-pin dock connector and features a built-in battery to provide a little extra juice to your device while gaming, plus a built-in speaker and headphone jack.]]>

Oh, I get it. Because it’s shaped like a bone. I was thinking of something else. Here’s the GameBone Pro, a gamepad for the iPhone and iPod touch. It connects via Bluetooth or 30-pin dock connector and features a built-in battery to provide a little extra juice to your device while gaming, plus a built-in speaker and headphone jack.

All in all, I’m intrigued. I have an iPod touch, but I’d buy this thing more for use with my T-Mobile G1 — specifically for playing NES and Genesis games. The controller will come with an “iPod touch / iPhone stand supporting vertical and horizontal positions.”

So when will it be available and how much will it cost? The product’s website says it’ll be available in mid-September 2009. As for pricing — get this — the company is “currently open to pricing suggestions from the public.” Everyone suggest $5!

As for game compatibility, games made for the iPhone and iPod touch will need to be programmed to actually use the hardware so the company, 22moo, will be making a free SDK available shortly. Now as for using this thing with other devices, I’d hope that the buttons would be programmable to keyboard keys.

The gamepad itself features a D-pad, four main buttons, and two shoulder buttons. The company is located in Australia but it does ship internationally and is looking for distributors all over the place.

GameBone Pro : iPhone 3.0 Game Controller + Battery Pack [GameBone via Kotaku]

]]> http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/23/gamebone-iphone-gamepad-cooler-than-it-sounds-doubles-as-battery-extender/feed/ 4 http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/10/billshrink-iphone-3g-s-vs-palm-pre-vs-t-mobile-g1/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/10/billshrink-iphone-3g-s-vs-palm-pre-vs-t-mobile-g1/#comments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:40:51 +0000 Peter Ha http://www.crunchgear.com/?p=94508 As always, Billshrink breaks it all down for us. Anyone want to guess how much cheaper the Pre is compared to the upcoming 3G S? Hit the jump to find out. ]]> As always, Billshrink breaks it all down for us. Anyone want to guess how much cheaper the Pre is compared to the upcoming 3G S? Hit the jump to find out. ]]> http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/10/billshrink-iphone-3g-s-vs-palm-pre-vs-t-mobile-g1/feed/ 0 http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/05/review-the-sims-3-for-iphone/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/05/review-the-sims-3-for-iphone/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:30:17 +0000 Doug Aamoth http://www.crunchgear.com/?p=93600

I own a first-generation iPod Touch and a T-Mobile G1. While I love my G1 as a phone, I’m constantly amazed at the quality of applications and software that are available for the iPhone — games especially. While I seem to have sort of gotten my bases covered in the games department on the G1, I can’t help but wonder what it’d be like to walk around with games like Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Sim City, and The Sims 3 on my phone all day long.

Magic, I tell you. Magic!

That might be stretching it a little bit, but the fact remains: The Sims 3 represents yet another excellent and very-impressive iPhone game from EA. At $9.99, it’s a no-brainer for any fan of the Sims franchise.

The game is a slightly scaled-back version of the big-boy Sims games. In this adventure, you live in a small town surrounded by a handful of neighbors, a few employment opportunities, and a few shopping areas. If a full-blown PC version of The Sims equates to Sim City 3000 or Sim City 4, the iPhone version of The Sims 3 would dovetail with SimTown. Perhaps Sim Small Town, even.

You create your own character using a few different hairstyles, skin tones, and clothing and shoe options — nothing too advanced, there are perhaps 4-5 options for each category — and then decide on a basic personality type: Jack of All Trades, Nice Guy, Jerk, Sleaze, Power Seeker, and Maniac. After that, you assign yourself five main personality traits. I made myself a Jack of All Trades and chose good sense of humor, conversationalist, modest, friendly, and genius as my traits.

Then, in true Sims form, you set about making a little life for yourself. You’ll have to get a job to make money, you need to buy food items from the market, and you’ll have to keep an eye on your basic personal needs: hunger, energy, fun, social, hygiene, bladder, and the like. You can make extra money by completing tasks for various other Sims. Some are pretty weird; like this guy Bernie wants to pay me $30 (sorry, 30 simoleans — Sim currency) to annoy another Sim named Jack.

And one lady Sim offered me $90 to shove another lady Sim! Unfortunately (or fortunately) due to my personality type, my character doesn’t have it in him to annoy or shove people.

Since the iPhone’s got an accelerometer, we can’t escape mini-games based on shaking and tilting can we? No sir. If you want to cook yourself a meal, you’ll have to make sure to pick up and shake the pots on the stove or your food will burn. You can also go fishing, which consists of tilting the iPhone back and forth to get your line near a moving fish and then jerking the device upward to reel it in. Stuff like that. It’s sort of interesting the first time but it gets a little old after a while. Not a deal-breaker, though.

In order to stave off the monotony of everyday life, your Sim will develop long-term goals. Mine wants to hit the top of his career ladder eventually. He also wants a better TV, $1000 in the bank, and he wants to catch 15 fish — all things I can relate to in real life, except for the fish part. New goals will appear throughout the game and you can choose to add them to your long-term list. Otherwise, they’ll be goals for a while and then eventually fade away.

Again, you’ll get some weirdness here too. My Sim has had goals like “Annoy another Sim” or, worse yet, “Creep-out another Sim.” Hopefully my Sim doesn’t turn into a serial killer.

So there’s definitely enough going on to keep you engaged. Certain items unlock at various points in the game — new furniture, the ability to add on to your house, etc. — and there are just enough people to talk to and places to see to make it feel like a somewhat “big” game without making it unwieldy to play on the iPhone’s screen. The graphics, sound, and music are all done really well; just what you’d expect if you’ve purchased any of EA’s other recent games.

At $9.99, The Sims 3 already looks and feels more advanced than the first version of the game that came out for the PC back in 2000. If you’ve enjoyed playing subsequent Sims titles and you’re looking for a great way to pass some time, you can’t go wrong with this one.

The Sims 3 [iTunes App Store]

]]> http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/05/review-the-sims-3-for-iphone/feed/ 85 http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/05/quick-review-gensoid-genesis-emulator-for-android/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/05/quick-review-gensoid-genesis-emulator-for-android/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:40:52 +0000 Doug Aamoth http://www.crunchgear.com/?p=93526

Just when I thought I’d died and gone to heaven with the Nesoid NES Emulator for Android (see the review here), along comes a Genesis emulator from the same developer called Gensoid.If you have a T-Mobile G1 and you’re even remotely interested in playing NES or Sega Genesis games on it, your total out of pocket cost will be just shy of five bucks. Nesoid costs $1.99 and Gensoid costs $2.99. Or simply buy one or the other. You can’t really go wrong.

Like Nesoid, Gensoid features the same slick interface and plays just about any Genesis ROM you can get onto your device’s microSD card. Sound and music are still a bit wonky, resulting in framerate slowdown here and there but most games work just fine and you can turn the sound off in the settings menu, which improves framerate dramatically. Take a look at the above video to see what I mean about the sound. It’s not perfect but it doesn’t really ruin the experience. I tend to play most games with the sound off unless its a pivotal aspect of the game itself.

Each ROM gets its own save state, so you can save your progress mid-game and the next time you load the ROM up from Gensoid’s menu, the program will ask you if you want to load your previous save state, start a new game, or delete your save state. This is a great feature, as it allows you to slowly chip away at a game whenever you get a spare moment throughout your day. It’s seriously a wonderful time killer.

Controls are a bit finicky thanks to the G1’s cramped keyboard but everything works well enough to make most games playable. You’ll have a bit of trouble with sports games and games that require a lot of diagonal movement but most other games aren’t too much of a problem. The controls are all customizable, too, which allows you to figure out what’s most comfortable and then lock it in.

Like Nesoid, I can’t recommend this purchase highly enough — it’s three bucks for hours and hours of entertainment. The only thing that really needs improved is the audio portion of the program and, of course, perhaps some enterprising individual out there could build a sweet Bluetooth joystick attachment that holds the G1 in place while you use an actual D-pad and buttons.

Gensoid is available in the Android Market for $2.99. There’s no demo available, but you can check out the demo of Nesoid to get a feel for what to expect.

]]> http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/05/quick-review-gensoid-genesis-emulator-for-android/feed/ 14 http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/04/uncle-walt-brings-it-home-with-his-pre-review/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/04/uncle-walt-brings-it-home-with-his-pre-review/#comments Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:44:28 +0000 John Biggs http://www.crunchgear.com/?p=93227

You’ll notice that our own Palm Pre review hasn’t run yet – long freaking story – but I enjoyed Uncle Walt Mossberg’s look at the Pre during which he basically confirms that there will be a new iPhone next week. He calls this the best competitor to the iPhone so far and that it also has a keyboard.

I consider the Pre to be potentially the strongest rival to the iPhone to date, provided it attracts lots of third-party apps, which it sorely lacks at launch. Its design is much better than that of the two other main iPhone-class competitors: the T-Mobile G1, which uses Android, and RIM’s touch-screen BlackBerry Storm.

]]> http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/04/uncle-walt-brings-it-home-with-his-pre-review/feed/ 11 http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/26/quick-review-nesoid-nes-emulator-for-android/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/26/quick-review-nesoid-nes-emulator-for-android/#comments Tue, 26 May 2009 16:20:35 +0000 Doug Aamoth http://www.crunchgear.com/?p=91667

I’m a big fan of the T-Mobile G1 but to say that the selection of quality games from the Android Market has been underwhelming (at best) would be sugar-coating it. Luckily none of that really matters any more, as Android finally has a decent NES emulator.

It’s called “Nesoid” and, while emulation purists will scoff at the notion of charging money for emulation software, the program only costs two bucks and there’s a trial version available that allows you to play Chip N’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers all the livelong day.

As for ROM support, Nesoid ran just about every ROM I threw at it and the program features save- and load-states so you can save whatever game you’re playing mid-level and pick right back up where you left off the next time you load up Nesoid.

Sound and music, much the bane of any mobile emulator’s existence, works okay on Nesoid. It gets a bit choppy, especially in more intricate games like the ones put out in the NES’ later years (see Super Mario Bros. 3 in the above video), but the sound can be turned off, which improves framerates considerably. And apparently the sound is smoother if you’ve upgraded your handset to Cupcake. I haven’t yet, so I won’t comment. As it stands now, though, it’s just a minor annoyance that sometimes results in some slowdown here and there but doesn’t detract from the experience enough to be a true deal-breaker.

The control scheme is better than I thought it’d be, but still not great. You can’t use the trackball at all, which may have been a nice thing to use as the control pad. Instead, the default key settings are 1, A, Q, W for up, down, left, and right, O and P for the B and A buttons, and delete and enter for select and start. These buttons can all be reconfigured, and you can assign turbo keys and diagonal direction keys as well.

The interface itself is nice and polished, with a file manager-style list of ROMs that you load up onto your SD card. Games load quickly and hitting the Menu key mid-game allows you to save your current game, load a previously saved game, or choose a new game to play.

For $1.99, Nesoid opens up a whole new world for portable gaming fun on your G1 handset. It’s not perfect by any means, but it easily works well enough to justify the tiny price tag. Check out the above video and take the demo version for a spin first and see how you like it.

]]> http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/26/quick-review-nesoid-nes-emulator-for-android/feed/ 21 http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/21/video-gp2x-game-emulation-on-t-mobile-g1/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/21/video-gp2x-game-emulation-on-t-mobile-g1/#comments Thu, 21 May 2009 14:20:36 +0000 Doug Aamoth http://www.crunchgear.com/?p=91071

Please join me as we gaze in amazement at the T-Mobile G1 running the GP2X gaming platform consisting of MAME, SNES, and Genesis emulators, to name a few. The “GP2X G1/Android Emulator” is currently in pre-alpha, so don’t expect it to show up in the Android Market just yet. Still looks pretty good even at these early stages, though.

[Android GP2x World via Engadget]

]]> http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/21/video-gp2x-game-emulation-on-t-mobile-g1/feed/ 10 http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/09/t-mobile-cto-expect-android-devices-from-3-manufacturers-this-year/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/09/t-mobile-cto-expect-android-devices-from-3-manufacturers-this-year/#comments Sat, 09 May 2009 15:59:14 +0000 Matt Burns http://www.crunchgear.com/?p=88839

T-Mobile is betting big on Android this year. Cole Brodman, T-Mobile’s CTO,

We are looking to launch multiple Android-based devices in the second half of this year with three partners,

Three he says? HTC and Samsung have already been confirmed by the leaked Android roadmap, but who is the third?

It would likely be Huawei with a T-Mobile branded handset. The OEM manufacturer already stated plans to launch two to three handsets this year, and both companies have worked together in the past. Chances are we might see the unnamed touchscreen Android phone we spotted at MWC09 launch for the ‘10 holiday season. We can’t wait.

(Pic via DailyLife)

]]> http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/09/t-mobile-cto-expect-android-devices-from-3-manufacturers-this-year/feed/ 0 http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/08/t-mobile-bigfoot-g1v2-pictured/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/08/t-mobile-bigfoot-g1v2-pictured/#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 18:40:29 +0000 Devin Coldewey http://www.crunchgear.com/?p=88772 We learned the other day from a slightly shady-looking leaked document that the second version of the G1 will be hitting T-Mo some time in the fall. Believable, but the picture for the phone looked all wrong — a little too Ocean-y for us (though we love that phone). But BGR appears to have unearthed a picture of the real thing, and it looks a lot more likely to us.]]> We learned the other day from a slightly shady-looking leaked document that the second version of the G1 will be hitting T-Mo some time in the fall. Believable, but the picture for the phone looked all wrong — a little too Ocean-y for us (though we love that phone). But BGR appears to have unearthed a picture of the real thing, and it looks a lot more likely to us.]]> http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/08/t-mobile-bigfoot-g1v2-pictured/feed/ 0 http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/04/supposed-leaked-t-mobile-roadmap-shows-g2-in-summer-g1-v2-in-fall-black-boxes-year-round/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/04/supposed-leaked-t-mobile-roadmap-shows-g2-in-summer-g1-v2-in-fall-black-boxes-year-round/#comments Mon, 04 May 2009 17:15:23 +0000 Greg Kumparak http://www.crunchgear.com/?p=87733 We have absolutely no idea what's going on with all those shady black boxes in this leaked T-mobile Android roadmap, so the whole things a little iffy to us. CellPhoneSignal posted the image originally, though it only showed the Samsung Houdini and G2 launch dates you see up above. Just a few hours later, TmoToday posted the image with one more box uncovered, revealing the supposed G1 v.2 "Bigfoot".]]>

We have absolutely no idea what’s going on with all those shady black boxes in this leaked T-mobile Android roadmap, so the whole things a little iffy to us.

CellPhoneSignal posted the image originally, though it only showed the Samsung Houdini and G2 launch dates you see up above. Just a few hours later, TmoToday posted the image with one more box uncovered, revealing the supposed G1 v.2 “Bigfoot”.

Read the rest of this entry >>

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