1s rm friday,may31,2013 · success of bejeweled blitz comes atetris version where you play the...

1
DISNEY JUNIOR APPISODES First episode free for iOS TURBO RACING LEAGUE Free for Android GUITAR! BY SMULE Free for iOS DINER DASH Freemium for Android TETRIS BLITZ Free for all 3 REAL BOXING iOS/Android/Google Play, 69p 4 THE hit iOS and desktop fast-food game has finally made it to Android. You play as waitress Flo, building up your joint from a greasy spoon to a five-star eaterie. You progress by learning each customer’s personality and serving them what they like to eat to earn up to three stars per level. MARIO Kart-style racer to link with the release of animated movie Turbo is giving away a total of $1MILLION that’s £660,000 – to me and you, from now until July 17. Every week the fastest player earns a cash prize – plus a trip to LA to compete in a grand final for a slice of the £330,000 jackpot. THE STARSHIP DAMREY 3DS, £7.19 3 REAL CLIFF DIVING £1.49, iOS SONIC 1 iOS, £1.99 FOR whatever reasons, boxing games haven’t found the leap to mobile gaming easy going. You could say we’ve been waiting for our first knock-out game, a genuine heavyweight contender, etc. This title could well be the cure for those nauseating cliches. The graphics are brilliant – almost console level – thanks to motion capture. And the controls are comfortable, sensible and intuitive. You can even use motion control to play by literally throwing punches – though you’ll need to hook your tablet up to your TV. The only real annoyance is the game’s commentary, which is lame and repetitive. Additionally, progression feels stunted unless you’re willing to pay for in-game coins to upgrade your character’s arsenal. Otherwise, you’re left with an under-qualified fighter as soon as you pass the first career level. Those niggles aside, Real Boxing is hands down – or should that be gloves? – boxing’s No1 contender of the app world. INTERACTIVE TV show app for kids aged two-seven from the popular Disney Junior channel. Kids can tilt, tap and swipe through various activities which are embedded into the programmes. The first down- load, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, is free, but from then on it’s £2.99 a pop. FOLLOWING on from the success of Bejeweled Blitz comes a Tetris version where you play the classic block drop game for a two- minute blast to get a high score, smashing it with power-ups and bonuses. You can then compare scores with Facebook pals. THE CHASE iOS, 69p UNLEASH your inner Tom Daley. This app is gloriously straightforward – simply complete the dive advised to progress. Factors you must contend with include your entry point, the number of rotations and an overall score from judges. You have three attempts at each level as you ascend increasingly tall cliffs. And that’s it. Which is fine – but for the price point you want much more. Just compare it with the depth of the other apps on this page. The graphics and gameplay are basic, which is good, so long as the cost reflects that. A good time-killer but your money could be spent more economically. THE Starship Damrey offers a novel gaming experience – something the 3DS is increasingly delivering. It’s a cliche to say games throw you in at the deep end, but here everything is new and largely unexplained. You wake up in a dark room with amnesia. The game contains no tutorials and gives very limited information as you make your way. Detail This could be perceived as frustrating or as a challenge. We took it as the latter. Besides, how often do you find yourself skipping through tutorials anyway? It needs perseverance but rewards you for attention to detail, logical thought and experimentation. The setting is the dark and futuristic Starship Damrey, a surprisingly detailed environment considering the game’s price point. It’s perhaps another reason that the 3DS has had such success — it is nicely placed to take advantage of both mobile gaming’s budget offerings and a console’s full-whack AA titles. This setting, mixed with the slow pace of play and crescendos of tension add up to the game’s most redeeming feature — its atmosphere. The result is a unique and testing experience, albeit one that some players may find maddening. You may often find yourself repeatedly walking the same corridors trying to find the next clue. There’s nothing more frustrating than being stuck inexplicably in a video game and The Starship Damrey veers dangerously close to this on occasion. But at the same time this increased difficulty leads to greater reward and satisfaction on completion. When you finally crack the damned equation, as it were, you feel like Sherlock Holmes. A bit nerdier, though. I can’t see Holmes swapping his trademark DS — Deer Stalker hat — for this one. Ambitious The Starship Damrey is refreshingly ambitious, both for its setting and unique gameplay and is well worth the download price. However, before you decide to buy it, be prepared to use some brainpower. Otherwise you may become annoyed and give up, missing out on what can become a very reward- ing experience. DREW GIBSON NEWMUSIC MUSIC App geniuses Smule have released their first virtual guitar, which you play by “strumming” and “picking” the screen. It cleverly lets you play along to vocals recorded by other users on their Sing! app – a world-first allowing cross- app music creation. 3.5 ITV’s latest quiz show hits the even smaller screen. Neatly incorporating each stage of the quiz, it’s a pretty good substitute for actually appearing on the show. It doesn’t feel light – going through the three stages of the game is satisfyingly time-consuming. It’s tough going, though. Maybe I’m just thick but it’s a real struggle to beat the Chasers. But that’s no bad thing – if it were too easy, you probably wouldn’t play it again. A decent time- killer keeping you engrossed at least until you score your first victory. CAPITALS Who: Angus Carbarns (vocals/guitar), Keir MacCul- loch (production/keyboard/ samplers), Gareth Anderson (drums) WHERE: Edinburgh FOR FANS OF: Phoenix, Everything Everything, Inter- pol JIM SAYS: I will be making my annual pilgrimage to Inverness on Wednesday for the goNORTH Festival (gonorthfestival.co.uk). It’s the country’s biggest showcase of unsigned acts with around 80 of them are set to appear over two days. Capitals are just one of many acts who have recog- nised its importance. Angus said: “It is a brilliant event and platform for bands who are really trying to do something in Scotland. You get to play to industry peo- ple who otherwise might not see you, and music fans get to see a load of amazing bands for nothing. “We played a really enjoy- able show there a couple of years back. That was until the laptop died on our last song!” Though based in Edin- burgh, Capitals have their roots in the Highlands. Angus had played with indie outfits The Cinematics and Theatre Fall, while Keir was signed to cult electronic label Benbecula as Araya. Angus said: “Capitals started in 2010 as a studio project. I met Keir in Inver- ness just before we both moved to Edinburgh for Uni. We started hanging out and decided to do something completely different to any- thing either of us had done before. The aim was to try to be as original as possible and obviously enjoy it.” Building their reputation as a live act they’ve played headline shows in the UK, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands, plus festival appearances at T In The Park, RockNess, Wickerman and Underage. They’ve also been over to the US for Mil- waukee’s Summerfest. Capitals’ debut album A National Service is released on Monday. Blending indie rock with electronics, it’s a wonderful collection of hook- laden, dark-edged pop songs. Angus added: “We both felt it was important to put all these sentiments from the past few years in one place and make an album which tried to cover some of those things. I lost both my par- ents from the time of starting the band to the recording of the album. Other big things happened.” Capitals launch A National Service with a gig at The Art School in Glasgow on Fri- day, June 14. Pre-order the album before Monday’s release and get an instant download of the track Reliever. Q More:capitalsmusic.com Jim will be playing Capitals on In:Demand Uncut this Sunday from 7pm on Clyde 1, Forth One, Northsound 1, Radio Borders, Tay FM, West FM & West Sound FM. indemandscotland.co.uk 2.5 ORKNEY singer Erland Cooper says someone visited him in a dream, tell- ing him to make an album about his home. And he’s done it — also getting pals, Verve star Simon Tong and Hannah Peel, on board. They’re called The Magnetic North and have created a huge, symphony- sounding set of songs. It’s pretty radical. Check it out at: www. symphonyofthemagneticnorth.com THE original Sonic has been remastered for smart- phone. It’s a surreal experience, loading up a level that you haven’t played for almost 20 years. It feels alien. But everything quickly becomes intuitive and the soundtrack evokes child- hood memories. In terms of sentiment alone, this has appeal. However, SEGA would be quick to point out mod- ernising tweaks. The frame rate is a smoother fit for mobile, there’s a new Time Attack game mode, and you can play with Tails and Knuckles. The game starts to feel natural once you’ve got through the awe-inspiring first level – where you are distracted by nostalgia. Despite being an all- time classic, the game has obviously aged. The graphics are arcade-y but that adds to its authentic- ity, like the creased pages of a classic novel passed down by a relative. Being able to play through the full game is a real joy. The main motivating fac- tor here is nostalgia but the gaming experience still offers value with its bar- gain-busting price. SWAGGERING singer Tyga is on his Hotel California tour. The tattooed star is part of The Young Money crew which also includes Nicki Minaj and Drake. Super-fly hit merchant Tyga does the only Scottish gig of the run tonight at Glasgow’s ABC. So don’t miss out. Get tickets online at: www.ticketweb.co.uk By JIM GELLATLY VINTAGE Trouble’s revolution IS being televised. The LA rhythm and blues rockers were in the wilder- ness until high-profile TV slots got The Rolling Stones and The Who on the phone. Frontman Ty Taylor raved: “In the UK, we did Jools Hol- land and it launched our career over there. It’s similar here in America. “We do well by people see- ing us live so we’re always excited to perform on TV or if someone drags themselves out to a club.” But it’s not just appearing on all the big US talk shows to show off debut album The Bomb Shelter Sessions. The key has been their 100mph style of performing, with no easing off in the cosy TV studios. Ty, 44, explained: “Whas has caught on is people don't see our television perfor- mances as sterile. They see them as wild, I like that. “In that three minutes, peo- ple feel they’ve been musi- cally molested and they feel naughty. “The bands that only have their songs on the radio, they gather a huge amount of fans right away but run the risk of as soon as someone does a bigger radio song, the fans will leave.” Vintage Trouble roll into Glasgow with The Who on June 12 for their big show at the SECC. The next night they do a headline gig of their own at the city’s O2 ABC. They’ll also open up for The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park, London, in July. Ty said: “The big bands carefully handpick who opens, they don’t want the night to start with negative energy. “With The Who, they thought when they started they were going to be a rhythm and blues band. “So it only makes sense we open for them and it feels like an entire night of enter- tainment not just some band playing before. “With The Who, when we began touring with them in the US, the audience was only at 60 per cent when we’d come on. "But because of what Roger and Pete have been saying, plus the fans online, the audi- ences know we’re part of the evening. They are now at 90 per cent when we hit the stage. Savouring “The Rolling Stones’ early music was full of rhythm and blues, so it makes sense for us again to be there. We consider it a good job to win over a crowd. Every performer should earn their keep.” But for right now, the boys are savouring the moment. Ty added: “Everything we’ve not achieved is what we want to achieve. “A lot of times people want us to be in a rush but we’re not. “We’d rather have a slow grow. There’s nothing I want more than what’s happening right now. “Last week I was in Japan, I’m in America now, we’ll be in the UK next week. “We get to go on television once every other week and we get to play every night. “Life is amazing.” Q Get tour tickets and the band’s album online at: www. vintagetrouble.com one 2 hear ONE 2 WATCH By CHRIS SWEENEY one 2 see Friday, May 31, 2013 63 1S RM

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Page 1: 1S RM Friday,May31,2013 · success of Bejeweled Blitz comes aTetris version where you play the classic blockdropgameforatwo-minute blast to get ahigh score, smashing it with power-ups

DISNEY JUNIOR APPISODESFirst episode free for iOS

TURBO RACING LEAGUEFree for Android

GUITAR! BY SMULEFree for iOS

DINER DASHFreemium for Android

TETRIS BLITZFree for all

3

REAL BOXINGiOS/Android/Google Play, 69p

4

THE hit iOS and desktopfast-food game has finallymade it to Android. You play aswaitress Flo, building up yourjoint from a greasy spoon to afive-star eaterie. You progressby learning each customer’spersonality and serving themwhat they like to eat to earn upto three stars per level.

MARIO Kart-style racer to linkwith the release of animatedmovie Turbo is giving away atotal of $1MILLION – that’s£660,000 – to me and you, fromnow until July 17. Every weekthe fastest player earns a cashprize – plus a trip to LA tocompete in a grand final for aslice of the £330,000 jackpot.

THE STARSHIP DAMREY3DS, £7.19

3REAL CLIFF DIVING£1.49, iOSSONIC 1

iOS, £1.99

FOR whatever reasons, boxinggames haven’t found the leap tomobile gaming easy going.You could say we’ve been

waiting for our first knock-outgame, a genuine heavyweightcontender, etc.This title could well be the cure

for those nauseating cliches.The graphics are brilliant –

almost console level – thanks tomotion capture.And the controls are

comfortable, sensible andintuitive. You can even usemotion control to play by literallythrowing punches – though you’llneed to hook your tablet up toyour TV.The only real annoyance is the

game’s commentary, which islame and repetitive.Additionally, progression feels

stunted unless you’re willing topay for in-game coins to upgradeyour character’s arsenal.Otherwise, you’re left with an

under-qualified fighter as soon asyou pass the first career level.Those niggles aside, Real

Boxing is hands down – orshould that be gloves? –boxing’s No1 contender of theapp world.

INTERACTIVE TV show app forkids aged two-seven from thepopular Disney Junior channel.Kids can tilt, tap and swipethrough various activities whichare embedded into theprogrammes. The first down-load, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,is free, but from then on it’s£2.99 a pop.

FOLLOWING on from thesuccess of Bejeweled Blitzcomes a Tetris versionwhere you play the classicblock drop game for a two-minute blast to get a highscore, smashing it withpower-ups and bonuses.You can then comparescores with Facebook pals.

THE CHASEiOS, 69p UNLEASH your inner Tom Daley.

This app is gloriouslystraightforward – simply completethe dive advised to progress.Factors you must contend with

include your entry point, thenumber of rotations and anoverall score from judges.You have three attempts at

each level as you ascendincreasingly tall cliffs.And that’s it.Which is fine – but for the price

point you want much more.Just compare it with the depth

of the other apps on this page.The graphics and gameplay are

basic, which is good, so long asthe cost reflects that.A good time-killer but your

money could be spent moreeconomically.

THE Starship Damreyoffers a novel gamingexperience – somethingthe 3DS is increasinglydelivering.It’s a cliche to say gamesthrow you in at the deep end,but here everything is new andlargely unexplained.You wake up in a dark roomwith amnesia. The game containsno tutorials and gives very limitedinformation as you make your way.

DetailThis could be perceived asfrustrating or as a challenge.We took it as the latter.Besides, how often do you findyourself skipping through tutorialsanyway?It needs perseverance but rewardsyou for attention to detail, logical

thought and experimentation. Thesetting is the dark and futuristicStarship Damrey, a surprisinglydetailed environment consideringthe game’s price point.It’s perhaps another reason thatthe 3DS has had such success — itis nicely placed to take advantageof both mobile gaming’s budgetofferings and a console’s full-whackAA titles.This setting, mixed with the slowpace of play and crescendos oftension add up to the game’s mostredeeming feature — its atmosphere.The result is a unique and testingexperience, albeit one that someplayers may find maddening.You may often find yourselfrepeatedly walking the samecorridors trying to find the nextclue.There’s nothing more frustratingthan being stuck inexplicably in a

video game and The StarshipDamrey veers dangerously close tothis on occasion.But at the same time thisincreased difficulty leads to greaterreward and satisfaction oncompletion.When you finally crack thedamned equation, as it were, youfeel like Sherlock Holmes. A bitnerdier, though. I can’t see Holmesswapping his trademark DS — DeerStalker hat — for this one.

AmbitiousThe Starship Damrey isrefreshingly ambitious, both for itssetting and unique gameplay and iswell worth the download price.However, before you decide tobuy it, be prepared to use somebrainpower.Otherwise you may becomeannoyed and give up, missing outon what can become a very reward-ing experience.

DREW GIBSON

NEWMUSIC

MUSIC App geniusesSmule have released theirfirst virtual guitar, which youplay by “strumming” and“picking” the screen. Itcleverly lets you play alongto vocals recorded by otherusers on their Sing! app –a world-first allowing cross-app music creation.

3.5

ITV’s latest quiz show hits the evensmaller screen.Neatly incorporating each stage of

the quiz, it’s a pretty good substitutefor actually appearing on the show.It doesn’t feel light – going through

the three stages of the game issatisfyingly time-consuming.It’s tough going, though. Maybe

I’m just thick but it’s a real struggleto beat the Chasers. But that’s nobad thing – if itwere too easy,you probablywouldn’t play itagain.A decent time-

killer keepingyou engrossedat least until youscore your firstvictory.

CAPITALSWho: Angus Carbarns(vocals/guitar), Keir MacCul-loch (production/keyboard/samplers), Gareth Anderson(drums)WHERE: EdinburghFOR FANS OF: Phoenix,Everything Everything, Inter-polJIM SAYS: I will be makingmy annual pilgrimage toInverness on Wednesday forthe goNORTH Festival(gonorthfestival.co.uk).It’s the country’s biggest

showcase of unsigned actswith around 80 of them areset to appear over two days.Capitals are just one of

many acts who have recog-nised its importance.Angus said: “It is a brilliant

event and platform for bandswho are really trying to dosomething in Scotland. Youget to play to industry peo-ple who otherwise might notsee you, and music fans getto see a load of amazingbands for nothing.“We played a really enjoy-

able show there a couple ofyears back. That was untilthe laptop died on our lastsong!”Though based in Edin-

burgh, Capitals have theirroots in the Highlands.Angus had played with

indie outfits The Cinematicsand Theatre Fall, while Keirwas signed to cult electroniclabel Benbecula as Araya.Angus said: “Capitals

started in 2010 as a studioproject. I met Keir in Inver-ness just before we bothmoved to Edinburgh for Uni.

We started hanging out anddecided to do somethingcompletely different to any-thing either of us had donebefore. The aim was to try tobe as original as possibleand obviously enjoy it.”Building their reputation

as a live act they’ve playedheadline shows in the UK,Germany, Belgium and TheNetherlands, plus festivalappearances at T In ThePark, RockNess, Wickermanand Underage. They’ve alsobeen over to the US for Mil-waukee’s Summerfest.Capitals’ debut album A

National Service is releasedon Monday. Blending indierock with electronics, it’s awonderful collection of hook-laden, dark-edged popsongs.Angus added: “We both

felt it was important to put allthese sentiments from thepast few years in one placeand make an album whichtried to cover some of thosethings. I lost both my par-ents from the time of startingthe band to the recording ofthe album. Other big thingshappened.”Capitals launch A National

Service with a gig at The ArtSchool in Glasgow on Fri-day, June 14. Pre-order thealbum before Monday’srelease and get an instantdownload of the trackReliever.Q More:capitalsmusic.comJim will be playing Capitalson In:Demand Uncut thisSunday from 7pm on Clyde1, Forth One, Northsound 1,Radio Borders, Tay FM,West FM & West Sound FM.indemandscotland.co.uk

2.5

ORKNEY singer Erland Cooper sayssomeone visited him in a dream, tell-ing him to make an album about hishome. And he’s done it — also gettingpals, Verve star Simon Tong and HannahPeel, on board. They’re called The MagneticNorth and have created a huge, symphony-sounding set of songs.It’s pretty radical. Check it out at: www.

symphonyofthemagneticnorth.com

THE original Sonic hasbeen remastered for smart-phone.It’s a surreal experience,

loading up a level that youhaven’t played for almost20 years. It feels alien.But everything quickly

becomes intuitive and thesoundtrack evokes child-hood memories. In termsof sentiment alone, thishas appeal.However, SEGA would

be quick to point out mod-ernising tweaks. Theframe rate is a smoother fitfor mobile, there’s a newTime Attack game mode,and you can play withTails and Knuckles.The game starts to feel

natural once you’ve gotthrough the awe-inspiringfirst level – where you aredistracted by nostalgia.Despite being an all-

time classic, the game hasobviously aged. Thegraphics are arcade-y butthat adds to its authentic-ity, like the creased pages

of a classic novel passeddown by a relative.Being able to play

through the full game is areal joy.The main motivating fac-

tor here is nostalgia butthe gaming experiencestill offers value with its bar-gain-busting price.

SWAGGERING singer Tyga is on hisHotel California tour.The tattooed star is part of The Young

Money crew — which also includes NickiMinaj and Drake.Super-fly hit merchant Tyga does the only

Scottish gig of the run tonight at Glasgow’sABC.So don’t miss out. Get tickets online at:

www.ticketweb.co.ukByJIMGELLATLY

VINTAGE Trouble’srevolution IS beingtelevised.The LA rhythm and bluesrockers were in the wilder-ness until high-profile TVslots got The Rolling Stonesand The Who on the phone.Frontman Ty Taylor raved:“In the UK, we did Jools Hol-land and it launched ourcareer over there. It’s similarhere in America.“We do well by people see-ing us live so we’re alwaysexcited to perform on TV orif someone drags themselvesout to a club.”But it’s not just appearingon all the big US talk showsto show off debut album TheBomb Shelter Sessions.The key has been their100mph style of performing,with no easing off in thecosy TV studios.Ty, 44, explained: “Whashas caught on is people don'tsee our television perfor-mances as sterile. They seethem as wild, I like that.“In that three minutes, peo-ple feel they’ve been musi-cally molested and they feelnaughty.“The bands that only havetheir songs on the radio, theygather a huge amount of fansright away but run the riskof as soon as someone does abigger radio song, the fanswill leave.”Vintage Trouble roll intoGlasgow with The Who onJune 12 for their big show atthe SECC.The next night they do aheadline gig of their own atthe city’s O2 ABC.They’ll also open up forThe Rolling Stones at HydePark, London, in July.Ty said: “The big bandscarefully handpick who

opens, they don’t want thenight to start with negativeenergy.“With The Who, theythought when they startedthey were going to be arhythm and blues band.“So it only makes sense weopen for them and it feelslike an entire night of enter-tainment — not just someband playing before.“With The Who, when webegan touring with them inthe US, the audience wasonly at 60 per cent whenwe’d come on."But because of what Rogerand Pete have been saying,plus the fans online, the audi-ences know we’re part of theevening. They are now at 90per cent when we hit thestage.

Savouring“The Rolling Stones’ earlymusic was full of rhythmand blues, so it makes sensefor us again to be there. Weconsider it a good job to winover a crowd. Every performershould earn their keep.”But for right now, the boysare savouring the moment.Ty added: “Everythingwe’ve not achieved is whatwe want to achieve.“A lot of times people wantus to be in a rush but we’renot.“We’d rather have a slowgrow. There’s nothing I wantmore than what’s happeningright now.“Last week I was in Japan,I’m in America now, we’ll bein the UK next week.“We get to go on televisiononce every other week andwe get to play every night.“Life is amazing.”Q Get tour tickets and theband’s album online at: www.vintagetrouble.com

one2hear

ONE2WATCH

ByCHRIS

SWEENEY

one2see

Friday, May 31, 2013 631S RM