Apple iPod games reviewed

“Not content with its 75 percent share of the digital music device market in the U.S., Apple Computer (http://www.apple.com) has morphed its wildly popular iPod into a pocket-sized photo album, podcast player and video viewer,” Marc Saltzman reports for The Gannett News Service.

“And now the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech company has unveiled its latest plan to stay on top: iPod games,” Saltzman reports. “iPod owners with any fifth-generation (video) player – which sells for $249 (30-gigabyte version) or $349 (80GB version) – can now download nine games from the iTunes store for $4.99 apiece, which can then be synched to the iPod to take on the go. You must first download and install the latest iTunes 7 software for Microsoft Windows or Apple Macintosh computers.”

Saltzman reports, “Titles include some well-known classics and some not-so-familiar games: ‘Tetris,’ ‘Zuma,’ ‘Texas Hold’em,’ ‘Mahjong,’ ‘Mini Golf,’ ‘Pac-Man,’ ‘Cubis 2,’ ‘Bejeweled’ and ‘Vortex.’ Many games let you pause your progress and offer the option to see the time and battery level in the top corners of the 2.5-inch screen.”

Saltzman takes a look at three of the new offerings (‘Pac-Man,’ ‘Mini Golf,’ and ‘Zuma’) to see how they stack on up on the iPod in the full article here.

Related articles:
Review: Pac-Man for iPod – September 27, 2006
Mac game makers disappointed by Apple’s iPod shut-out – September 21, 2006
Apple debuts new iPod in 30GB and 80GB with Hollywood movies, games and new lower price – September 12, 2006

14 Comments

  1. I wonder if iTV might also be able to function as a gaming console for playing these iPod games on your TV. Obviously nowhere in the league of the big three (Xobx, Playstation & Nintendo), but it would make things even more interesting if you could beam games over to your TV as well as movies & TV shows, and play them with standard game controllers.

  2. I’ve bought and played two games — MahJong and Texas Hold’em — and enjoyed both, though I wish the MahJong had additional tile sets available; sometimes it’s tough to deal with the Chinese character sets.

    I had to find a different case with an open click wheel area, though; the vinyl protector on my inCase Neoprene (which I love) was so thick it was tough to manipulate the wheel to make my selections on the games — keep that in mind if you’re playing a game that requires a lot of wheel use.

  3. andy,

    Thanks for the response, but I’m not buying it. I know that there are some running Linux on their nanos and watching video. I don’t want to run Linux on my nano, and even if I did, the Linux os for nano severely limits the features of the nano.

    Anybody else want to take a whack at why I can’t play video and games on my nano? (Yes I know Apple just decided not to make that feature available.)

  4. Hey, Mr. Peabody, its really simple.

    Check this out. Save Ohhhhh’s for later.

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    video iPod Nano, ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />

    coming to a store near you in the next revision or two of the nano. ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” /> JMHO

    N.

  5. I love my iPod, but I got to be honest… Pac-Man SUCKS with the click-wheel. It’s not natural or intuitive… It’s downright awkward and cumbersome… Tetris on the otherhand feels great.

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