1. Social

There is a new start page now which includes a list of “trending” songs among the friends along with the usual “New Releases”. It resembles more like Rdio with album art from the latest albums and the tracks your friends are listening to. There is also a separate tab in the sidebar for people. The people tab loads in the main window now instead of the list in the sidebar. This is more efficient and the large portraits of friends looks great.

2. Apps

Apps seem to be buzz word these days. Spotify now has an ability to add apps to the program. This means that you don’t have to go different sites searching for playlists. The biggest thing missing from Spotify was the ability to have music discover ability like Pandora/Rdio/Mog and having apps is going to fix this in a big way. There is a Radio option which generates playlist based on the genre/music type you like. There are also top lists and app that generates music based on mood (Moodagent), an app that displays lyrics (Tunewiki) and my favorite app that displays the top tracks in emerging/mainstream media (We Are Hunted).

There are also Billboard and Rollingstone playlists. I had trouble with Rollingstone playlists so I don’t know if it’s working right now. I really like this version of Spotify. It looks very clean and usable. It hasn’t even hit version 1.o yet. I can only hope there are good things in the future for Spotify.

Having said all that, the biggest downside to having to pay streaming media is that you don’t own anything when you finally cancel the subscription. It’s true that you have access to all the amazing library of songs but it’s about $120 /year and you could own 12 albums or 120 songs for that price for life. Is streaming media really worth it? I’ve tried using Zune Pass/Mog/Rdio before and nothing really satisfied like Lala did. I am currently leaning towards Amazon Cloud and Google Music but Spotify is really convincing me to take the bait and buy a premium subscription because they’re on a lot of devices. Do you like buying music or streaming music or pirate it? Let me know in the comments what you think.

Related posts:

1. R.I.P The Pirate Bay
2. My new favorite sites..

Novice Runner – Run 500 meters (Easy)

Pocket Change – Collect 100 coins (Easy)

Adventurer – Scored 25,000 points (Easy)

Sprinter – Ran 1000 meters (Easy)

Miser Run – 500 m collecting no coins (Sorta Easy)

Piggy Bank – Collect 250 coins (Easy)

Treasure Hunter – Scored 50,000 points (Sorta Easy)

Mega Bonus – Fill the bonus meter 4x (Medium)

Athlete – Ran 2500 meters (Easy – Use Mega Headstart)

Lump Sum – Collected 500 coins (Medium)

Resurrection – Resurrected after dying (Easy)

Basic Powers – All level 1 Powerups (Easy)

High Roller – Scored 100,000 points (Medium)

Payday – Collected 750 coins (Medium)

Head Start – Used a Head Start (Easy)

Steady Feet – Ran 2500 m without tripping (Easy)

Allergic to Gold – 1000 m collecting no coins (Medium)

5k Runner – Ran 5000 meters (Medium)

No Trip Runner – Ran 5000 meters without tripping (Hard)

1/4 Million Club – Scored 250,000 points (Medium)

Double Resurrection – Resurrected twice in one run (Medium)

Money Bags – Collected 1000 coins (Medium)

1/2 Million Club – Scored 500,000 points (Medium)

Super Powers – All level 5 powerups (Easy)

Dynamic Duo – Unlocked two characters (Easy)

Million Club – Scored 1,000,000 points (Hard)

Money Bin – Collected 2,500 coins (Hard)

Fantastic Four – Unlocked Four Characters (Medium)

Sexy Six – Unlocked 6 characters (Medium)

Interior Decorator – Unlocked 3 wallpapers (Easy)

10k Runner – Run 10,000 meters (Hard)

Fort Knox – Collect 5,000 coins (Hard)

2.5 Million Club – Scored 2,500,000 points (Hard)

5 Million Club – Scored 5,000,000 points (Hard)

The Spartan – 1 million without power ups (Very Hard)

10 Million Club – Score 10,000,000 points (Very Hard =/)

Related posts:

1. Temple Run Tips
2. Temple Run Highscore Glitch/Hack [Updated]
3. Assassin’s Creed Review

Still here? Alright. I’ve warned you enough. Follow these simple instructions:

1.  Go to options and turn the tutorial mode on.
2. Start the game and when the game asks you to make a turn, swipe twice instead of once
3. Now your dude will be running forever without any obstacles
4. Just keep your iPhone running until you reach the score you want. You won’t be getting any gold coins this way
5. You could also get one tough achievement easy using this glitch – Getting a million score without using any power ups
6. When you want to stop it, just make him run into the wall.

If those instructions don’t help, watch the video below. It takes less than a minute.

Update: I forgot mention that you won’t get the usual game ending screen after you die. You need to go “Main Menu -> Stats” screen to see  your new highscore. Thanks to Bob for pointing this out in the comments. This is no scam.

 Update 2: Thanks to Tyler Johnson, there is a method to get the gold coins during the glitch. I’m posting his comment here. I haven’t been able to reproduce it but maybe someone will have better luck. Let me say, I was able to get to 5 million and the Fort Knox achievement without glitching. But if you need it, it’s here.

In order to get the power ups in the glitched version of the game, you need to play in regular mode. When you are in regular mode, use a power-up until it is out and then die. After this, go to options and turn on tutorial. This should allow you to have power-ups and the super speed after the sprint power-up. It will be the same as the regular glitched version except it is much easier to get points and the “Fort Knox” achievement can be easily attained. Hope this works!

Related posts:

1. Temple Run Tips
2. Temple Run Achievement List
3. Updated review: Civ 4

Basics: If you haven’t played the game before, I recommend you get it from the iTunes store. It’s free. The game is pretty simple and it starts with a tutorial so it’s not hard to play at all. You swipe up to jump, sideways to turn in the direction you want to turn and swipe down to slide under tree stumps and fire. That’s easy enough. There are coins to collect on the way and power-ups that make your life easy.

Power-ups: 

• Boost: This makes the game go into auto-pilot mode. The amount of distance this power-up stays active is dependent on how much you upgrade this in the store.
• Invisibility: This makes you invisible and invulnerable to all the obstacles around you. But you do have to make all the turns when necessary.
• Magnet: This lets you automatically collects all the gold coins as you go along without having to tilt the phone. With upgrades, it will last longer and doubles/triples the value of the collected gold coins.
• Mega Coin: You get 100 gold coins and with full upgrade you can get up to 150 coins. These gold coins can help you buy upgrades.

Advanced: 

• Once you master the basics, you need to make sure you start using the gold coins to upgrade your power-ups.
• Start with upgrading the magnet. A fully upgraded magnet not only lasts longer, but it also triples the value of gold coins. This means you’ll be collecting all the gold coins in your way and also racking up points from the triple valued gold coins.
• Upgrade the coin values next. This means that you’ll have a better chance of getting double value coins after 1000m and triple value coins after 2000m.
• After that I suggest upgrading invisibility and boost. These will basically increase the amount of time the power-ups will last.
• Finally, upgrade the Mega Coin. It will only increase the number of gold coins by 50 but it’s something to use your gold coins on once you have everything.
• Get some angel wings as this will help you resurrect once you’re dead. The power lasts only 30 seconds after you’ve activated it. You can use another angel wing after another 1000 m.

That’s all I can remember for now. Hopefully this will help you make a new score and help you understand the system better. Good luck and happy running.

Update: My high score so far 5,722,698

Related posts:

1. Temple Run Highscore Glitch/Hack [Updated]
2. Temple Run Achievement List
3. Sid Meiers Civilization 4

The developers promised a lot of answers with the new game Revelations. I wouldn’t want to get into the details of the story without giving away too much but we do get some answers and also some more questions. The story starts with Desmond being trapped in the Animus in safe mode. He has to collect pieces of animus shards in the Ezio’s story to open portals that allow us to find out more about Desmond’s story. We have Ezio in Acre and Constantinople trying to figure out the story behind the Assassins. He finds Altair’s keys which allows him to view the story of Altair. We get to know Altair a little better and it’s a good way to end his story. It always felt to me like Altair was a big arrogant prick from the first game (I liked that about him). We finally know that he wasn’t such a bad guy after all. Ezio’s story however does not end with this game. I believe they leave it open ended so we have an animated series featuring him. Everyone loves Ezio but it was getting tiresome. So it’s good to see that this is the last Ezio game. It will be interesting to see how they will flesh out his story after the games. Going into the details.

The Good: This is an Assassin’s creed game and that means we have all the good things from the old games. There are some brilliant set pieces and missions. Running around on a burning boat was just amazing. There are bombs to play with now. The addition of bombs adds an additional layer of strategy to the game. The assassin’s guild missions are not just something you do to keep yourself busy. They’ve an interesting role to play as we take over cities and level up the assassins in the guild. The leveled up assassins can be made the head of the towers and a fully leveled up assassins have the advantage of ensuring the tower does not get taken back by the templars (I will talk about this in more detail in the bad stuff). There are more interesting platforming sections when you collect the Altair’s keys. There are also some memorable characters. Ezio himself is still a charmer even if he is a lot older now. We find some answers to the questions and the end of the world in 2012 conspiracy but eventually that leads to more questions.

The Bad: After the game moves from Italy, there is a lot less color in the game. The dullness of Acre is back and bright colors of Florence are not there to be seen anymore. The fighting is still too easy and you’re too much of a badass to be killed. Taking back the towers from the templars to unlock the shops around the area was a cool thing in Brotherhood but they add a new layer in Revelations. When you gain maximum notoriety in the game,  the templars will attack your towers and you have to initiate a tower defense like scheme where you take back your tower from the templars. This is complicated, convoluted and boring. It takes away the excellent pacing of the game. The worst part is that it is very difficult to get rid of notoriety in this game as there are no posters anymore. We have to find the a herald to bribe or a witness to kill. The good thing is that you can put off taking back the towers until you level up your assassins so they’re powerful enough to keep the templars at bay. There is very little human interaction outside of the Ezio world. We hear people talking about what is going on from time to time but that is not the same. We also interact with subject 16 and he is not very interesting and I did not care for him as much. Eventually, this game leads to more and more questions.

The Ugly: Another assassins creed game and another year. I guess that’d be none =P

*SPOILERS* I’m so much glad that they’re done with the Ezio’s story as far as the games are concerned. As much as I love him, 3 games in the span of 3 years is an overkill. I’d like to see where they’re going to set up the next part of the game. A lot of people are saying France will be a great place and I agree. It will also be interesting to see where the Desmond’s story is going. It’s clear from the talking outside the animus that Lucy is dead. The things I’ve been reading online say that the Desmond’s story will now happen in New York. We never know where the developers want to take this series. But this is time for fresh starts and new ideas. Probably time to start jumping into things other than haystacks. I’m curious what the next game will be like and I hope the developers take their time with this game and not screw up the series by releasing a game every year just like Activision milked the Guitar Hero series dry. Hopefully, Ubisoft is smarter than that. *SPOILERS*

Final score: 8/10

Related posts:

1. Assassin’s Creed Review
2. Assassin’s Creed 2 Review
3. Red Dead Redemption Review (WITH SPOILERS)

I wanted to write a review for AC:2 mostly because I wanted to touch upon the improvements they have made from the first game. While, the first game had its merits, it was marred by repetitive gameplay and some really stupid baseline story that was made for a sequel. Thankfully, the second game is much better. The story of Ezio unfolds slowly turning him into a badass by the end of the game. This game has some new tricks up its sleeve and some old ones to boot. There is a lot of hand holding in the beginning and while it seems like it is moving at a slow pace, it sets up the revenge story nicely.

The Good stuff: The story of the game is just brilliant. The number of characters in the first game was limited to 2 outside of the Animus and very few that I can remember from Altair’s part of the game. The characters outside of the Animus doubles and there are a lot more vital and interesting characters in Ezio’s story itself. Ezio himself seemed like an interesting character in comparison to the brooding Altair. Even Leonardo Da Vinci steps in and provides some gear for Ezio. There is Uncle Mario, Lorenzo, Antonio and who can forget all the pretty women =P. One of the major complaints from the first game was the combat system. Once you learn the counter move, you’re pretty much set to  kill everyone in the game. It is a little more complicated here with different kinds of enemies. You cannot counter the Brutes and Seekers because they carry Axes and Spears. The “Disarm” move is especially handy for these kind of enemies and so is the “Dodge” move. I liked the challenge, even though, it wasn’t a lot.

The missions are a lot more interesting. It is true that some of them are kind of repetitive in a way but there are some very interesting missions. Let it be Assassinations or Beat up events. Even the side missions are blended into the story in a way. You get a feeling that you’re part of this world and that you’re doing your bit to help with the progress of Lorenzo in Florence. Even the collections have a lot more meaning in this game. Collecting the flags in the first game seemed trivial and meaningless for the achievement’s sake. However, this game has feathers and treasures. While collecting treasures has no real significance (AFAIK), collecting feathers does. I liked having some meaning behind these things instead of just some mindless achievement.

The bad stuff: The enemy AI is still kind of dumb. They just wait around and attack in turns. You can almost anyone walking from behind or by throwing a knife or two. Jumping at times feels sticky and Ezio always jumps towards a ledge even if you want to jump somewhere in the middle. The game also sets up for a sequel instead of giving some answers to the questions posed in the first game. There are a lot of interesting questions that are posed and while this increases my appetite and curiosity for the sequel, it also leaves me with the fact that the game is incomplete. It kind of makes me feel like the TV series “Lost” which caused a lot of interest because of the questions it posed and then ended with a whimper. I hope the creators of the game have planned the story well ahead instead of winging it with every sequel.

The game also introduces a money system that lets you buy different kinds of armor, paintings, health potions among other things. The game’s economy is kind of broken because you will be swimming in more money than you can spend. There are upgrades to the Villa and I had purchased all the upgrades  before I even went past my first city. It would’ve been nice if they had more ways to spend the money. I’m beginning to nitpick here.

The Ugly Stuff: None

Assassin’s Creed 2 is a vast improvement over the repetitive first game. I thoroughly enjoyed playing the game and this has me totally excited for the next game which I will be getting very soon. It might not end up being my favorite game like Red Dead Redemption or Mass Effect 2 but it is definitely up there as far as the story and good games are concerned. I would say this game is definitely something every gamer should play and experience. Unfortunately, that means playing the first game  because the knowledge of the first game definitely helps in understanding Desmond’s story better even if it is not required for Ezio’s story.

Final Score: 8.5/10

Related posts:

1. Assassins Creed: Revelations Review
2. Assassin’s Creed Review
3. Limbo Review (XBLA)

Once you get the Liberty Pass, you need to go to the Castelia city. You can access this city only after you get the first two badges. It is probably for a good reason. The Victini you will encounter is Level 15 and it wouldn’t make any sense to capture it with weak Pokemon anyhow.

Anyway, once you get to Castelia city, you have to take the ship to the Liberty Garden. The ship is on the second pier from the far left side of the city. Just talk to the ship captain on the pier and he will notice that you have the Liberty Pass and take you to the Liberty Garden.

You will have to fight a few Team Plasma members here before you get into the basement with Victini in it. There is one cop just outside the door who will heal your Pokemon. So if you need any healing talk to him.

The tough part is actually catching Victini. It is a legendary Pokemon, so catching it is really difficult. You should have at least 20 Great Pokeballs and a Pokemon that can put it to sleep (Like Munna. Petilil is weak to fire so I would advice against using it.) Don’t forget to save before engaging it. Start with the strongest Pokemon you have (resistant to fire). It will almost always use “Endure” as its first move. This means that you can attack it with the strongest move you have without killing it. That will leave it with 1 HP. Switch to Munna and put it to sleep. Once it sleeps, keep throwing the Great Pokeballs until it gets caught. If it wakes up, put it sleep again and repeat.

It will be awhile before you catch it. You will probably have better luck if you use a high level fire-resistant Pokemon when you throw those Pokeballs. You can always reset and reload the save if you wasted all your Pokeballs. Trust me, it took me awhile before I caught it (11 Pokeballs and at least 5 resets). You have to be really patient and be prepared to reload. If you keep getting frustrated, do other stuff and come back.

This could also be a good place to level up your low-level Pokemon. Victini gives about 600 EXP each time. And you can always go out and come back to try to catch it again and there is a guy who will heal your Pokemon right outside the door. So it’s a lot better than running in the tall grass and trying to find Pokemon to fight.

I hope this helped. Good luck. Leave me some helpful tips/ideas in the comments. If you want to trade, leave me your friend code. =] This promotion is only available up to April 10th. So hurry and get it before its gone.

No related posts.

The Good Stuff: Everything about this game is great. It has a brilliant story which ends up in a sort of anti-climatic way. The old western premise, the voice acting, the gun slinging and the list is literally endless. It is sort of like a GTA game set up in the old west. And it is so much better because you get to ride HORSES and not cars. You get to duel with random by standers like they did in the Clint Eastwood movies. Standing in the middle of the street and shooting the guns out of his hand or the hat off his head or just killing him. It felt good on so many levels. This is the definitive game if you have dreamed of being a cow-boy seeing those old movies. I just loved the strangers who need your help throughout the game. Almost all of them have a sad end to their story. This story would’ve worked as a movie on so many levels. It is engaging and spans across two countries (USA and Mexico).There are so many mini-games. You can play poker, liars dice, blackjack, arm wrestling, hunting, collecting herds to mention a few. You can even go treasure hunting with a treasure map.

The main character is one of the strongest characters I have seen in a game in a long time. The last time a character intrigued me as much as John Marston was in GTA: Vice City when I played as Tommy Vercetti. John Marston is not all black and white. He is a severely flawed man and he has more shades of grey than a Gears of War game. He had joined a band of thieves who are Robin Hood styled band of merry men stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. But he quits this lifestyle marries and settles down to become a farmer. But he is pushed back into this gun slinging lifestyle by the authorities to capture the people he used to rob with. He is left with no choice but to follow the authorities unless he wants to see his family. As the story progresses, you get to see that he is not going to stop short to get back to his family. He does what he has to even if he thinks that some of it is not so right anymore. More than anything else, I think the game’s strong selling point is its story.

The Bad Stuff: There are a few bugs here and there. As it happens with some of these sand box games, these are quite random. The horses are suicidal and sometimes the mini games can get annoying. When traveling long distances, this can be a problem. You could die and you will have to start over again. There is nothing really game breaking here. Some annoyances here and there but game is solid in its presentation and quality.

The Ugly Stuff: Except for the faces of the people living in this game, NOTHING.

I am going to talk about the game ending here. So if you don’t want to listen to spoilers, don’t read this part.

It is quite amazing how some things affect you. Music, movies, books and even good games have all some kind of an effect on you. A good song can pick you up and a sad song can drown you. The same goes with movies and books too. We’re often left wondering if the book/movie ended well or not. In general, I’ve noticed that you’re left with that lingering feeling if there was a bad ending because you can’t help but wonder how things would’ve ended better. This feeling is more telling in a game because you’ve been involved, interacted and engaged with these characters in a way much different from a book or a movie. These characters have become your friends in a way and watching them die is not a good feeling at all.

The ending in Red Dead Redemption is not a very happy one to say the least. Once you kill everyone and try to have a happy family and a good farming life, the army comes and attacks you. The authorities that have sought your help to kill the bad guys come to your ranch with an army and kill you for good. It is left for your son to grow up and take revenge on this officer. I felt really sad for John Marston. He had made mistakes but he tried his best to put his past behind him and move on. But living with a past like his is not easy and I can’t help but wish that things had ended in a much better way for John. Like John says in the game, “People don’t forget things. Nothing is forgotten.”

My Name is John Marston Trailer

Related posts:

1. Limbo Review (XBLA)
2. Assassin’s Creed 2 Review
3. Assassins Creed: Revelations Review

This year they are doing it again with The Humble Indie Bundle 2. The games they are giving away are the last year’s favorite Braid, Machinarium, Cortex Command, Osmos and Revenge of the Titans. The proceeds can go to Child’s Play Charity, EFF or the developers just like last year. The fact that you can pay any amount to get these games DRM FREE should encourage everyone to buy them. They are also compatible with both Mac and Linux. Support the developers and the charities you love. This bundle is only available for another 6 3 days.. so hurry.

UPDATE: They just added the Humble Indie Bundle 1 for all the people who purchased Humble Indie Bundle 2. They also have keys to be redeemable on Steam. And for everyone who pays more than the average ($7.41) they are adding the Humble Bundle 1 as well.

Source: The Humble Indie Bundle 2

Related posts:

1. Updated review: Civ 4
2. Limbo Review (XBLA)
3. Assassins Creed: Revelations Review

: This is more like a forum to find deals for new/used games. Easily the best place a gamer can go to find the latest deals on any games. It also has a marketplace where the members are selling their games for a price. I have never tried the marketplace but everyone has a rating so you know how trustworthy they are. I also recommend you follow @cheapassgamer and @cheapyD on twitter because they tweet some good deals.

: This is somewhat of a hit and miss. If you’re patient, can read between the lines and do not get carried away during a bidding process then ebay can be a great place to shop. It is a good idea to set a limit on how much you want to spend for the item (including shipping). Very often, you might push it a little more than necessary and end up paying more than you’re supposed to. Always check for feedback and ask questions/pictures about the condition of the game.

: It is a sister site of ebay and it will save you the time and bidding process. I advice you buy only the games available in the “Brand New/Like New/Very Good” condition. Some people can be deceptive and could pass off a good condition as a “Very Good” condition but its best to read the descriptions and again ask questions if you have any. Always look for the feedback score and check for the kind of negative reviews the person has.

: I’ve done a very detailed review of Glyde before. It has its advantages but you cannot get free shipping, you do not know the exact quality of the product and also the reputation of the person. The shipping time is also long. I have had good experiences with Glyde so far and I would gladly recommend it but I still prefer using the sites above more often. Also, its popularity has been its bane as the prices of the games I’ve seen on glyde lately have been very high in comparison to those I find on ebay.

: Gamefly is a game rental site which works like Netflix. They also sell used games once in awhile. I hear that they are always in good condition and if you are gamefly member, you could get free shipping too.

: In my opinion gamestop is the lowest of the low. I used to buy games from them all the time until I realized I was paying a lot more than I am supposed to. They would buy a game from you for $25 used and stick a $45 label on it when the new game is $49.99. I would sincerely advice you not to buy from them unless they have a sale going on like Buy 2 Get 1 free.

: It can be quick and painless sometimes. You get to see the game in person and you can pay if you like it. Make sure you meet this person in a public place. Craigslist is full of scammers and you don’t know what kind of people are posting those ads. You can never be too careful.

There are also a lot of retail and online places that are selling used games now. Amazon, Walmart, Bestbuy, Hastings and GoGamer have all gotten into the buying and selling used games. Buying used games requires a lot more research and time compared to buying them New. It will pay off sometimes saving you a good deal of money. I bought Mass Effect 2 for $30 (New and sealed) on ebay after a month of its release. You can easily find great deals if you wait for them. Always look at multiple sources and go for the best deal. You experience will vary based on the person you’re buying from. Most of these sites are middle men and you have to use your best judgement to pick the right place. Patience is the key when you want to secure an awesome deal. Hope this helps and if you have any suggestions please add them in comments.

AHXRJESENB4A

Image source: Dunno. Too many and to lazy to find the real one. If you know who owns the image. I will gladly give credit.

Related posts:

1. Glyde – Site Review
2. Sid Meiers Civilization 4
3. My thoughts on Braid