Zelda Month 2013: Top 5 Android Zelda

Zelda Month 2013: Top 5 Android Zelda

 

  As PBG on youtube started Zelda Month on November, I was thinking that it’s about time someone picks it up as well, just as how last year’s November’s lone article was about Zelda.

I know this looks like the worst photoshop ever, but it is to make you laugh. The belts are just the "not tunic" part.

  However, what have I prepared for the Zelda month? That’s right: Nothing to download. My surprise Majora’s Mask Adventure Map for Minecraft is far from being finished, and my Ocarina Of Time texture pack is outdated.

  But that doesn’t mean there is nothing to download at all! Here are the top 5 free Zelda related apps for Android:

5- The Legend Of Item Shop

  While it does bring many different video game references, especially from Dragon Quest, I can’t seem to stop playing The Legend Of Item Shop. One more downfall is the translation of the game is very horrible. Other than that it feels like if Link lived as a merchant in the Zelda universe. It may not be about description but about gameplay, and it is tuely awesome. It has monster fighting areas, time-based AI, farming, and crafting/forging.

4- Zenonia 2

   It is pretty much the only game I saw so far that claims to be Zelda-related and is actually proving that claim. It is the only game with this claim that has a relation to Zelda other than the overworld sprites. From the outside, you may think it could look like Luminous arc or something, but really, it has this much Zelda puzzle-logic inside. The enemy movements do feel a little like the Secret of Mana series though. Also, since when do all Zelda clones have to have 100% magic oriented characters? This is wrong. Because Ghirahim said once that Link doesn’t know a thing about real magic, so basically magicians shouldn’t be there. But oh well, who cares; it’s optional in this game.

3- My Boy!Free

   While it may not be a Zelda-related app, it is by far the smoothest emulator ever for the Gameboy Advanced. You don’t have to unzip, ofcourse, and it has its own file browser. Considering that Minish Cap and Link To The Past are on GBA, I never leave the phone from my hands. You can get the games from emuparadise, and if you are on an android right now here are the direct download links:

LoZ: Minish Cap

LoZ: LttP

2- Widgets: Heart battery and MM clock

     If you want to stylize any phone, you need widgets. My top best (that are still on the market) widgets are:

i just love the kerchunk every 30 minutes when I study. The new updates bring a lot of customization too.

Majora’s Mask Clock

OldSchoolBattery Widget

BatteryWidget Health Bar

I think they are musts, however, the only Heart Widget that actually displays the percentage is not free, but it is the one I use. Majora’s Mask clock even makes sounds at 6 am and 6 pm (although since the update you can change the time), which feel real cool.

1- 91 PandaHome and Ring Pack

  Alright, this isn’t one application, plus neither of them is standalone. However this is my favourite combo to 100% turn your phone to have a Zelda-feel for it. First there is this third-party Launcher for androids, the 91 PandaHome. Then you get the official Legend of Zelda theme for the Launcher. Now you may be thinking that their icons are cool alright, but there aren’t enough Icons! Well, you can go and search for your own icon pack to replace it, but honestly I wasn’t impressed by any other icon pack. Besides, it is from LoZ: Spirit Tracks! And who doesn’t love it?! Overall, I love this theme’s consistency despite PandaHome not being my favourite launcher of all time, but I did switch to it just for this theme.

  Now your notifications probably still sound like water drops or pebbles. This is where you install RingPack, and then install either Navi RingPack or OOT RingPack, or both. There was an app I use alongside those three, but unfortunetly it’s off the market now, that allows me to save the sound effects on the system so that I can apply them on other apps than the messaging, such as Line or Whatsapp, which would've replace RingPack in the list if it was there. There was even a radio hyrule app, but where has it gone? Honestly, I know that RingPack isn't that good, but PandaHome's theme is really awesome.

  Other than widgets, there are walkthrough apps, like Zelda Ocarina Of Time Guide which has a Navi icon, and I use with my OOT 3D remake, but It shouldn’t be included in the list. There were a huge number of apps that dropped out of the list, so maybe next time, I’d do a top 10 rather than top 5 because I had to squish all my ideas. There are some apps that are just like the minigames in Zelda, which is cool but isn’t related (sadly).

    Are you excited for the Zelda: A link Between Worlds? It really fits the mood of Zelda Month, as you prepare yourself the whole month to be so excited at the end with the release of the new Zelda.

Just a quick note on the smartwatches, like I have mentioned before, there seems to be a lot of friction between the two. This article from WonderHowTo gives plus points to the Gear, although I hate to admit that.

Play More Zelda!

Smartphone Gaming: is it the future?

Smartphone Gaming: is it the future?

    On one of my old posts, I mentioned how many developers are switching to smartphones for gaming. With the launch of the PS4 and its competition with the Xbox One, its seems that these consoles require too much of being always-online, and depend on online features. That is what most smartphones do, right? Why do consoles do it too? Even the Wii U needs an update when you first buy it if you didn't buy the Wind Waker edition, even though the Wii U doesn't require being online that much, yet it does utilize a lot of online features as optional for those who can stay online while playing. Not all of us can, so being optional is good.

   But that isn't our topic today. As the games enter a new generation, it should also be considered a new generation for gaming on smartphones too. That's why I asked some smartphone gamers about how they feel about their current choice of operating system, rather than the capabilities of their hardware. Usually, we consider hardware of smartphones affecting the performance of games, but this time, I decided to play it different and ask about the OS. Here are the questions I asked:

Q1: how many hours per day do you play on it?

Q2: What are your top three favorite games?

Q3: what is the best about using the device for gaming than other 

consoles?

Q4: what is the worst about using the device as a gaming console?

Q5: would you prefer another operating system (eg android/iOS) 

for your next gaming tablet/phone?

The results I got in general were like this:

• Nobody wanted to switch their OS

• Most complaints on both OS were the lag of the touch screen

The main reason OS was chosen to question rather than hardware, 

is because the main question when people will buy any next gen 

console is: " Which console has the most selection of games that I 

want?" And this is true for gaming consoles, not just smartphones.

   As for the conclusion, well I'll leave that for you to decide,

 because it usually all comes down to opinion. I didn't ask that many 

people, but my opinion is that smartphone gamers are really casual 

gamers that's why they usually play with the hand they're dealt. In 

other words, not even the developers are serious about this, 

because, even though the iPad may have games like GTA3, it 

barely competes with its Xbox relative.

A sample of the results:

                                                                                                       

iOS people:

Name: Neferrrr   Device: iPad 

Q1: How many hours per day?

about 30 minutes a day.

Q2: Top three games?

Temple run, angry birds, and fruit ninja

Q3: Best about iPad for gaming?

I just find the iPad better than any other gadget anyways, but I love the quality of games Apple has.

Q4: Worst about iPad for gaming?

The worst thing is that its touch screen for games, because you sometimes lose while trying to win a car race. Also that you can't make calls

Q5: Would you consider another OS (eg android) for your next gaming phone/tablet?

No I wouldn't because I love Apple.

                                                                                                           

Name: Duaa (ask.fm)          Device: iPhone 5S

Q1: How many hours per day?

Constantly with me.

Q2: Top three games?

Amateur surgeon, Subway Surfers, and Candy Crush.

Q3: Best about iPhone for gaming?

The system is really smooth and they're  of high quality, and it doesn't lag a lot. If it does, it's usually because of having too many apps open.

Q4: Worst about iPhone for gaming?

The touch screen is really sensetive, therefore you can mess up in your games.

Q5: Would you consider another OS (eg android) for your next gaming phone/tablet?

No I'm really happy with the iOS system and Apple products

                                                                                                        

Android people:

Name: thehoarderme (tumblr) (blog) (YouTube)

Device: Samsung galaxy S4

Q1: How many hours per day?

An hour daily

Q2: Top three games?

Tetris by EA, Candy Crush, and Pudding Monsters

Q3: Best about the Galaxy S4 for gaming?

The S4 makes it easy for you to play as you can use one hand, or even a finger. I like this, becuase it makes me think of all the disabled and handicapped people who can't use their hands but use fingers instead.

Q4: Worst about Galaxy S4 for gaming?

The worst thing about the S4 being a game console is that sometimes the game might freeze and you'll miss = game over.

Q5: Would you consider another OS (eg iOS) for your next gaming phone/tablet?

I do not intend to change my android, since I don't think iOS is as good as android when it comes to games.

                                                                                                          

Name: Anonymous        Device: Samsung Galaxy S4

Q1: How many hours per day?

I don't play everyday; I'm usually using the internet.

Q2: Top three games?

Can Knockdown, Doodle Jump, and Temple Run

Q3: Best about the Galaxy S4 for gaming?

The resolution is so good that you can see every detail.

Q4: Worst about Galaxy S4 for gaming?

It's disturbing that it takes time to load the game sometime and sometimes it doesn't work.

Q5: Would you consider another OS (eg iOS) for your next gaming phone/tablet?

No I'm pretty satisfied so I guess it'd be android.

                                                                                                       

 

Name: Linky

Device: Samsung Galaxy S2 (has iPad mini but was not included in this quiz)

 

Q1: How many hours per day?

I use it a lot in fact.

Q2: Top three games?

Can't decide: too many.

Q3: Best about the Galaxy S4 for gaming?

S2 is nice for games like minecraft and survivalcraft because its slim and easy to use.

Q4: Worst about Galaxy S4 for gaming?

The S2 is not good for emulators like n64, compared to the S3 and S4.

Q5: Would you consider another OS (eg iOS) for your next gaming phone/tablet?

I prefer iOS because it has more of quality games, but android has more games in total.

                                                                                                       

 

What do you think so far? They all seem to like their phones in general, and it does seem that a lot more people spend time playing on their smartphones than consoles, but I think this is where the definition of gaming splits. I would be a smartphone gamer if my iPad didn't require the game center to be online all the time. I do have games on android, but the 3DS's streetpass feature encourages me to always play with the 3DS outside, not my smartphone. Also, it seems that some Xbox live games make their way into the smartphone world, so is this really the correct thing to do? After all, the grass looks greener on the other side, so which OS to choose; which console to choose?

Either way, why don't you try answering the questions in the comments below? Do you consider yourself loyal to the OS you have? Do you care about the selection of games on each OS at all? We'd love to hear your opinion!

Play More Zelda!

Black Butler season 1 review

Black Butler Review

   This 24-episode of season one of Black Butler, or kuroshitsuji, made by Square Enix sure spreads like wildfire. Luckily, I haven’t been set ablaze but all of my friends have and this review is more like my reply to their urging and requesting of me to watch it.

   I don’t hate it of course, but the bad is way more than the good in this anime. First let’s start with the main thing I’d like to question the fans:

   Why is anime with so much Western elements that it is even set in London becoming this popular? If I wanted to go look at medieval Europe, I’d go watch a European movie. Yet I go to the Easternmost country in the globe to watch about the West? My point is that I am against the invasion of Western elements all over anime and games. Even in attack on titan, they have English names. Sure, Fullmetal Alchemist had many western elements too, but it wasn’t all that. I am against the genre in general and rarely watch it, but for it to get this overrated: wow. I’m confused.

my possible third favorite character.

  My two favorite characters? Griell and Undertaker. After that there is no third position. Why? This anime is really popular among girls, so it obviously some yaoi. That’s no question. Let’s see, we’ve got Sebestian and Ciel, Griell and Sebestian, and some others which I did not care about. There is, as you guessed, a good-looking butler and a clumsy maid, as well as a blonde boy with hairclips. The character development sure lacks, as either all of it happened before the anime, behind the scenes, and etc. One big downfall is that Ciel’s face as well as many others shows fewer emotions than a brick. So almost every episode does not build or destroy anything, excluding the climax episodes. Although the main characters should be mad men, there are no mental breakdowns, nor are there any exaggerated grieving scenes, which I wanted to see.

image from here, maybe

  Next is the plot. As I mentioned above, the plot is made so every episode looks like the one before it, comparing to shows like That’s So Raven and Zack and Cody. However there is a plot. Here’s my non-spoiler summary:

In medieval Britain, one spoiled brat with a pirate get up decides to kill people he doesn’t even know. A good looking kind-yet-evil man helps him exact his revenge. This man is tied to the red string of fate with a guy using a chainsaw. Who will this love triangle favor?

Alright I did exaggerate myself, but the amount of internet talk about this is massive! Sebestian even buttons his shirt and makes him wear the ring! That’s a lot of work for a butler, though I haven’t really seen one, and it was quite understandable where SPOILER1 happens, although it was for a different reason.

Overall I think the plot would’ve been better if they focused on it. There were too few Griell and Undertaker scenes for me to be satisfied. Also, there is a huge amount of fillers at the beginning (Undertaker and Griell being two of them, slightly), although some of them eventually turn into plot points. Seriously the story could do without the sadistic humor, and it needs more blood scenes and fewer scenes of the clumsy staff and stupid inhabitants of the Phantomhive house. There are whole episodes without a single blood scene! That’s a waste of youth.

a redhead, with long hair, and a long metal weapon. What's to not like about him?

   Sorry, but I did not like the music too much, only a few tracks were nice, but the “HAAAAaaaaaa hs” song was disturbing, and made me turn the volume down and read the subtitles, guessing who said what. There were a few tracks that had this awesome feeling, one of them having a sad and satisfactorily dark feeling to it. The opening was from SID! I really like the singer’s voice as I’ve heard it a lot before.

  

    Now for the artstyle. I am really picky about this, and let me say; only Sebestian looked good. The artstyle isn’t bad at all, in fact, Dangan Ronpa and many new anime are copying it, but it sure is new and Ciel doesn’t always look good in it. Griell looks fabulous as always, of course; no question about that.

  Overall, I’d give it 6/10. Remember this is just season one of the anime so I did not compare it with the manga, nor season two.

Play More Zelda!

Spoiler1: when he starts frowning and actually left him when he was outside London. He was mad probably because of the fact that he didn’t end his revenge when he got the ultimate chance. Regardless of reasons, it was the right thing to do.

Android 4.4 and wearable tech roundup

Android 4.4 and wearable tech roundup

   Talking about android news could take forever times infinity, so I decided to write the main headlines over the past couple of weeks. The heavily leaked LG Google Nexus 5 is finally here with a lot to talk about.

  First the Nexus 5 appears today with fascinating screen, top-edge processing and a wireless charging feature. Sadly, it lacks an SD card slot and it has a decent camera of only 8MP. However, it has the flagship Android 4.4 KitKat, which presumably performs spectacularly with just a 512MB of RAM with the old smartphones. That being said, the android 4.4 update currently does not come for these low-edge phones. Why do you have to make us root our phones, Google?

  Going back to the Nexus with its 2.3GHz quad-core snapdragon 800, 2GB of RAM, a 1080p 5” screen with the Corning Gorilla Class 3 protection, the LG phone sure does have a lot. But somewhat it fails to compete with the LG G2 despite having the upper hand in OS and in screen size and protection. It sure looks like a fancy phone to have as the first phone built for the android 4.4, but honestly, there are others out there and I am waiting for the Android Key Lime Pie, or 5, if I am to choose a phone for its OS.

  Siding away from the glory of Google’s latest Nexus, it seems Samsung is doing a very awkward move in the international markets. At first, the websites and stores were speaking of an octa-core processor, even GSMarena, but recently that got removed from the internet and the markets of being octa-core. One video shows the performance differences which seems to be very slight, as well as the price difference between the two is not as significant. It’s unbelievable. In fact, I think it’s a lie. The only reason they exist to the international market alone is because it has no people actually checking the standards. That’s kind of lame from Samsung, but there is no denying that the Note 3 is a good phone.

  Sony Smartwatch 2 seems like a great smartwatch to have, but then comes the Samsung’s Galaxy Gear with all those fancy decorations. Now, Samsung is never a newb in anything, so let’s do a little comparison between the three android watches:

  The Sony Smartwatch one was included for comparison purposes to observe the change with the generations. There are many things not mentioned in the table (space-taking sentences) which I will mention now:

samsung gear and its camera

the smartwatch 2 can't make calls, but it has its notifications as top priority. Sometimes being practical is more important than having more features. How much do you need from a watch with daily usage?

the smartwatch 1 may be the one who started this calamity.

·       Samsung has the leading processor with 800MHz and 512MB RAM while SM2 has only 200MHz.

·       Samsung has more apps coming from the box than Sony

·       With the update, more devices other than Note 3 can be supported, but only a few Galaxy phones

·       * = SM2 only supports NFC for Androids 4.0 and above, and your phone must have NFC ofcourse, but it can operate with Bluetooth only for androids 2.1+ if you can get the android 4.0 apps, with some features disabled unless you can get the Google Play apps.

·       The wrist strap for SM1 and SM2 can be changed and removed but the Galaxy Gear cannot since it got a camera.

  Ofcourse, there are many other smart watches out there, but the ones made by android phone developers to their own phones running android is ofcourse the best thing. The price tag of Samsung Galaxy Gear is way too much, especially that it only supports Galaxy Note 3, S4, and Note 2, but this definitely will be more of an advantage for you if you are Samsung’s loyal fan. The Gear is like a status symbol.

  Now if you wear glasses, the aspect ratio would mean something to you. Ofourse they cant be rectangular like 16:9 smartphones, but they cant be fully square either. I think the SM2 achieves the best from here, also having NFC, and being waterproof, it will complete my Xperia Z1 just like how the Galaxy Gear completes the Note 3, both are glamorous and glorious. 

  The greater apps thing is a very solvable issue, because the app store is already filled with many apps that can help both have more uses, with many of the apps utilized for SM2. Most importantly, it is in the end, just a watch. The Galaxy Gear is ahead of its time.

  iPhone? The smart watch for iPhone isn’t coming anytime soon, especially that the Gear might have a predicted price drop in the future and probably more reductions over their restrictions in the very near future. That is why I think iPhone is playing it safe by waiting to look at its main competitor at the Android side. This is opinion and theory only, don't attack the comments section: no insult intended.

  Last but not least, the Android 4.4? Why did they suddenly change our course of rumours by replacing the 5.0 Key Lime Pie to 4.4 KitKat? This will change the name of the android 5.0 which is supposed to be the real deal when coming to recycling old phones while 4.4 being just the red carpet to test the idea. It will just be Lime Pie then, won’t it? I don’t know whether the 4.4 was dubbed KitKat in order to differentiate it from Lime Pie by taking the “K”, or whether it was a joke from Google that they have been hiding something before Key Lime Pie, meaning that all the “leaks” were intended and content was chosen? Also that it seems to be a promotion for both sides? It is all very confusing to take in, but one thing is for sure: an update! And if Google is keeping something secret about development, I hope it is worthwhile. Spoilers aren’t my cup of tea anyway. Instead of talking about features, I’d overall say there is progress and it is safe to upgrade. I’d only write about it if there was something to warn you about, such as the Windows 8 and 8.1 update; more on that soon.

One last thing about smartwatches, although I know this article is a little too long, but the Nexus Gem still hasn't much information revealed when i wrote this. So please bear that in mind.

 I never read anything about the Zelda game except release date so that I can enjoy it to the maximum. Speaking of which, Play More Zelda!

MIinecraft 1.7.2 Texture Pack DOWNLOAD NOW

Minecraft 1.7.2 Texture Pack DOWNLOAD NOW

Finally! FINALLYYYYYYYYYYY!

I finished the texture pack that I started working for 1.5.2 in 1.7.2! Not all the changes were added, though, because the 1.7.2 is a little buggy which confuses me.

The pack has extra files so it supports 1.7.2, 1.6.1, 1.6.2, and 1.5.2 theoretically, but in actuality, the cobblestone of 1.5.2 will show as stone bricks... theoretically also. I only tested it on 1.7.2 because I really have no time.

Change log:

• Zombies into annoying HM64 seller dude
• Pigs are no longer brown to resemble horses
• Furnace is a totally new look to look like a kitchen ware with a cloth hanging from sides.
• The redstone chest has a totally cool makeover just like the game.
• Removed wool (temporary!)
• The shovel is now a rake. If you don't know, rakes appear a lot in Harvest Moon box art, and they pull leaves and such.
• The two default flowers look different and original

And many more. DOWNLOAD HERE and don't forget to get the extension pack here too.

Now for screenshots:

removed wool

bed glitch

particles!

4 tools are customized

small redstone chest

big one looks awesome