Mobile Games

Mind Games
$29.98
"Mind Games" found John Lennon producing commercial music that relied on his craftsmanship. Recorded and mixed rapidly the original vinyl pressing sounded murky at times. The earlier CD version had No Noise used which threw a veil over the music making it sound even duller. This remixed/remastered edition has its good points and bad.

Yoko's remix makes some of this music sparkle you can actually here more detail than before but the remixes also were done at maximum volume and with compression added which reduced the dynamic range of the music. There's occasional digital clipping because the loudness of the CD is too much. Imagine having a great slice of chocolate cake now imagine having that cake squeezd down to the size of a Mento--it has the same basic flavor but it loses the textured, the moistness and much of the flavor. That's what happens when a music recording is pumped up in volume the different between the lowest sound and highest is reduced and most everything is set at the same volume. Flavor is lost. Shawn Britten's remaster of this can't change the damage that was already done during the remix but this isn't as loud as the regular remaster and it sounds much, much warmer and less processed than the original CD.

This is worth picking up because the remix brings improved clarity to a previously murky mix and this version sounds better than the regular CD. On the other hand, the remaster is flawed by the louder volume of the remix and reduced dynamic range with digital distortion or clipping evident in the mix. I have to say though I do prefer the clarity on this remix to the original.

Although it eschews much of the raw quality of "Plastic Ono Band" it still retains the honesty of that album and "Imagine". The political declarations are a bit more vague here when compared to "Sometime in New York City". The album has some terrific songs and while "One Day At A Time" is marred by Lennon's falsetto (listen to the Lennon boxed set to hear him since it in his in a normal but what sounds like weary voice that adds quite a bit to the song. Lennon sang it in falsetto at the suggestion of Yoko--it just doesn't work and neither do the backing vocals).

Be aware that some songs are faded a bit earlier when compared to their original versions (for example "Meat City").

We get some nice bonus material including two brief demos for "Mind Games".

Mobile 3D Game Development: From Start to Market (Charles River Media Game Development)
$49.99
This book gets right down to business of creating Java ME games without any fluff. By the end of chapter 3, you will be on the way to creating a reusable game class containing a game loop, and chapter 4 gets right into the 2D graphics capabilities of Java Me with an example game. The rest of the book is devoted to 3D game development in Java Me, based on OpenGL ES (M3D). I was extremely happy with this book, and am using it in my mobile course now. This was a welcome find and a good alternative to the misleading Java ME Game Programming book by Flynt.

Monsters vs Aliens - Missing Link Mobile Ice Transporter
$14.99

Battlefield 1942: The Complete Collection
$9.99
With Electronic Arts. I have always loved their games. They have provided me with endless hours of enjoyment. From teen years until now in my middle age I'm still hooked on them.