I noticed on eBay while searching for old software is that there are many sellers marketing open source software disguised as commercial products. The sellers promote programs like GIMP and Blender as commercial products under different names with phony box mock-ups and charge between $8 to $50 dollars for software you can easily download off the internet for free.
One that stood out in my mind is www.3dmagix.com a ‘re-branded’ version of Blender. They offer “3D Magix” at the “launch price of only $47 today before the launch price offer ends!”. You can download Blender for FREE at blender.org.
Just a reminder to be careful out there in internet land.
Blender 2.5 a0 has arrived!
Exciting news. Blender 2.5 a has been released. This is a massive revision to the user interface which was originally cluttered and confusing is now streamlined and organized in a clean, logical way and resemble more commercial 3d applications. Due to this I have improved my work flow with blender considerably because I am not hunting and picking on the ui because I forgot a keyboard shortcut. So far most of the features I have used in the past blenders are currently in this one. 3D artists that where timid by blender in the past might just wan’t to jump in with the improvement in this version. Ether way it still has some one of the best uv un-wrapping and texture painting tools available in a open source 3d app. It also has a strong armature system and wight paining system. Since this is a alpha, some features do not work such as python plug-ins that import-export files and one I had the text in the menus turn to gibberish for no apparent reason.
download it for free at:
http://www.blender.org/download/get-25-alpha/
http://www.blender.org/download/
Please note 3d newbies: blender is a complicated app, but so are most 3d apps, it takes patience, practice, and some frustration to learn them, but it is rewarding once you figure it out. Most of the rules in blender can be used in other 3d apps. Make sure you have fun and do not get discouraged.
At first this collection had the ridiculous price tag of $1000 dollars but a couple days later it was lowered to a more realistic $.99. CMMC has a great selection of classical music but only passable sound quality.. most music was performed in the 50’s so I question if they are public domain but still at $.99 you get 700 songs so it it still a good value. As long as they keep the price low, it is a good value. The Interface needs some work though.
The Dogs of War (Comic)
It might be job security but..
Do a Casserole!
My response to the “Do a Barrel Roll” meme that was clogging youtube a while back. You might not get the joke without playing Starfox 64 or seeing it on youtube.
The Wee Folk (Comic)
Who said the wee folk can’t have any fun 
. If you don’t get it the wee folk are gnomes and the Wii is a game console.
Globall is a fun hybrid of a block breaker, labyrinth, and adventure game. you guide the globall with the accelerometer only, there is no other buttons to press. Touching the screen will pause the game. The goal in each level is to destroy all the blocks. Globall starts simple enough but traps and enemies are a consecutively added the farther you get. Thankfully powerups appear that allow you to destroy more blocks and defend yourself from certain enemies. Graphics are clean, and pleasant to look at and have a almost vector look to them. Globall has no music, which is the most disappointing aspect of this game. Also the game is too short, a average gamer could breeze through Globall’s 70 levels in about a hour. Still for $99 cents you can’t go wrong.
Hmm. Didn’t realize I purchased a DEMO. That’s what Pac-Man CE feels like when you browse through the menus. Heck, the Challenge mode is not even playable with out forking out more money (Four bucks!) to the Namco empire to buy the full game…ahh-em I mean expansion back, SO WHY IS CHALLENGE MODE SHOWN ON THE PLAY LIST IF YOU CAN NOT PLAY IT! Why is the ‘expansion levels’ even shown on the lists until you purchased it?!. Still Pac-Man CE w/o the expansion has all off the levels featured in the Xbox 360 version plus 20 missions for 1/10 of the price ($99 cents). Contols are decent, and the graphic’s look exactly like the Xbox version except you squint your eyes. A five dollar game impersonating as a dollar game. In a couple of days I will see if the expansion is worth your time and money.
Totemo is not your standard puzzle game. Totemo is not your standard match three jewels game. The goal of Totemo’s eighty levels is to remove 2 (or more depending on the level) pieces from the board adjacent horizontally or vertically. The order you remove the pieces is imperative. If you remove all the pieces, you go to the next level. If your fail to remove all the pieces you must redo the level. Like most good puzzle games it starts out simple but becomes mind numbing toward the end due to new pieced being added to the board requiring you to change your tactics. During the beginning of each level a shaman will great you and will tell you the story of his tribe or Bukka. I find it silly but it gives the game indispensable charm. Totemo also includes a wonderful ambient soundtrack. I recommend Totemo to people who love puzzles and casual gamers.
Moonlight Mahjong is the best mahjong solitaire game currently available for the iPhone. The tiles are represented completely in 3D, you can rotate, move, and scale the camera in any angle you see fit. MM has 100’s of Mahjong Layouts (or Levels), including classics like the ‘turtle’ layout Activision made so popular as well as some spacey ones. The tile sets leave something to be desired but the tiles available are pleasant to look at. Currently MM sell for a buck, which is a steal for a solitaire game of this quality.
