Inside CNET Labs Podcast

Lots of fun

(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)

If you need something to quickly stimulate your brain while waiting for the bus, this simple 99-cent iPhone game could do the job so well that you might miss the bus altogether.

It's called World Wars from AddictingGames. And no, it's not a game that tests your knowledge of World War I and II (thank God!) but rather it's a game that lets you take over the world one region at a time.

The world map of the game is divided in to many regions, each with a specific amount of troops that belong to up to seven factions, including yours. You just need to tap on the region you control and then on an adjacent one controlled by an enemy to attack. The dice then will roll to determine the winner. The amount of troops on the region translates into the amount of dice you have, so generally, the more troop you have, the higher the chance you will win. However, there's also some luck involved in each attack, which makes the outcome unpredictable. Your job is to make sure you win the most rounds of attacks until you take over every region of the map.

The first time I launched the game, I wasn't very impressed but thought I would just try it anyway. After a few tries, now it's become one of my most used apps. It's a great game to kill a few minutes while waiting in line, or for hours when you are on a long flight.

On the downside, the game comes with a single music track on loop, which unfortunately can't be turned off separately from the game's sound. Also, you can only play against the computer, not another player. It would make a much better pastime if multiplayer was supported. We hope this will be added on the next update.

Nonetheless, for just 99 cents, this game offers a lot of fun. But don't take my word for it, try the game free with its Flash version here before getting it on your iPhone.

Sliced cucumbers on the eyes are all in a day's work for this spa owner.

(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)

A funny thing happened to me last weekend on my way to save the galaxy, chainsaw aliens to death, and beat the living snot out of the world's top martial artists. I painted a stranger's toenails purple--and helped her shape her eyebrows.

That's right. Instead of logging countless hours on Xbox Live, I was taken in by the unstoppable force that is Game Cafe's iPhone game, Sally's Spa. Not only is this the best iPhone game I've played (not saying a lot, since I don't play many, but still), it's one of the most addictive handheld games I've ever played.

If this is your first time hearing about Sally and her addictive qualities, here's the deal in a nutshell. In the game, you play a young entrepreneur (Sally) who starts her own spa business.

Although you'll eventually hire others to help, you take a very hands-on approach to running your business. When patrons enter the shop, an icon over their head hints at their current need. So, if a patron enters with a yellow-chair symbol, it's up to you to drag that customer to the big yellow masking chair. Once a patron is situated, you'll usually have to interact with them in some way, whether it's plucking eyebrows, applying facials, or giving the occasional mani-pedi.

This is all completely addicting thanks to simple mechanics (dragging and tapping), gameplay that keeps you constantly busy, and an upgrade system that gives you long-term goals.

Upgrading your spa equipment directly impacts your customers' comfort level, which makes them less likely to leave before you've served them, thus making them happier (and the happier they are when the check out, the higher your tips). The more money you make, the more you'll have to spend on upgrades.

Also, the side mini-game game of selling supplementary items like shampoo and skin creams earns you promotions if you sell enough. The promotions grant you access to even more expensive ancillary items that make more money when sold.

If this seems like the most capitalistic game ever, you're not far off. Although I guess Mercenaries 2 would give it a run for its money.

As a lifetime console gamer, it probably comes as no surprise that I have a certain affinity for games made in Japan. Seriously, give me a single-player Japanese RPG over the American equivalent any day of the week.

Given this, the news that more Japanese game developers want to develop on the iPhone has me giddy as a schoolboy! And I've never been giddy, even when I was a schoolboy.

Looks like Kojima Productions was just the beginning.

(Credit: GameSpot)

CasualGaming.biz reported Thursday on a survey conducted by Japanese middleware developer CRI. The survey polled 102 Japanese game developers (individuals, not companies).

Eighteen percent of those surveyed had already released games on the platform, while 16 percent were currently working on titles. Another 87 percent said they were interested in developing for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

As for the business reasons respondents cited for developing on the platform, 64.7 percent said the capability to release simultaneously in more than 80 countries was most appealing. Also, 55.9 percent said it was the size of the market, and 42.2 percent chose the ease of purchasing from iTunes as the best reason to develop on iPhone.

From a development perspective, the responses were decidedly different. The iPhone's portability and its touch screen were most appealing from a development standpoint, with 71.6 percent of respondents choosing each as the No. 1 reason. Also, 55.9 percent said it was the phone's multitouch capability.

With news like this, as well as Capcom's plans to launch more than 10 new iPhone games in 2009, it's no wonder Nintendo chief, Satoru Iwata, is starting to acknowledge the iPhone as a possible threat to the DS.

According to a story on Kotaku, Iwata recently stated "I do not imagine that iPhone will dominate the Nintendo DS market at once. My impression as the person who has used iPhone is, it is very attractive but, frankly, I did not feel that it was designed to be appreciated by a wide variety of people like how Nintendo has been designing its products."

Yes, the iPhone definitely does not have mass market potential /sarcasm.

Your Highness! Surprise!

(Credit: Geek)

Our senior editor Leslie Katz pointed me to this story about the Queen of England getting a Nintendo Wii as a gift, and I thought to myself, "Ah, this is the kind of news that's gonna change the world."

The Royal Wii.

(Credit: Kombo)

Apparently, THQ is doing a huge promotion of the latest release of a Wii game called BIG Family Games. According to THQ product manager Danielle Robinson, it's "the ultimate Wii game to get all family members, from grandparents to young children, playing together."

This game is the newest release in the company's "BIG" range of titles, which have been very successful in the E.U., with more than 600,000 units sold in the summer of 2008. It seems the company believed there was no family in Europe that could better represent the notion of "playing together" than the U.K's ultimate clan.

Secretly though, my interest is the gift itself. I don't yet have a Wii, and this one isn't just like any other you can get for around $200. The package includes a gold-plated console, Wii remote and Nunchuck controllers, and the game itself.

It's unclear whether the console has any special functionality, like the ability to play Blu-ray or even DVD movies. Nonetheless, the gift was delivered to Buckingham Palace on Thursday, and by now, it's pretty much priceless.

It's unlikely her Royal Highness, who just turned 83, will have much interest in the game or the console. At best, she might watch as others, namely the princes, enjoy it for her, as she listens to one of her iPods.

A few weeks ago, a colleague of mine, worried that her little brother played too many video games, asked if there was a way to make money while gaming. When I told her about e-sports, she returned quite the guffaw at the concept.

I suggested she tell her brother about it, and she refused, saying that she didn't want to lose him forever to the virtual world. Money aside, if I'd told her just how much fame he could amass as a pro gamer, maybe she would have had a different reaction.

"ProdigyX" has mad drumming skills.

(Credit: WCG Ultimate Gamer)

To wit, at a worldwide gaming tournament in New York Saturday, Robert "ProdigyX" Paz set the official Guinness world record for "Highest Aggregate Score in all 84 Songs of Rock Band 2."

Paz--a 22 year-old pro gamer from the Bronx who already owns four other world gaming records and took second place in SciFi Channel's Ultimate Gamer show--played his ion drums for over six consecutive hours, earning more than 10.5 million points. The achievement will be chronicled in the Guinness World Records 2010 Gamer's Edition.

He accomplished his feat at the Samsung Experience during the 2009 U.S. Invitational, part of the World Cyber Games.

In addition to Rock Band 2, gamers competed in several other popular games at the two-day event, including, Virtua Fighter 5, Starcraft: Brood War, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Gears of War 2, Hero: World Tour, FIFA? 09, and CounterStrike 1.6.

The WCG 2009 grand final will be held November 11th to 15th in Chengdu, China.

The last 20 years of gaming have treated us to better graphics and sound, more innovative control schemes, and more mature and sophisticated storylines. Could the next innovation involve the olfactory system? If the team behind some unique British Army training videos have anything to say about it, then yes.

According to a Daily Mail article, researchers in the U.K. have partnered with the Ministry of Defence there to make training videos for the British Army a tad more immersive. While the troops watch the videos, foul smells are released into the air, appropriate to what's onscreen.

"Yes, two Raw Sewages and a Weapon Fire please."

(Credit: Newsteam.co.uk)

For example, a training video involving a real-life village would have the smell of cooking food associated with it, teaching the soldier to associate that village or type of village with that smell.

Then, when the soldier enters the village in real life, the absence of such a smell could signify that the area had been evacuated and taken over by hostile forces. Or that no one was cooking at that time.

Professor Bob Stone, an engineering professor and research director of the Human Factors Integration Defence Technology Centre (HFIDTC, or SHIELD) at Birmingham University, says the scent delivery system, or SDS100, consists of a compressed air chamber with eight compartments and four fans. Each compartment holds a pot of wax, chemically infused with a particular odor.

With 100 scent options available, including "weapon fire," "cat urine," and "human feces," it's no wonder the researchers speculate that this technology could be incorporated into video games "within three to five years" ('cause gamers just love the smell of cat urine).

(Credit: CNET)

I've posted quite a few monitor reviews lately, which got me thinking that I should probably update the three Monitor Buying Guide lists.

So here are my picks (of monitors I've reviewed) for the best LCD computer monitors for playing games, the best for work, and the best for movie watching.

Leave a comment if you think there are better choices out there or if there are other monitors you'd like to see reviewed.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

If you are a college student, you should know you now have a much higher chance of ending up with student loans, than if you graduated 15 years ago. And even if you are one of the lucky few who don't, every American is carrying a burden of about $184,000 in government debt and unfunded obligations.

In short, it's important to learn how to be financially responsible. This is the message that mtvU, MTV's 24-hour college network, wants you get via an online flash game called "DebtSki". The game is is part of mtvU's and the Peter G. Peterson Foundation's Indebted campaign, an ongoing effort to encourage students to help stop the fiscal crisis in the United States.

It's a very simple Mario-like kind of game, where you maneuver the game character Piggy Banks through a series of obstacles, while trying to collect coins and then making decisions to spend those coins on items.

There are things you need to collect to win the game; other items are discretionary, which could bring you happiness but could potentially put you in debt. You are challenged to create a balance among happiness, debt, and responsibilities.