• 64 B2B Marketing Tools and Resources
• Inigo Montoya Guide to 27 Commonly Misused Words: No preparing to die… just to know the difference between lay and lie (not included… just had to rhyme). The Princess Bride, like Copyblogger says, icky title — great movie.
• Wiki of Social Media Marketing Examples
• GovTwit Directory: List of government peeps who use Twitter. I worked for US government right out of college. Wonder if I could’ve Twittered? Probably from home and not work. Didn’t find any from my agency in list. Nice name… “GovTwit.”
• Comment Forms Designs: Nice collection. Sure makes mine feel so 1990s.
• 2008 Eddies: Edublog awards.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Cake Wrecks: I could spend too much time on this blog.
• Coffee Art [Link: Nancy Duarte]
• 6 EXTREMEly overused game titles: Good stuff. I’d add “Deluxe.”
• Best Free Games to Play This Holiday: Games are a wonderful way to spend holiday time especially when playing with family.
• jackassletters.com: Real letters. Real replies.
• Top 12 Tech Embarrassments in 2008.

Game Music 4 All releases its first free internet compilation. It is called Here Comes a New Challenger. It is a compilation of chiptune, nerdcore, and VG musicians collaborating together as a tribute to video games. Get more info and download the album for free.

I don’t need a study to tell me that playing casual games helps relieve stress and improve my mood. When the writing muse stays away or my spirits drop, I play a game I need to review. Almost every time (don’t like to use 100%), I feel better after a few rounds of a casual game.

See the results of the study and the Popcap Games press release.

Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney, returns for this third series with five new cases where players portray Mia Fey, Wright’s mentor from a past case involving Phoenix. Those who haven’t played the first two series can start with this one without any confusion. Of course, some scenes will have more meaning to those playing the first two in the series. Whether new players will like Phoenix Wright depends on how they feel about interactive stories that require lots of reading.

Each story comes into two parts: The investigation and the trial. During the investigation, players examine scenes, interview characters, move to different locations, and present evidence to prove a point. The stories last for a long time giving players a chance to thoroughly learn a case and pick it apart during the trial to help your client.

The game grows tedious with all the dialogue, but players can’t help but want to reach the truth and get an innocent client off the hook especially since it requires thinking to take the right actions. Object at the wrong time or present the incorrect evidence, and lose points with the judge. When the “health” meter runs out, the judge proclaims your client guilty and the game ends.

The screen shakes whenever a character turns flustered, and this gets very old after a few times. It doesn’t matter if the character feels stressed, mad, aggravated or anxious — shake, shake, shake… enough, enough, enough.

Another frustration point is the constant repetition of scenes when you take the wrong step or missed one. Though you can save the game, there are times when saving won’t make a difference or can’t be sure where to save the game. However, what else can the game do or else it becomes too easy? It might help to let players decide if they want to repeat questioning, present different evidence, or replay a specific section.

On the other hand, the game saves you plenty of work as it automatically enters items into evidence once they enter the story. This doesn’t make the game easy at all as some evidence needs presenting at some point to gain more information as a court record before going to trial. A court record reveals more insight into evidence. You might come across an ID badge, but won’t understand its significance until you present it to someone who can offer more details. The game set up makes it possible for players to focus on figuring out the meaning of the evidence and piecing together the story.

When it comes trial time, every witness presents testimony and then you — as Phoenix Wright or Mia Fey — conducts cross-examinations to discover gaps and lies. During the cross-examination, the witness will repeat each line — one-by-one — to give you a chance to object, press for more information, present evidence that contradicts the witness’ statement, or let it go. A standard statement appears with each response, such as “Hold it!” when pressing or “Take that!” when presenting evidence. This also adds to the tediousness of the game. You can also use your voice in objections, but it’s not required — thankfully. A person with imperfect speech — like this writer — might struggle to be heard correctly.

Two spirit healers accompany Phoenix. One is Maya, Mia Fey’s younger sister, and the other is Pearl Fey, their cousin. Pearl easily gets on your nerves like a kid sister while Maya’s immaturity can grate at times. Nevertheless, the girls have good moments when they come shining through. This says a lot about the game’s characters and their uniqueness. It would help to have another likeable character or two — like Mia Fey — that don’t annoy players in the next edition.

Since Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations involves logical thinking and a good eye, it should attract players who prefer Nintendo’s Touch! Generation games such as Big Brain Academy, Picross DS, and Touchmaster. Like those, this one is easy to learn and use especially since a tutorial helps players get familiar with the interface.

Using sharp anime-style images and animation, the game presents everything with a first person perspective making players feel part of the action. After successfully winning all five cases, there may be little motivation to play the cases again. Thankfully, they last a long time making the game worth its value. Though Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations receives a few objections over its annoyances, it’s guilty of being entertaining, humorous, and getting players to use their brains. Those who want to be lawyers someday or watch TV shows like Perry Mason, Matlock, Boston Legal, or Law and Order will enjoy the playing the role without cracking open a law book.

The ESRB rating for this game is T (Teen) for Mild Blood, Mild Violence.

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Series

• Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
• Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All
• Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

While the review focuses on the PalmOS version of the game, some of its elements can apply to the PC version, Gameboy version, and Windows Mobile version.

Broken Sword: The Shadow of Templars is an epic adventure that begins in Paris where American tourist George Stobbart witnesses a murder in a (what else?) cafe. The murdered stole the ancient manuscript from the dead man. George takes an interest in the murder and begins unraveling a lengthy story surrounding the Knights of Templars. He doesn’t go on the adventure alone as he meets photojournalist Nico Collard.

George does all the grunt work and puts himself in danger while Nico stays comfy in her flat waiting for his visits or phone calls. While maneuvering on a PalmOS device gets tricky, Astraware does a spectacular job in bringing the adventure to the small device.

The engrossing story has kept me busy for hours and months. I’ve had the game for a long time, but due to other commitments — I couldn’t play it or took long breaks in between. More impressive, the long game plays beautifully on the PalmOS and never crashes. The graphics in the cutscenes, where you watch a mini-movie or stills, looked sharp and contained a cinematic effect.

The game contains many little details that appeared clearly on the small screen. The trickier parts of the game involved using two or more objects together. I had to play with the controls for a long time when I came across the first time a situation called for combining two objects. Once you figure it out, future object combinations go more smoothly — but not perfectly.

Adventure games have one drawback — replayability, or lack thereof. Few people replay an adventure game upon completion. But this one lasts a long time to earn its money’s worth. Not only does Broken Sword: The Shadow of Templars take you beyond Paris to Ireland, Spain, Britain and Syria, but also it provides plenty of comic relief. George’s quick-witted humor makes him instantly likable.

Considering I took breaks between game playing sessions, sometimes I lost track of the story. In most cases, the game gets you back on track. Playing Broken Sword: The Shadow of Templars reminded me of the old days when I loved playing adventure games like King’s Quest, Mystery House and Leisure Suit Larry. Be patient, absorb all of the dialog and you’ll enjoy the game to the fullest.

Broken Sword: The Shadow of Templars for PalmOS or Windows Mobile.

Compatibility: Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars is not compatible with Palm Tungsten T and Tungsten T2, Sony CLIÉ UX40, UX50 and VZ90. It’;s also not compatible with low resolution (160×160) Palm OS® devices such as: Zire 21, Zire 31, Z22, Tréo 600, or QVGA (240×320) Palm OS® devices such as: Qool QDA 700 and the PiTech W300.

Pocket PC Compatibility: The game comes in two versions, one for Windows Mobile 2003 and the other for Windows Mobile 5. Be sure to get the right one.

It’s been a weird week. I’ve been getting up way too early most mornings as my family prepares a large celebration this weekend. So I thought it appropriate to play and do a review of Dream Day Wedding. No, it’s not a wedding we’re preparing for… but it sure involves almost as much work.