I fear turn-based RPGs may have gone the way of the dodo, but I am finding a little relief in the exploding market of action/RPGs. Exitium is one of the newer of these hybrid games on the market, and I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of detail, polish, and overall mechanics of the first game from Minoraxis, Inc. From the moment you are literally thrown into the beautiful world of Vardonia, you will control four heroes with whom you can take the reigns and steer the future of the Arkan and Abylonian kingdoms.

Before you begin any of the storylines, you are given the choice to play as Kiron, a fierce brute warrior, Jasen, a paladin with a mix of martial and magical powers, Galen, a warrior-wizard, and Alia, a priestess. Each has their own storyline and backstory along with unique sets of attacks, skills, and weapons. Every character is a soldier on one side of the war or another, allowing you to gain a unique perspective on their beliefs on the war and their civilization. The two magicians were more difficult to use because of their spell attacks so if you want more of a challenge start with either of them.

Exitium’s gameplay is very reminiscent of Destina. You travel through multiple environments to fulfill quest requirements all the while fighting monsters and leveling up. There are no breaks in battle as monsters constantly reappear, though you can change equipment, use items, and save anytime you’re in a hostile setting. Fighting and using spells are easier than in Destinia, mainly because you have less spells to use, but you aren’t constantly switching menus to find the right spell. All the controls are at your thumb-tip making it easy to cast a spell or use a potion.

The story is a little linear for an RPG game. I don’t mean there aren’t plot twists or turns, there are, but there’s not really any exceptional dialogue or intrigue for the characters. The whole story is told to you without actual happening to you (it’s the show vs tell argument). While, thankfully, it is easy to find quests and your next objective, you can almost foresee what you will be told to do and what will happen. Obviously with four characters there are four different interesting paths and stories to choose from, but the basic quests and missions are a bit too predictable.

As I mentioned, gameplay is fantastic, and I think the simpler, but just as rich, inventory/forging/skills is the best approach. There are thousands of weapon and armor choices to find or create or upgrade at your whim so you don’t ever have to be stuck with the same equipment. Menus are easy to navigate, and Exitium allows you to simply and quickly drag and drop items. While forging and upgrading equipment was easy, selling was time-consuming as you have to input what price you want to sell the equipment for.

Despite a few hiccups like continuing running in a direction after I stopped pressing or some lag when facing many enemies (albeit on my fading Xperia Play), the amount of polish and detail in this game are astounding. The world is completely filled with subtle background objects like bones or cracks that would normally go unnoticed. Vardonia is a visually rich world, and the character details are magnificent. The art quality is worth the price of admission alone.

For a 20+ hour campaign along with hundreds of quests for multiple characters, Exitium is one of the best “bang for your buck” games. Vibrant environments, multiple story arcs, and a plethora of quests and weapons mean there are few games that can match the quality and scope which Exitium displays. In a market craving RPG-type games, Exitium is a gem that can truly stand out and say mobile RPG games are the best and strongest of all the nostalgic forces in gaming.

*Unfortunately, the developers just informed me that Google has blocked this game for unknown reasons. Check back soon for more information.

The NHL 2011-2012 season started last week, but the official Android app didn’t land until yesterday. Correction, the official apps didn’t arrive until yesterday because the NHL has decided to split its official app into two offerings: the free NHL Gamecenter and the $19.99 NHL Gamecenter Premium.

Gamecenter is an Android 2.1+ companion for all things NHL. Users tell the app the name of their favorite team, which then changes the background to reflect that franchise’s logo and provide quick links to tracking them. Live scores are available for every game, as are previews with television listings, season series, and head-to-head history between opponents. There’s also a schedule page showing when your favorite team is at home or away,

Other standard features like standings, news articles, player profiles, and game photos are also available in both apps. However, if you want live radio broadcasts, video highlights, and exclusive “Best of the Week” videos, you’ll have to pony-up for the Premium version. Hockey fans who want live game video will have to purchase an additional subscription to the annual NHL GameCenter Live broadband service. That service also gives users access to desktop streaming. It will cost $159 for a one-time payment or 8 monthly payments of $19.95.

I’ll be honest and admit that I only pay attention to hockey during the winter Olympics, so I won’t speak on how effective this app is at capturing the on-ice action. However, I can’t imagine people will be too thrilled at the prospect of spending $180 for the privilege of watching hockey matches on their phone, especially considering that broadcasts are still subject to blackout restrictions. If you love hockey and absolutely need to have it on all devices at all times, then head over to the Android Market to download the apps.

(free version)

(premium version)

No, you didn’t misread the title. Google’s decision to let developers set pricing for different currencies will have the seemingly contradictory effect of making app purchases more expensive and more affordable. But how can such a change elicit two opposite responses at the same time?

The simple answer is that this change puts price control at the mercy of a developer’s decision rather than an exchange rate.

The Android Market currently allows developers to price apps according to the currency used in their home nation, but the new system will allow devs to charge someone in Japan a different price than someone in Mexico. This could have the effect of making apps more sensibly priced for some and more out-of-reach for others.

A game developer in the United Kingdom can currently sell his app for £5, which is reasonably-priced for British gamers. But the comparative strength of the pound versus the weaker U.S. dollar means Americans will pay more than $8 for the same game. This might cause a developer to lower the price to £3.40 ($5.50) to make the game more affordable, but he or she could just as easily stand firm at the higher price and alienate customers.

Currency-specific pricing will likely lead to more expensive apps for users with strong currencies. If a developer no longer has to set one price to balance between buyers in different nations, he or she will have no incentive to price the app in a way that encourages purchases from everyone. Instead, the game will cost the full £5 for British buyers because the developer can still charge American buyers $5. Of course, this could also have the effect of making more affordable apps. The game that was once €1 can now be set at $1, which will save the buyer 38 cents.

A developer has the option to set a different price for the Japanese Yen, US dollar, Mexicano peso, Swedish krona, or any of the other currencies supported in the Android Market. Google plans to deliver this option to U.S. developers first, but other nations are to follow. In the coming weeks, we’ll see how many developers across the globe decide to take advantage of the new currency options and how that affects affordability of app purchasing.

One of the reasons I rooted my old G1 so long ago was that I would run out of internal storage so quickly. It was frustrating to pay for apps and then have to uninstall them because I ran out of space. The apps to SD hacks in those early ROMs made my life easier, and I could install pretty much anything I wanted. At one point, I had over 140 apps on my HTC Dream.

I have never rooted my Nexus One, partly because updates happened so quickly that Google stayed ahead of my complaints. Besides wowing the world with Flash 10.1 support, Android 2.2 offered a lot of “Dream List” items for users like me. Faster, smoother, prettier? Check. Tethering? Check. Apps to SD? Built in to Froyo… but wait. Yes, many developers have made the switch to external storage, and I have certainly saved a lot of space with the new “Move to SD card” setting.

(Here’s how: Home Screen: Menu: Settings: Applications: Manage applications: Press “All” tab: Menu: Press “Sort by Size”, select app.)

However, many of my “space hogs” remain: Skype, 13.2MB. Flash, 12.4MB. Maps, 9.3MB. Documents to Go, 8MB. Facebook, 5.1MB. This is partly because these apps use features that will break whenever you mount your phone’s SD card in your computer. A full rundown of what apps should and shouldn’t be allowed to install to the SD card can be found here:

http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/install-location.html

I understand the reasons listed, but having 48MB tied up in “internal-only” apps isn’t going to make anyone happy, particularly when a phone has limited internal storage to begin with. When you take away all the space for OS files and built-in apps on the N1 (and many other Android phones), you have a limited amount of room for other apps. Long story short: the current apps to SD implementation is not quite good enough, and I find that I am uninstalling apps again. Including paid apps. Grrr. At the time of this writing, my phone reports internal available space of 19.8MB after deleting my browser cache. That will last me for a few days, assuming I don’t install anything new.

So what else can be done? I have some suggestions which may or may not be technically feasible. For example, my Browser app data fills up very quickly–it just went up to 40MB the other day and basically shut down my phone. Sure, one option would be to use a different default browser, but I like how well the default browser works with the N1 News/Weather widget. (Note: If you are running out of space on your N1, try checking the size of your Browser app data via the same settings path described above.) Similarly, my Calendar Storage is stuck at 4.77MB, and my Dialer Storage is at 2.88MB.

Does this data really need to live in my phone’s internal storage? I would prefer my Browser user data to be on the SD card, and it would save me a lot of hassle of deleting the cache every few days. Of course, there also should be an option to limit how big the Browser’s cache can get. Calendar and Dialer Storage could live on the SD card as well–after all, if I’m mounting the storage in a computer, I already have access to my Calendar and my Contacts.

Another suggestion is to allow for an actual application exit whenever you mount your card. In other words, we should see a warning along the lines of: “Mounting your card as SD storage will shut down Skype, Flash, Maps, etc, etc, until you run these applications again.” This may not be possible, but it sure as heck would be useful.

Finally, we need developers to enable installing to SD whenever possible. I love Devilry Huntress, Aldiko, and Astro, but I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t be moved to my external storage. (Note that I am NOT picking on these excellent apps, but just using them as examples.) What do you think, Android developers–are these ideas possible? If so, let’s make it happen.

Did you hear the news? Of course you did if you’re using BuzzVoice, an Android app the speaks the news. BuzzVoice takes the news of the day and has a custom voice engine read the story aloud. Users can stay up to date with their favorite sites, including Androinica.com, even if they are unable to read at the moment.

BuzzVoice ($4.99) is billed as “Pandora for news” because it gives users the opportunity to select what stories are read. Someone can search for a topic and then select stories to put in a playlist, or listen to curated stories based on a topic (Android, Celebrity, Sports, Politics, etc.). Then BuzzVoice will read the text aloud in case you’re working out or driving. The custom text-to-speech voices can be somewhat choppy but it’s better than the default TTS library for Android.

There are more than 1,600 blogs and news sources available in BuzzVoice, so all your favorite tech news sources are available. The app can have trouble playing audio files when on a weak connection, so that could prove problematic if attempting to listen on the go (depending on your local network performance).

KEY FEATURES

• Hear news from 1,600 sources
• Listen according to playlist, channel, category, or search topic
• Hear popular stories according to trending topic

CONS

• Audio can fail to play on weak connections (experience will vary based on your network)
• Costs an additional $3.99 per month to get 100 feeds, remove ads, extend Buzzcast, and select voice

App: BuzzVoice

Price: $4.99

Website: BuzzVoice

Android Live Wallpapers eat up battery life and typically don’t do anything besides make your Android phone look a little prettier. So why bother with a live wallpaper at all? Because they’re so darn cool!

Live Wallpapers are only available on devices running Android 2.1 or higher, and are only seen for short periods of time. But the eye-popping designs and animations of the best live wallpapers make that viewing experience, however brief, well worth it.

And what are the best live wallpapers? That’s tough to say because things change so rapidly. Many of the Android live wallpapers in our previous list of top picks are no longer available, so we decided to provide a quick refresh. Here’s a video showcasing some of the best live wallpapers that Android has to offer, with descriptions and links to the Android Market below. (All apps use the same video. Press play and it will fast forward to the demonstration for that particular app.)

PhotoWall Live Wallpaper (0:00 – 33)

It’s easy to set a photo of a loved one as your Android wallpaper, but why settle for one? PhotoWall creates collages based on photos stored on an Android phone, Facebook, or Picasa. The photos can be displayed as Polaroids, Faded, Puzzles, or Wall (grid) and animated at different speeds or with different effects. An upgrade is required to unlock all features.

Google I/O 2011 Live Wallpaper (0:34 – 0:56)

Google I/O 2011 had a great animation on-screen that everyone wanted for their Android Live Wallpaper. Done and done. This shows the Android logo sky-rocketing into space and breaking apart atoms and stars. Also check out the very-similar Jumpgate live wallpaper that easily could have been on this list.

Blue Range Live Wallpaper (0:57 – 1:24)

The Astonishing Tribe created a trio Android live wallpapers before it was acquired by RIM, and Blue Range is the star of that group. This interactive wallpaper shows mountains, animals, and a river that respond to the touch. Tapping a bee turns on vibrate, a bird falls out of the sky, and a bear jumps when touched. It’s easily one of my favorites.

Tasker is the ultimate Android app. It creates profiles to automatically change settings, delivers shortcuts, helps manage daily activities, and automates many of the mundane tasks that you attempt to perform each day. All without much effort (other than set-up process).

Tasker uses “contexts” to trigger tasks or setting changes. A context could be something as simple as the day of the week, a headset being plugged in, having a certain battery percentage, or entering a certain location.

Once a context takes place, it triggers an action like turning off auto-sync, loading Pandora, or sending a text message to your girlfriend to let her know you’re 5 minutes away. The app features mutli-context and multi-task options that turn this into an more powerful than you may have imagined.

Locale was the first automated app that Android users embraced, but many turned sour once the app began charging money for add-ons and actually became less useful. Tasker is also a paid app (£3.99) that’s not perfect but is worth giving the old 24-hour try to see if you’d like to keep it. Below are some examples of what you can do with Tasker.

Set Periodic AutoSyncs

AutoSync is great for keeping you up to date, but not for conserving battery. Tasker makes it easier to balance the two by only syncing on certain days or only at designated intervals. For instance, I’ve set Tasker to only auto-sync to send me email once per hour Monday-Friday.

1. Press “New” and create a Context for Day.
2. Select Day of the Week, and then choose each weekday.
3. Click the “+” button and choose Net > Auto-Sync > On, and then press “Done” to save.
4. Click the left Calendar icon and select “Add” from the Context menu. Add a context for time and select 9:00am to 9:02am.
5. Select repeat for 1 hour (or however often you want to check) and press “Done.”
6. Then create an exit task, which will turn Auto-Sync off again. Tap where it says “Auto Sync On” and choose  “Add Exit Task” from the menu pop-up.
7. Then follow the same steps you used to turn Auto-Sync on (only you’ll set to “Off”).

Tip: you can also create a time-based Context to go into Airplane mode at n1ight. I created a context very similar to this to send the phone into airplane mode at 1 am in case I fall asleep while listening to Pandora.

Open Media apps list when headset plugged in

People usually want to open media apps when they plug in their headset. Why not create a menu to make it easier?

1. Create a new “State” context and select “Headset Plugged”
2. Add a task by pressing App > Load App
3. Select your apps like doubleTwist, Google Listen, MoodAgent, Slacker, etc.

Save and the next time you plug in your headset, a small menu will pop-up with options for which apps to load. You can also add-on other features like increasing media volume (Audio > Media volume)

Create settings widgets

1. Long press on home screen and select Widget > Task
2. Create any task you want performed, then press the ? icon in the bottom right and select an icon for your widget
3. Press “Make Widget” and that task will be performed whenever the widget is clicked.

Create context-based voice reminders

I have bills that I sometimes forget to pay and I don’t feel like paying companies to remind me (or late fees). Tasker can create a time or day-based reminder to let me know.

1. Create a new “Date” context and select the day(s) that bills are due
2. Click the “+” button and select Misc > Say
3. Enter in text like “Don’t forget that rent is due today. Pay $1,200 to landlord by 3PM.” When the date comes, your phone will play a voice note reminding you.

Send SMS or launch apps based on location

I’m trying to become the mayor of an establishment I frequent but sometimes forget to check-in on Foursquare. Tasker can perform tasks based on location, so Foursquare can load whenever I get within a predetermined distance.

1. Create a “Location” context. If you don’t like to keep GPS on constantly, make sure only “Net” is highlighted so it will affix to your network (still decently accurate).
2. Click “Get Fix” to narrow to your location and then narrow your radius to 30-50m (tap map to zoom in/out for more accuracy)
3. Load app and select “Foursquare.”

You can also use this trick to load Astrid when you go to work or SportyPal when you enter the park. It even works to call or send an “I’m nearby” text to your friend when you enter his/her neighborhood. (Create a new task and select Phone > “Call” or “Send SMS”)

Automatically change settings for particular apps

I turn off GPS unless I am about search for something in Google Maps, Foursquare, or the like. But I also forget to turn it on before I launch these apps, so it’s better to have them load instantly. Tasker includes settings that can change settings whenever and app is launched.

1. Create an “Application” context and select whatever app you want.
2. Press Misc > GPS and set it to on.

You can do this for any GPS-dependent app like Foursquare, Maps, Places, etc. Also consider turning on Wi-Fi for apps like Boxee Remote or VLC Remote, turning off sleep time for games, and much more.

Create Notification shortcuts

1. Create any context applicable to what you’re trying to do. Then create an action and choose Alert > Notify and title it. You can make it permanent if you wish, or press “Done” and save.
2. Then Add another action for anything you can think of – Load App, Add setting, etc. – and save.
3. Add an Exit Task to end the notifications (Alert > Notify cancel).

Change settings based on battery life

1. Create a “State” context and select “Battery Level”
2. Set the From slider to “0” and the To slider “30”
3. Then create actions that will toggle settings that affect battery: GPS (Misc > GPS), Airplane, Auto Sync, Bluetooth, Mobile Data, Wi-Fi, or WiMax (Network)

Kill Applications (pre-Froyo)

We usually don’t like task killers, but there are cases where you may desire to do it. I often forget to turn off my running app when leaving the park, so I stop the app once I leave. This works only on phones running Android 2.1 or lower.

1. Create any context applicable to what you’re trying to do. Then create an action and choose “App” > “Kill App”
2. Choose the app you plan to end

Conclusion

There are plenty of things to do with Tasker. From turning off features based on battery settings to creating shortcuts to features based on hardware gestures, you can play around with this app for several days and come up with new ideas for what to do. Download Tasker and see for yourself.

for Android 1.6 or higher

Use this download link if you have an Android 1.5 phone

LauncherPro is a favorite home replacement of mine and just recently the developer decided to add widgets. Before the latest update there was a calendar, people, and bookmark widget that reminds one of the way that Sense UI widgets work. And with the latest update yesterday, paid users get to see the addition of a new messaging widget.

There are two styles to choose from, a 4×2 “message-by-message” or a 4×4 “timeline”. Both widgets are just a little different. The 4×2 allows one message by a time that can be swiped up or down, deleted, or you can reply to the message that you are on. The 4×4 widget allows you to mark all messages as read and to compose a new message. Scrolling on both widgets is extremely fluid.

It seems weird to me that you can’t compose a new message on the 4×2 widget as you can on the 4×4. This seems like something obvious that the developer may have left out. The good thing is that the developer is extremely open to valuable feedback and updates the app at a crazy pace.The messaging widget is a logical addition and it will be cool to see what else is in the pipeline.

Source [Launcher Pro]

A very useful tool to have in your software arsenal is an app that gives you quick access to your most commonly used settings. It’s a real timesaver when you don’t have to go to Android’s main Settings screen to change the options you use daily. Here are some of the top choices the Market has to offer.

Quick Settings

Quick Settings is an open-source project that presents the settings you use from day to day in a clean, no-frills interface. As the name implies, the app is quick, not only in the sense that it lets you conveniently overlook your favorite options, but it loads fast as well. Since Quick Settings can be launched directly from your notification bar or via a long press on the Search key, you can promptly bring up the app whenever you want to.

Quick Settings is customizable, and the app also displays the current memory status for both the internal and external storage. These are the settings it lets you toggle:

• Ringer
• Volume control
• Bluetooth
• APN control
• Wi-Fi
• GPS receiver
• Airplane mode
• Screen timeout
• Auto-sync data
• Brightness
• Master volume
• Auto rotation
• Unlock pattern

Install Quick Settings | Price: Free | Website: http://code.google.com/p/quick-settings/

MySettings

MySettings that we reviewed back in June is an app that some people may find more aesthetically pleasing than its cousin above. It’s very similar to Quick Settings since the utility also lets you change common settings from a single screen. But instead of presenting the various options in a traditional list, it shows them as large buttons across your display. The app can be accessed from the notification bar, although it may unfortunately not be launched by longpressing a hardware key.

Even if MySettings basically lets you modify the same options as Quick Settings, there is one key difference: while the latter can enable or disable the GPS from within the app, the former takes you to the Android Location screen for that purpose.

Install MySettings | Price: Free | Website: http://jqsoft.blogspot.com/2010/03/mysettings.html

SwitchPro Widget

If your country has paid apps on the Market and you don’t mind spending 99 cents, SwitchPro (featured in Android Apps Alert 27) is a great alternative to the applications above. It’s clearly based on the familiar Power control widget, but SwitchPro is configurable and much more powerful. Among other things, the widget lets you change its background and colors, and you can add up to seven simultaneous buttons in the order of your choice. SwitchPro currently supports 17 different settings, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Vibration/Silent mode, Screen always on, and Airplane mode.

Install SwitchPro | Price: $0.99 | Website: http://aleigood.blogspot.com/

Extended Controls Widget

While we’re on the topic of tools that let you change settings, one cannot fail to mention Extended Controls. It’s also a variation of Android’s Power control widget, and quite similar to SwitchPro above. However, Extended Controls is even more customizable and you can add as many buttons to the widget as you please (it can get crowded, though), including one showing your battery status. On the other hand, Extended Controls won’t let you change the order of the settings. All in all, the two widgets are more or less on par with each other.

Install Extended Controls | Price: ~$1.18 | Website: http://extendedcontrols.honoluluteam.net/

Conclusion

The apps and widgets discussed in this post are all excellent choices for gaining quick access to Android’s most popular settings. It mainly comes down to personal preference – and price. One could however argue that the widgets are the best way to roll. They are customizable, stylish, and because of their homescreen dwelling nature, they can probably provide the quickest access to your settings. On the other hand, since Quick Settings can be launched by longpressing the Search button, it may be just as fast, if not even slightly quicker depending on the situation.

If you are a gamer and have a “high performance” Android your day just become brighter with the announcement and availability of psx4droid, a functional PlayStation One emulator. The app has a bunch of features and from early reports plays Final Fantasy 7, which is all you really need to know.

The app can play various formats of games including BIN, ISO, IMG, PBP, Z, ZNX, and EBOOT. There is also a virtual gamepad  (think SNESoid), scaling modes, memory card and save states, and the craziest one, WiiMote support. We aren’t exactly sure how the WiiMote works but once we get our hands on a copy of the app we’ll give it a spin.

Something that is a tad bit disturbing is that I have been trying to install this application since later last night to no avail. If I look in my market downloads I get the dreaded “Authorizing purchase…” message. I found out after emailing the developer that this is a Google issue:

“It seems all orders for psx4droid are on hold by Google at the moment. Not sure why and I just got in contact with a Google rep … Rest assured you haven’t been charged for psx4droid yest and there is a 24 hour return policy with Android Market Place …”

Funny thing is that I have been charged for the game and I still don’t have it. Also, I have a feeling that if my Authorization takes over 24 hours I will not be able to get a refund; hopefully that is not the case. The developer also suggests that if you want the application immediately and not wait for Google you can purchase at slideme.org and get your PSX-gaming on right now.

Via [Engadget]