Via @DigiDNA, Mimeo and the Kleptopus King is a videogame for iPhone and iPod Touch developped by Shaun Inman, which pays homage to older systems and evolves from 2 bits to 4 bits, then from 4 to 8 bits, to 16 bits etc., as Mimeo gains his resolution back from the evil King.
Perhaps the very first level could look even more minimalistic, with fewer, bigger pixels, à la Space Invaders? Anyway, it’s cute, it’s clever, and it’s pretty.
I want to address my love of pixels. The aesthetics of Mimeo (and Horror Vacui before it) are not born solely from nostalgia. Good pixel art strikes the perfect balance between appreciable craftsmanship and the gestalt. A single pixel out of place, one too few or too many, ruins the illusion. There’s an unmuddied, economy of expression, the thankless result of the limitations of cartridge-based consoles.
People who have an Apple laptop and use it on a daily basis for work and leisure hoped the iPad would look like this:
and then, they discovered it was a “big-size iPhone” and got all sour and whiney.
Because they thought it was meant for them. They thought the iPad would be targeted at the “early adopter” and “power user” markets, as often the case with new Apple machines (e.g., the first iPod, or the MacBook Air). They don’t want to understand that for Apple, it makes more sense at this stage to convert new customers from the crowds who use their old Windows machines to surf the web and check their email a few minutes a day. That is, to seduce happy iPod users to switch for a (simpler, cheaper, familiar) Mac.
Those Mac users often advise their non-geek friends and family to get an iMac as their next computer because it’s powerful enough for their home use, the screen is great, and the price reasonable all things considered. Meanwhile, people get more computer-literate, computers evolve, and the iMac is not for “beginners” anymore.
So, Apple’s strategy for the iPad is to go deeper and attract those who are not ready for an iMac just yet.
iPad is the easy-to-use, all-in-one, computer for the masses.
I don’t believe it’s actually working yet (the video looks like it’s not really the iPhone controlling it), nor that it can be bought yet, but I have to say that video of Parrot’s AR.Drone gives me butterflies in the stomach.
This very useful AND sexy map application is one of the first augmented reality app on the iPhone, created by acrossair. Too good to be true? I’m waiting to see it available on the iTunes store before I believe they actually made it.
Anyone know of another augmented reality app on the iPhone?
