Comikaze 2013: Stan Lee Introduces ‘Superhero Ball Wars’

Originally published on The Flickcast.  5 November 2013.

At Comikaze 2013 Stan “The Man” Lee was on hand to announce on of his newest ventures: Stan Lee’s Superhero Ball Wars. The series of apps, set to release starting in 2014, will be available first for iPhone and iPad and later for Android devices.

The game centers on the characters from the planet Ballo whose citizens are, as Lee says, “well-rounded.” But the Inflators are the superheroes of planet and they are the ones who must fight off an invasion by the evil Deflators. Earthlings are called to help in the battle by collecting heroes and deflecting villains.

The augmented reality aspect of Superhero Ball Wars allows you to hold up your device while the app is running and actually locate Ballo in the sky. You can also lock the game to play without moving your phone or tablet around above you. Once you have Ballo in your sights, characters and objects start flying towards you. Each of the 15 missions requires you to collect a specific character, including Professor Ballkenstan (Lee in Ballo form), while deflecting or avoid other objects and characters.

Superhero Ball Wars is a relatively simple game and is certainly marketed more as a kid’s game. Producer Jeff Edell said on the HotTopic mainstage at Comikaze, “Your kids will love this and maybe adults too.” A virtual vault keeps track of every character you collect, allowing you to learn more about them and trade with your friends. Physical Ballo character cards let players continue their missions even when they’re not plugged into the app.

Look for the first of Stan Lee’s Superhero Ball Wars apps to be available in the App Store next year. For now, check out the trailer for the game below.

Twitter #Music App Likely To Disappear Due To Poor Download Numbers

Originally published on PopWrapped.  20 October 2013.

If like me, you had completely forgotten Twitter’s #Music even existed, it will be no surprise to learn that the service may soon be closing. A report from AllThingsD says the mobile app is on the outs because of “abysmal” download numbers.

Launched only six months ago, Twitter #Music helps users discover new music based on the artists they follow, Twitter trends, and network activity. Poor integration is being partially blamed for the app’s failure to retain users’ interest. Also likely to blame are the multitude of other music apps at everyone’s fingertips, such as Spotify, iTunes Radio, Rdio and Pandora, to name a few.

As for those low download numbers, the app has been declining ever since its release in April. Peaking at number six back then, its popularity has plummeted to well out of the top 100 in its category.

As a Mashable article pointed out, it is worth noting that Twitter #Music hasn’t received an iOS 7 update yet. This is odd for several reasons, including that iOS 7’s iTunes Radio has Twitter #Music stations. Perhaps this is just another sign that the social networking company is not yet ready to tackle the task of a music app.