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The official adaptation of the designer board game Carcassonne has landed on the iTunes App store. The TUAW Review does a nice job of summing up what’s so wonderful about this game itself as well as the strengths & weaknesses of the iOS adaptation.

I think the developers, TheCodingMonkeys, have really knocked the Carcassonne App out of the park. It’s one of the best examples of gaming on iOS yet. I especially appreciate the ability to play several multiplayer games at once and have the app notify me when it’s my turn to play on any one of them. This enables real pick-up/put-down gameplay that’s perfect for the iPhone on the go. But even if you don’t play with people, the CPU players are pretty good and can present quite a challenge (if you want them to).  Furthermore, despite the fact that it’s only optimized for the iPhone right now, I’ve found the game to be very playable when pixel doubled on the iPad.

The game is on sale for just $4.99 which is a steal for something with this kind of functionality and replayability. That price goes up to $9.99 when the iPad upgrade, which will be free to existing owners, goes live later this year. If you do pick it up, be sure to send me a friend request so we can play some games and remember, “Sharing is Caring.”

I didn’t feel like I needed to comment much Iron Man 2 this since it seems like everyone on the internet saw this before it was released. Obviously, I liked it. It’s almost as good as the first movie, and that’s a high bar. Honestly, my biggest complaint is that I wanted more: it seems like there were plot threads & characters that deserved more screen time.

4 out of 5

PS: Sam Rockwell is perhaps one of the handful of guys who could ever steal a scene from Robert Downey Jr.; he certainly does here. I was cracking up when he danced on stage. Here’s to more Justin Hammer in Iron Man 3.

The latest treatment of Robin Hood legend should really be called something like ‘Robin Hood: Origins’ rather than simply Robin Hood. Instead of telling the familiar story of Robin and his merry band of outlaws fighting the unjust taxes of the Sheriff of Nottingham, Ridley Scott’s film tackles Robin’s origins in the Crusades and how he becomes the outlaw of Sherwood Forest.  Furthermore, it feels like Scott shot a movie that was three or more hours long, only to have it cut down to two in editing.  This was exactly what happened with Scott’s prior medieval-period film, Kingdom of Heaven, which went from 144 minutes in theaters to 192 minutes in the superior director’s cut.  In Hood, there are numerous characters and events that feel unexplained or underdeveloped while other parts of the movie move at a leisurely pace, leaving the audience to wonder what happened that was left out.

All this criticism makes it sound like the movie is bad, but that’s not the case at all.  Like you would expect from any blockbuster from Scott, the entire film shines from the quality of the acting, cinematography, and everything else.  The many beautiful shots of rustic landscapes, towns, & castles were all quite memorable and the frenzied battle sequences were appropriately mayhem filled and epic.

What the film lacks is the outlaw element.  The whole movie feels like a prequel to the real Robin Hood outlaw movie (which you’d think you were going to see when you buy tickets for a movie called ‘Robin Hood’), and I left the theater wanting more.

3 out of 5 (which could easily be bumped up to a 4 if they release an extended cut.)

Update (5/13/10): Cinematical mentions there will be about 17 minutes added to the DVD/BD version. Hopefully this addresses some of the movie’s shortcomings.

Kick-Ass more than lives up to its namesake.

5 out of 5

For everyone looking for a more detailed review of the iPad; Macworld’s review is one of the best. I agree with most everything in the very detailed write up.

I’m still very pleased with my own; I read a book for a few hours last night on the device and I was very pleased with the reading experience. Viewing HTML5 video on the web is similarly nice; I certainly am not missing Flash support.

The iPad is not a substitute for a full fledged computer with a large hard drive, optical drive, keyboard, and mouse, but it certainly is my preferred lounging computer. Which is to say; I’d much rather use the iPad than a laptop or iPhone when I’m reclined on the couch or laying in bed. This is when the strength of the touch interface and form factor really shine.