My latest past time is playing online chess on my iPod Touch. Chess with Friends is a free game created for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The way chess is played at Chess with Friends is not the traditional method where you finish the game over a few hours if not less.

Chess with Friends is a type of correspondence chess where the game is played with friends online or random opponents with an iPhone or iPod Touch and wifi connection. A game can last from a few hours to a few days or even weeks.

Here is how Chess with Friends work. First I download and install Chess with Friends on my iPod Touch or iPhone. Then I create a standard account but Chess with Friends will ask you for your mobile no. You can decline giving out your mobile no. if you do not wish to. It is optional. If you decide otherwise, Chess with Friends will allow opponents to contact you on your mobile. In a way, Chess with Friends is sort of a social network for chess enthusiasts.

After you have created an account, you login and you can start playing chess. You can choose a friend from your contact list, search for a friend using their username, let the computer select a random opponent for you or stick to a local game with “Pass and Play”. I tried Pass and Play the first time and the problem with Pass and Play is you need a friend in the same location to play chess with. You make one move, pass the iPhone/iPod Touch to your friend to make the next move, then you repeat the sequence.

Since I didn’t know anyone in my contact list who are interested in Chess with Friends and couldn’t think of any username to search for, I tried the Random opponent. With random opponent, you wait for the computer to find you a random player who is also waiting to play chess. This can some times take more than a few minutes. Once a random opponent is found, you get on with the game. With this mode of play, you or your opponent can make a move then get on with whatever you want to do and then go back and make another move a few minutes later, a day later, a week later or longer. So this means you will could be playing the game for as long as it takes.

I started a game last evening and played less than 5 moves then went on to watch American Idol then played another couple of moves and went to bed. I resumed playing chess with my random opponent an hour ago. While I was out this morning, I started another game with another random opponent and we are still playing the game. Chess with Friends allow you to create multiple games and you can play more than one game with different opponents. As you are playing the game, you can also chat (type-chat) with your random opponent.

I think Chess with Friends can be very addictive. Imagine waiting for time to pass in the airport and you are thinking what you should do. You can play Chess with Friends or have a chat with your random opponent about anything while making a few chess moves. If you lose your wifi connection, you can pick up the game when you arrive at your destination. At the same time you are exercising your brain since generally we only use around 10% of our brain at most times.

So anyone of you out there who are looking for a chess opponent, search for ashchuan and let’s see how long it will take to finish a game of chess.

I’ve been going through PinkyArcade.com’s resource of Flash games and tried a few. Some games were mediocre. Didn’t excite me for more than a few minutes. Then I discovered ShortGun Orc. Try it. Its fun.

Shotgun Orc

At the end of your play session, let me know your highest score

Here is a way to keep your brain up to speed. It can get quite addictive. Try it before and after your cup of coffee in the morning and see the difference. It requires good hand and eye coordination.

I decided to write this post after thinking a lot about computer and console games. I haven’t played any RPG games in at least two years now. I own a Playstation 2 and my favourite RPG game of all time is Final Fantasy. I have not bought myself a Playstation 3 and I am putting it off because I will have to get a hi-def television otherwise I will not be able to enjoy the Blu-Ray movies on the Playstation 3. I am also keen on getting a Wii but these days I hardly have time to enjoy playing console games like before and I enjoy to spend more time outdoors…

When I was growing up I played quite a lot of computer games. Not many people had computers at that time (well at least where I grew up) and I considered myself lucky to own one. I didn’t own a game console then. I remember my cousins owning Commodore and Nintendo game consoles. Instead I had an Apple IIe and a PC. Some of my favourite retro games were:

Aztec on Apple IIe
Donkey Kong on Apple IIe
Space Invaders on PC
Pacman on PC
Street Fighter in Arcades
Then there is the all time favourite – Tetris

Here is something interesting that you shouldn’t miss – Watch the Original Human TETRIS Performance by Guillaume Reymond

Portable handheld game console – The Game & Watch
Then somewhere during my student years, Game & Watch became a big hit and every kid on the block had one. I remember I enjoyed playing the parachute game on the Game & Watch. We would finish school and rush off to play Game & Watch. Since not all of us owned a Game & Watch, we had to take turns to play. Those were the days. We learnt to compromise!

Did you play any of the retro games and which were your favourite?

I read about Wii’s virtual pee game from thinkgeek website. It is a whacky creation from Japan. You play the game by strapping on the Wii remote which looks like a strap on penis.

Then you try and urinate into toilet bowls. Sometimes a cat will appear and if you urinate on the cat, you get extra points. It is a bizarre game but it is popular in Japan.

Watch a demo video on how the Virtual Pee game works.

Here is a video about Atari, the company who created the Atari gaming console and popularized games like Pong and Space Invaders in the 1980s. The video tells how the company achieved success and how it fell from its glory.

Gaming consoles have come a long way since the days of Atari…

Welcome to another exciting year of technology development. I am excited and I hope to dedicate more time in 2008 to build this blog and other areas of this site. Since this is my first post this year, I wish to extend my warmest wishes to all readers.Let’s make 2008 another great year.

Rumour has it that Sony will allow Skype to run on their PSP platform. Skype is an voice-over-IP program that allows internet users to call and chat with friends and family. Sony has not made any press release yet but it has been mentioned on several websites. If you have a PSP, running Skype on your portable game station is something to look forward to.

I read that Nintendo is losing out on $1 billion with the current shortage of Wii game station this holiday season.

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As the iPhone fan base and user base continue to grow, so are iPhone applications. Have you wondered what type of applications iPhone users are installing on their gadget? The top 10 iPhone applications found on Apple’s website are Google Search, games and Mobile Magazine Newstand.

Here is the list of the top 10 applications on Apple’s website (this is true at the time I am writing this) :

1. Google Search
2. Frenzic
3. iPunchOut!
4. Google Maps for iPod Touch
5. iDuckHunk
6. Connect4 touch
7. The Zinio Mobile Newsstand
8. Finger Scan
9. MindDojo
10. SMASH!

I am not suprise that games are popular with iPhone users. The bigger screen and user interface are suitable for game playing. Many iPhone users were/are also iPod users and these users like entertainment and interactivity. If you look back on the development of iPod, you know it started out as a portable music player, then it evolved into a music and video player, now iPhone provides telecommunication, file sharing, sound, visual, internet and gaming experience to users whose interests are already in entertainment. Even social networks like Facebook provides connectivity to an iPhone Facebook site.

If iPhone users are to stick with their gadget it has to have new and fresh excitement. What better way but to fuel it with exciting games. Actually I am looking forward to seeing MMORPG type games made available on the iPhone in the near future. Would it be possible? I would say yes but may not be be on this generation of iPhone. It all depends on the capability of the iPhones’s graphic processor.

I read that Microsoft is actively taking the step in encouring social networking amongst gamers by releasing an update in December that will allow online players to engage with other online players who are not in their friends list.

The release will update the Xbox 360 Dashboard and allow online players to browse the friends of their friends and add them as contacts but Microsoft gives you the option to either open up or block access to your friends list. My question to Microsoft is Microsoft encouraging the sharing of gamers information as part of their in-game advertising strategy?