Galaga Remix was created by Namco, and it is a brilliant remake of the original arcade game. Galaga Remix includes an updated version as well as the original 1981 Galaga. The old version of the game does allow you to reclaim a captured ship so you can have double the firepower with dual ships like in the old arcade game, however this app really shines with the updated version. The new Galaga’s graphics are much easier on the eyes, and includes new boss battles, multiple upgrades for your ship, and plenty of levels.

The rest of the review is after the break.

One feature from the old Galaga was to save a ship if it got captured, which then would give you a dual fighter, the updated Galaga takes that idea and runs with it. If your ship is captured by one of 3 different types of enemies, once you free your ship, it will give you a new ability, a different one based on which enemy captured you. You can upgrade in three different ways, a more powerful attack, a spread shot, or faster shooting. Each one of these can stack twice, or with one other ability. So, you can get yourself a fast shooting spread attack, or stack two power attacks to make a devastating super cannon. This allows you to create a total of 9 ships (3 basic upgraded ships, and 6 stacked upgraded ships).

The game gives you several different methods in order to control your ship, either with arrow buttons, a slider, or you can use the built-in accelerometers. However, due to the portrait setup of the classic Galaga, the controls are a bit harder to use due to their small size. For the updated version, since it is in landscape, the controls are much easier to use.

The only thing I could complain about is that it never is quite clear which monsters will kamikaze into you, or if they will change direction at the last moment and avoid a collision. This does keep it more true to the original, but Namco has shown they can take an old concept and make it much better, so it would be nice if they would give you a warning when you are about to get rammed by one of those buggers. Other than that, it would be nice to have some more levels, the game comes with a little over 30, but the more the merrier.

Great visuals, a good variety of gameplay, and 30+ stages, Galaga Remix is available at $5.99, so go grab it from the App Store here.

Will we be clicking Subscribe anytime soon?

This past Tuesday, a report from Financial Times cited internal sources from within Apple claiming that the company is considering the option of subscription with a purchase of new hardware for the future. Similar to Nokia’s recent “Comes with Music”, a bundling of a one year subscription to their music store rolled into either hardware or service charges, thus appearing to the consumer as free. Theoretically, new iPod Touch or iPhone users could opt for this service for a premium charge- more likely free to iPhone purchasers and a fee for those who buy the iPod Touch. The idea would not only entice customers to use Apple’s iTunes but keep them with the Fair-Play DRM.

Now, this could be possible, but considering Jobs’ stance on subscription, it is probably unlikely. In April 2003, Apple introduced the iTunes Music Store, offering a pay-as-you go model- even allowing you to buy single tracks off an album. Steve Jobs has always been adamant against the subscription model. In the December 2003 issue of Rolling Stone, Jobs said:

“The subscription model of buying music is bankrupt. I think you could make available the Second Coming in a subscription model and it might not be successful.”

While Jobs sometimes goes back on statements similar to these, besides the movie rentals, he has remained fairly consistent with the pay-as-you-go model in the 5 years since the introduction of the iTunes Store. With over 4 billion songs sold to date, the iTunes Store accounts for more than 70% of all digital music sales worldwide.

Even beyond the large success of the iTunes Store, while the Unlimited iTunes Music model might not be a bad idea both for Apple and iTunes, it will not happen- at least not in the near future. Until we see a successful subscription model come out, or even the success of the Nokia “Comes with Music” promotion, we can rest assured that Jobs and Co will remain selling tracks to own for years to come. Scratch this one off your rumor list.

Last week Trent Reznor released a collection of instrumental tracks independently, in a surprise move even his fans couldn’t anticipate. The collection, called Ghosts I-IV, was done in a ten week period last fall, produced mostly by himself and a few of his friends. The album’s first 9 tracks can be downloaded on Bittorrent officially for free, while users can also choose to download just the music and a 40 page PDF for $5. If listeners really want a physical product, they can pay $10 for two CDs, $75 for a deluxe edition, or $300 for a limited edition with vinyl, CDs, and even a data DVD of all the multitracks.

Astoundingly, the download site was hit with so many requests that it had to be shutdown for several hours so it could handle all the traffic. Thankfully for some, the album was still available on Amazon, where this author was happily able to download 36 high quality tracks for the very low price of $5. Most people would see this as just an attempt to copy Radiohead and gain free publicity; however, by looking deeper into the way the idea was executed, it is clear that Trent Reznor takes it one step, if not three steps, into the future of the music industry.

Trent had tried doing it the Radiohead way, and learned the flaws of it. He had already released an album independently with Saul Williams online, where users could download the album for free, or choose to pay $5 to support the artist. Now we all know Radiohead pioneered this idea of giving potential buyers a choice in whether the music actually is worth paying for, except they were a little crazy. They had the money to give away all of their songs if they needed to, and so could let people name their own price, unless of course they wanted to pay over $100 for it on vinyl. In addition, they came out with the record in the traditional way January 1st, through a record label. In an interview with Triple J radio in Australia, Trent describes why Radiohead did not necessarily dive head-first into the independent digital music realm:

“What they did right? They surprised the world with a new record and it was available digitally first. What they did wrong? By making it such a low quality thing, not even including artwork and including things they’ve even said themselves say the proper way to get this record is on a CD and that’s coming out in a few months, and to me that feels insincere. It relies upon the fact it was, you know, quote en quote “first” and it takes the headlines with it.”

Nine Inch Nails has created a model that can actually work for mid-range level bands, which can affect the music industry much more than a stunt like Radiohead’s. Here are what I think are the key details of this release:

1. Releasing free tracks officially on Bittorrent – One of the most revolutionary moves, especially because the site they are posted on, thepiratebay.org, is right now under fire from the Swedish government who, among others like the RIAA, want it shut down. This move was bold, and really accepts that Bittorrent is an incredible tool to distribute massive files to millions of users, yet also is a place to discover new things. We all know that Bittorrent is a haven for illegal music, movies, and software, but so far the RIAA’s tactics don’t seem to be working. By offering some tracks for free, Trent Reznor uses the service as a sort of preview so that if people like the sampling, they can buy the whole album.

2. All-encompassing price points – By offering his music in a full range of formats, it gives the buyers so much more choice, which is all they really want in this age of customization. For me, it was so easy to just download the album and 40-page PDF for $5. Being a college student, price is important to me, but I still want good quality. I like the high bit-rate, and I know that I’m not missing something because I’m so cheap. On the other hand, it’s great that people have the choice to buy the high-end vinyl, which comes with a whole book of art and an entire DVD of the multi-track files. That alone makes the high end version for anyone who has the money and records music on their own. Being a musician myself, I would love to have the multi-tracks so I could really give the tracks a good remix, especially in this case, where the tracks are instrumental and some are just begging for vocals.

3. Putting it out under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license – Most people probably don’t even understand what this means, but it’s one of the most surprising things about this whole release. This license not only lets users remix the album, it allows them to “copy, distribute, display, and perform” it, as long as you don’t make money off it, and Nine Inch Nails is credited. This lets me download the album legally, then give it to all my friends for free, without breaking the law. I’d say that’s pretty cool, yet I’m sure people realize that this means Nine Inch Nails really risked having pretty much all the music itself pirated. Nine Inch Nails is prominent enough of a band to pull something like this off, however small bands probably should think twice about applying the same sort of license to their own work.

All in all, Trent Reznor is certainly making a working example of himself with this release.  Even though the idea of limited run CDs and vinyl while leaving the distribution to pirating is not that new(bands like jesu and boris have been very successful at just that), giving the buyer better choices is. It changes the game from “pay this price or steal” to “assess your finances and pay accordingly,” which is good news for everyone. And from the looks of it, people like the idea.

Finally, the RIAA is proposing an ISP tax, ironically almost the same as the one that Trent Reznor talked about two months ago. Does this mean we may be just paying subscription for music from now on? Probably not, because the last thing ISPs probably want to do is restrict their users. So where could the music industry be going in the Digital Age? At least for now, independent distribution is the way to go, and Trent Reznor is the first to usher in this new, innovative business model.

Since its induction on April 28th, 2003, the iTunes Store has been the internet’s most popular digital content source (that is, legal source). Yearly selling over 3 billion songs, not to mention millions of television shows, music videos, and movies, the iTunes Store easily holds the lion’s share of the market and has set the standard for digital media stores today.

Now, as the store is approaching its 5th birthday, it appears to be setting up for failure. Rivals are stepping up competition and, worse, NBC-Universal has pulled out of TV sales for the September, 2007 season. They provided 30% of all shows sold on the iTunes Store! While the store can probably sustain the loss, it can never help to lose content.

With any more major losses, the store could soon see a drop in market share if Apple doesn’t change something soon. The problem is threefold — keeping content providers happy, maintaining consumer spending, and covering expenses. From the public standpoint, Apple’s behavior hasn’t changed, but this is a turning point and could become detrimental to the iTunes Store and eventually the iPod. If Apple can’t keep its providers happy, the content will eventually disappear — and so will the consumers, who will look elsewhere for their legal content, including illegal sources. Apple must act now — before it becomes too late.

Competitors are arising, such as the newAmazons MP3 Music service (beta), which offers DRM-free MP3s at 256 kbps at variable pricing. Starting in September 2007, tracks on Amazon MP3 are priced at 89¢ and 99¢, tempting customers with a potential edge over Apple’s 99¢-per-track standard. It also offers stiff competition in compatibility, as the iTunes Store exclusively uses the AAC format — which is anything but the universal standard MP3 has become.

The iTunes Store has an incredible market share — 70 percent! It also has a tremendous collection of content — over 6 million songs, 20,000 audiobooks, 10,000 music videos, 500 movies, and 350 TV shows. But if Apple continues to sell on principles from 2003, they probably will no longer remain the market leader. Consumers will seek more diverse content, open formats and lower pricing. Apple can only maintain its market share by making changes — now. With tweaks to the iTunes Store like innovative pricing schemes, open formats for media, and the option to rent movies and TV shows, Apple can only make everyone happier.