Playing Games on Your iPod

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

06 May 2007 04:17 AM

Downloading music and podcasts not enough? iTunes now offers more than a dozen games to download.

Want a little gaming with your music? Or how about a little music with your gaming? With downloadable games for the iPod, you can do both at the same time. Imagine syncing your music choice to your chosen game for a little fun diversion.

To play the games, you'll need an iPod with video. Each game is available in the iTunes store for $4.99. You simply purchase the game, download it and then sync it. iTunes automatically transfers the games into your iPod.

When playing the game, you use your click wheel to control it, which is, as my husband pointed out, just a little mini joystick in its functionality. I have heard that using the click wheel does take some getting used to, especially for the Ms Pac-Man game, in which pausing the game accidentally seems to happen frequently for new players.

There are currently 13 different video games titles to choose from, and this selection covers the classics of video gaming, such as Pac-Man and Tetris, as well as current popular web favorites, such as Bejeweled and Zuma. Apple promises to continue to add new titles, so there will always be something new to play.

The games only work with fifth generation iPods and will not work with the Nano. Here is the current line up of available games for your iPod with descriptions straight from Apple.

• iQuiz: Answer questions or create your own.
• Bejeweled: Match jewels to clear the board.
• Tetris: Rotate falling bricks to clear rows.
• Pac-Man: Clear the maze, avoid the ghosts.
• Ms. Pac-Man: Play 256 maze levels.
• Vortex: Shoot on through to the other side.
• Zuma: Slide balls of the same color together.
• Texas Hold 'Em: Practice your poker face.
• Mini Golf: Make a hole in one (or five).
• Mahjong: Arrange tiles just so.
• Cubis 2: Match cubes in colorful arrays.
• Royal Solitaire: Play 10 classic games in one.
• Sudoku: Solve the grid in a Zen setting.

What do you think? Would you play a video game on your iPod?

Mary Ann Romans writes about her family's money saving secrets in the Frugal Living Blog here at Families.com

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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