Photos will obviously look great on the new iPad, but more apps are coming out daily that have been updated to take advantage of that eye-candy display.
One of the first apps I downloaded when I got my iPhone 4 was Wild West Pinball, which had be updated for the smaller Retina Display. On the iPad 2 Pinball HD took advantage of the larger screen. Now the latest version takes advantage of the iPad 3’s larger Retina Display, and the game is drop-dead beautiful.
Free Wild West Pinball in HD. Sweet!
This is an app no iPad should be without, even if you hate pinball. You get the default Wild West Pinball table for free, and you can buy other tables via in-app purchase for US$0.99. Even if you never bother with the other tables, this app will impress you.
In landscape mode the view will follow the ball as it zips around from paddle to bumper. In portrait mode you see the whole table at once, as you might in an arcade.
Tap either side of the screen to flip the paddles. Jiggle the iPad to nudge the table and rack up more points. When you tilt you iPad to the left or right the graphics tilt slightly in that direction, giving you a 3-D effect to is stunning.
I love the ball physics as well, which is very realistic and very fast. If you want to show off your new iPad this is the app for you.
Another game that will impress you is Dark Meadow, a moody gothic themed adventure game where you get to explore an abandoned institute and figure out what happened in that dismal place.
Dark Meadow is HD creepy
The game uses the Unreal graphic engine, the same one that powers the iOS hit, Infinity Blade. In fact, if you’ve played Infinity Blade you’ll be comfortable with the interface in Dark Meadow. The fighting system, where you dodge and attack by tapping and swiping, is similar with the addition of being able to shoot at objects.
As in Infinity Blade, random bags of cash can be found by looking around as you travel from hotspot to hotspot. There are also clues in the form of newspaper clippings and documents that you pick up and examine.
The scene is deliciously dark and there are details everywhere to look at.
The one thing about Infinity Blade that I never care for was that we can’t move about the environment freely. That same is true in Dark Meadow, which lets to look everywhere and if you tap on object within reach you can interact with them, but I would gladly sacrifice some graphical detail for more freedom of movement.
Even so, this game looks amazing on an iPad 3. Download it and grab a set of headphones.
All play and no work makes Jack a poor boy. This last app may help Jack, or you, with the task of capturing and sharing your ideas.
Paper is an app that is ideal for the iPad 3. While there are other apps that let you scribble out your thoughts on the screen for storing and sharing, Paper does so beautifully. You create a new journal to store your notes in, then open a page and start writing or drawing your ideas.
A default journal in Paper
The free app provides a virtual pen by default and you can buy other devices to expand the means you can express your ideas.
Even when scribbling with your finger the results looks fantastic. The pen’s ink look realistic and seems to respond to pressure, though the iPad’s screen is not pressure sensitive. Scratching out your ideas never looked so good.
The only thing I’m not a fan of is Paper can’t handle a palm or wrist on the screen while you write. Without a steadied hand most people’s writing (my) look chicken scratch.
Even so, Paper is an app worth having.
That’s a wrap for this week. More free iPad 3 adapted apps below with direct links.
