Summertime is upon us and so is a hot new update for The Simpsons: Tapped Out. New buildings, characters, quests, and waterfront properties are now available in this summery update.
Players will also notice that the land has been expanded, with over 30 new plots of land, including areas that are next to the water for great waterfront properties. As for the characters, seaside entertainers have made their way to Springfield, including Sea Captain and Handsome Pete. Players can check out Sea Captain’s quest to find his place on dry land or out at sea.
Sitting down with Michael Marzola today, President of Run Games, we got to take a quick look at his company’s new arcade football game, Football Heroes. It’s not your typical football game, either, with some Techmo Bowl and League of Legends game mechanics thrown into the chaos.
Check out the video below for a quick look, and stay tuned here for more details and a review when the game goes live once football season starts in the real world.
We got a sneak peak at an upcoming team battle arena game, Heroes War, from com2us today at E3. Sitting down with general manager Don Lim and community manager John Lee, we got to see how this free-to-play game will work.
The company is still working on localizing the content for a US audience, but hopes to have a final game ready for you to build a team, battle with friends or in dungeons, and continually upgrade your characters to epic proportions.
Look for this one in July of this year in both the iTunes App Store and Google Play.
Check out the video below for a sneak peek at Ninja Theory’s (Devil May Cry, Enslaved: Odyssey To The West, Heavenly Sword) first game for iOS, Fightback.
Published by EA, the game is a sidescrolling beat ‘em up with all sorts of glorious visual badassery. The controls are responsive and the hero is like a tatooed mix of all the action heroes you can name, off to save his sister from the the top of the building.
It should be out this summer in the App Store on iPad.
Zuko Monsters, the game that has players capturing and battling monsters, received a monstrous update that includes Battle Arena Leagues. Players can now compete against friends and earn up to 60 different upgrades for their team of monsters. There is also a new legendary monster to unlock, along with leaderboards to see how players rank against their friends in Battle Arena. Let the battles begin!
In the sequel to PopCap’s hit lane-based defense game, Plants vs Zombies 2 takes players through three different times and places, including Ancient Egypt, The Wild West, and the Pirate Seas, bringing a whole host of new mechanics to the game, including Plant Food power ups and special destructive power buttons.
You’ll also see a whole new way of seeing your progression in the game with the big over world map, themed per time and world. THe game is looking great, and we got to play through a couple of levels of time-traveling fun.
We were able to sit with the folks behind the upcoming mobile reboot of Ultima Online today, learning more about the game and its planned release date (July, if all goes as planned). The game already soft-launched in Canada, and we hear tell that the producer on the game is playing in-game as well, so tell her hi from us when you see her.
The team has been hard at work balancing the game, making group joining a lot easier, and making sure the in-app purchases aren’t too egregious. Check out a quick video below to see the lay of the land.
Posted by Andrew Stevens on June 12th, 2013 iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
Rhapsody has launched a new app called Rhapsody Concerts, giving fans a new way to connect with live music. Rhapsody Concerts lets users find nearby concerts and buy tickets from within the app. Not sure who one of the bands is that’s playing in your city? Log-in to your Rhapsody account and listen to all their music.
Fans can use a band tracking and concert discovery tool, along with concert calendars for every venue, so that they always know what’s going on with the bands they love. Sounds rockin’!
We got a chance to take a look at off of the 5 story arcs included in the Walking Dead DLC to be released next month, 400 Days. The expansion to season one of The Walking Dead contains the stories of 5 new characters taking place during the first 400 days of the zombie apocalypse. The setting is in and around a truck stop in Georgia near where the events of season one take place.
Though they can be played in any order, the paths of the 5 stories overlap and intermingle in ways that will be both apparent and subtle. Once the story of all five paths is complete, it will tie in to season one and give a good indication of where season two will take us.
The Walking Dead 400 Days will be released to the App Store as a $4.99 IAP in July.
Today at the EA event, we got to see a slick new game that’s part music creation, part social free-to-play game, part music mashup engine. Called Zya, it lets you pick beats, bass lines, and sing melodies, choosing from a wide variety of professional sounds and performances from all different types of music, including a bunch that you’ve heard on the radio recently.
Bloodmasque, a new vampire-themed action RPG, was just announced by Square Enix and will be available this summer on iOS devices. Players will use their hunting skills to track down vampires and stop their rule of 19th century Paris. As shown in the trailer below, the game adds character customization that lets players take pictures of themselves to add to their character, giving their faces a natural fit on a vampire hunter. Bring it on, vampires!
We met with Thomas Konkol today, an indie developer who runs Imminent Games. Drip Drip, originally released on the Mac App Store, is coming to the iPad within the next few months. The game looks great, and the touch-screen really seems to be a great fit for this rain-management game.
With the recent release of Fighting Fantasy: The Forest of Doom, it seemed like the perfect time to take a look at our favourite four Adventure Game Book Apps. The Forest of Doom isn’t included here, but consider it a bonus 5th, representing just how great all the Fighting Fantasy conversions are. The Adventure Game Book genre is a strong one on the App Store, so it’s been a tough battle narrowing things down!
Sorcery!
Only part one of four has been released so far, but Sorcery! is a great conversion of the much loved series by Steve Jackson. There are nearly 50 spells to learn, plenty of decisions to make and a gripping story throughout. The combat might take a moment or two to click, deviating from typical dice throwing methods, but it all adds to the already beautiful visuals. It’s a quite captivating tale.
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2013-05-02 :: Category: Games
Trial of the Clone
One of two titles featuring here from, unofficial App Store Kings of the genre, Tin Man Games: Trial of the Clone is a rare thing in the gaming world: a genuinely funny title. Written by Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal creator, Zach Weinersmith, and including the voice of Wil Wheaton, the artistic pedigree is as strong as the content. Telling the story of a clone making its way in a futuristic world, it’s an unique tale that is ideal to play again and again, seeking out new endings.
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2013-04-16 :: Category: Books
Underground Kingdom
Less focused on combat than the others, Underground Kingdom is the re-imagining of the first Choose Your Own Adventure book, a series popular in the 1970s and 1980s. 23 different endings are available to find, as players explore an alien world in this attractive storybook style app. The artwork is particularly appealing and while it’s a shorter read than some of the others here, it’s an ideal way to remember a classic series.
iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2013-01-15 :: Category: Books
Judge Dredd: Countdown Sector 106
It was a close run thing between this and one of the Fighting Fantasy titles, but the Judge has just about inched ahead. Understandably for such a violent theme, there’s plenty of dice rolling based combat here, alongside appropriate visuals capturing the spirit of Judge Dredd well. What makes it stand out all the more, however, is the record sheets that come with each perp either killed or arrested. There’s always that urge to play another game, just to try to fill the database. Adventure fans, as well as comic book fans, will love this.
When Deus Ex: The Fall was announced as a mobile title, the reaction could be clearly delineated into two camps: mobile gamers intrigued by this deep franchise making its way to mobile, and by ‘core’ gamers who were outraged that a new Deus Ex game wouldn’t be coming to consoles and PC. As if it had to. As if they had a right to it. As if it was somehow a lesser product for being a mobile game.
Make no mistake, mobile gaming is still not fully accepted by gamers. It’s a big deal, and those who have had fun with the countless number of creative titles of various scales from all walks of life will know that a fun game is a fun game no matter what platform it’s on. But there’s still a mindset that mobile gaming is still a lesser form of gaming, and the reaction to Deus Ex: The Fall exposes this ugly truth.
But what is it about this game that makes people so hostile to the very idea of mobile gamers getting a console-quality title on the go? Was it a presumption that since a new Deus Ex title was announced, it had to be for consoles? Still, the disappointment seemed especially amplified in this circumstance. It wasn’t just the garden-variety internet trolls who compalin loudly, though: it was high-profile outlets like IGN and even Penny Arcade Report were disappointed. PAR strives for a higher class of gaming coverage, so this still seems uncharacteristic of them.
What IGN’s announcement article said before it was changed.
IGN’s staffer who wrote the subheadline disparaging mobile, a particular insult to IGN’s own mobile coverage, which has been running since back in the days of flip phones. The mobile editor actually changed the headline a day later. Still, whlie they may have a section dedicated to mobile coverage, there’s still clearly a mindset that it’s something negative.
Despite all the great experiences on mobile devices, in genres both familiar and new, still there is disrespect. is just unfair. The people that make these games are gamers, often long-time ones. I’ve spoken to many of them. The App Store has provided new opportunities that just weren’t there before. I write about mobile games, but I’ve been a gamer for almost my whole life. Mobile games are legitimate games. That the games are using new interfaces doesn’t make them any less so.
The irony is that a game like Deus Ex: The Fall is exactly what will legitimize the platform: this is a deep game that’s being released for touchscreen devices. It’s not perfect – it uses the flawed dual virtual stick control method along with touchscreen interface elements, but everything about the game sounds like it will live up to what the series has been known for, just in a smaller, more mobile-friendly package. This promises to be a legitimate Deus Ex experience that can be played while waiting for the bus.
And while this may be coming a bit early, mobile gaming getting the ‘legitimacy’ of controllers and TV gaming is not far away. Apple just approved a controller standard, and there’s million of AirPlay-compatible Apple TV devices. On the Android side, where gamepads are already supported, consoles are already making their way out. There’s Ouya, GameStick, GamePop, and a million more.
Apple’s reference specification for iOS 7 gamepads. Will this be good enough for games like Deus Ex: The Fall for the skeptical? (via Pocket Gamer)
Because if just the presence of Deus Ex on mobile isn’t enough, what will be for those who still disrespect mobile?
So for the gamers who still disparage mobile, I say this: give it a chance. Don’t be mad that the new Deus Ex is going to be on mobile. Be glad that a new version is coming out, and that a wider audience will be able to experience it. And give mobile gaming a fair shake. It’s not all Candy Crush Saga; there are a lot of fun experiences out there in pretty much every genre under the sun. Games are games. Come enjoy these, and let go of your hate!
While we didn’t get a chance to sit down with anyone from Square Enix, we did get to see a couple of cool games coming to the iPad.
Deus Ex: The Fall, looks like a full-on console-like game set in the Cyberpunk Deus Ex universe, with some gorgeous visuals. Check it out:
BloodMasque looks a lot like a Final Fantasy-style JRPG, only it seems to be coming to the App Store for the iPad. Look at some of this surprising footage below:
