E3 Wrap Up: Robocalypse

I often wonder about iPhone gaming in its infancy. I get the feeling that developers are creating games in a bunch of different genres, feeling out which genres work, and which don’t. It’s obvious to me that platformers work fine, along with tower defense, turn based strategy, and the occasional casual game… while 3D shooters struggle due to their lack of proper controls. RTS’s are on the fence in my opinion. Part of me wants to say that they can’t be done correctly due to the small screen size, but another part of me thinks that the touch screen options are too much to pass up. I’ve seen games like Warzone Inc. implement the RTS genre on the iPhone quite nicely, but I’m still waiting for that killer app.

Ready to take on this hurdle is Vogster entertainment with their game, Robocalypse. Robocalypse is an RTS in the Warcraft 2 mold, with a good balance between lighthearted graphics and action. Written by Micah Wright and Jay Lender (an ex-writer for Spongebob), Robocalypse offers a full, 17 mission single player campaign on top of 18 multiplayer maps that can be played with 2-4 players. From what we saw of the game, it looks like an extremely funny, well executed RTS… possibly capable of outshining Command and Conquer when it arrives in the app store.

Vogster is expecting Robocalypse to launch Q3 2009.

E3 Wrap Up: Seek ‘n Spell

E3 was definitely an exciting event, but there was nothing that promoted the uniqueness of the iPhone quite like Seek ‘n Spell. Due to the lack of meeting space at E3, we decided that it would be best to take the game out to its intended play area, the great outdoors (aka, outside the convention center).

The goal of Seek ‘n Spell is to spell out a word with letters that are virtually hidden all around you. After you have found a nice, open area, the game starts by scattering a bunch of letters across your iPhone map. Using GPS technology, you run around the field in an attempt to make as many words as possible. In our attempt at a game, Jeff and I faced off in a battle to the death. The rules were simple… the first one to spell a word wins. Due to time constraints and bizarre LA rain, we were forced to play a short match. My attempt at glory was quickly thwarted by Jeff, spelling something dumb like “WIN”. Apparently trying to spell “antidisestablishmentarianism” right off the bat wasn’t a smart move. Such is life.

Although I lost, I had a blast nimbly jumping over concrete barriers to quickly grab the 25+ tiles I needed for my word (I only got 3). Apparently I’m not the only one that has had fun with the game in the last few weeks… COAP 2009 (Come Out And Play) awarded Seek ‘n Spell with the “Best Use of Technology” award, which it definitely deserves.

Be sure to check out Seek ‘n Spell in the App Store, and if you like it, join up with the Retronym team in San Fran for one of their soon to be legendary Seek ‘n Spell meetups.

Seek ’n Spell

Category: Games / Word
Released: 2009-04-22
Price: $2.99

E3 Wrap-up: Red Rocket Games Shows Little Runner, Mevo

Red Rocket Games is new to the iPhone, and their first game, Little Runner is a fun, simple casual game where you level the path of you never-stopping little runner. You do this by raising and lowering pieces of the road before the runner gets there. There are slight changes to keep things interesting with each increasing level. Take a look at the trailer here:

The music is good, and it’s a good simple little game at $0.99.

Mevo – Simplified Rhythm Game

Little Runner

Category: Games / Arcade
Released: 2009-06-09
Price: $0.99

Red Rocket also announced a new music based rhythm game, Mevo. It’s a simplified rhythm game with just left and right on screen buttons, instead of the usual four, in time to the beat of the songs. The better you are with the rhythm, the better your little guy moves.

The app should be submitted to the app store soon and looks promising as a perhaps more casual rhythm game. Screen shots are below.

The State of 148

As the Editor in Chief of 148apps.com, I feel that it is appropriate to give my thoughts, however crazy they might be, about the website, and perhaps more importantly, the wonderful world of iPhone apps.

My thoughts today are swirling around E3, the mega gaming convention in LA that I will be going to from June 2-4. It’s amazing that in only a year the app store has gone from absolutely nothing to making a major splash at international gaming conventions. Looking back at my youth, I never would’ve guessed that EA, the makers of legendary games such as System Shock and Skate or Die (remember that one!), would be showcasing games made for a phone… and that I would finally be going to E3 to play them. It’s exciting to think that soon (hopefully sooner that later) the iPhone may be seen as a legitimate gaming platform, competing with the Nintendo’s and Sega’s of the world. Later on this week, Bonnie, inspired by her recent review of Zenonia, will be finishing up an amazing piece on the state of iPhone gaming, which I believe will sum up the feelings of many iPhone owning gamers… the iPhone needs more full-length games!

With this in mind, I can’t wait to see the games that will be on display during the convention. Jeff and I will be meeting with a number of developers during the convention to get their take on the future of the platform, and I’m sure that the answers will be extremely exciting.

Also on my plate is our new forum, which we hope will become as big as the website itself. The iPhone, with its
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Here Come E3 and WWDC! Going? Let’s Meet Up!

The next few weeks are going to be exciting for the iPhone community. First up we have E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo in LA. This huge video game conference is where all of the great hardware and games get announced for the year. While the iPhone isn’t going to play a major role in this show, it will likely make a larger showing than any other mobile phone has in the past. We’ll be reporting from the show any fantastic things we come across.

The week following that, WWDC will be in San Francisco. This yearly developers conference hosted by Apple is where all the big iPhone news comes out. Or at least it has in the past. While rumors are mixed, we could see the release of the 3.0 OS, and maybe even a new iPhone or two. We’ll keep you posted.

148Apps will be a sponsor the the second iPhone Developers Union meet up at WWDC. The event will be held at Jillians in the Metreon on Monday night, June 8th at 7pm. For more information, see the @iPhoneDevUnion Twitter stream.

If you’re an iPhone developer, we’d love to meet up with you at either conference and see what you are working on. Just let us know what time is good for you. Send us an email or hit us up on Twitter.