Upcoming EA Games: Battleship, Connect 4, and Monopoly Classic

EA is looking to release three classic board games in time for the holiday season: Battleship, Connect 4, Monopoly Classic.

Battleship

EA will bring a few twists to the classic game of skillful coordinate guessing. You’ll use touchscreen controls to battle your enemies in three different modes – classic, salvo, and super weapons. Not wanting to miss out on the social aspect of the game, EA has included local multiplayer (both bluetooth and Wifi).

Connect 4

While EA couldn’t quite recreate the joy of pulling the lever at the bottom of the board and watching all of the pieces crash to the ground, Connect 4 will nonetheless be a faithful recreation of the timeless game. Connect 4 will contain single player and multiplayer (local Wifi, bluetooth, and one device sharing). Single player includes classic, challenge, and advanced modes with Powerchips, Max Score, and PopOut. In addition, EA has included 25 unlockable achievements and some fancy visual effects.

Monopoly Classic

While EA has already released Monopoly: Here & Now onto the App Store, they will provide a more traditional experience with Monopoly Classic. Because the cutthroat intensity of property management doesn’t quite transfer over to single player mode, you’ll be able to play your friends on the go with local Wifi, bluetooth, and single device “pass and play” multiplayer. EA is also including some nice iPhone features such as progressive save, an accelerometer shake to role the dice, and the ability access your iPod library in-game.

Check the jump for more screenshots.

Continue reading Upcoming EA Games: Battleship, Connect 4, and Monopoly Classic »

Monday Morning App HQ

Random musings of the App Store.

Apple now allows in-app purchases in free apps

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely heard that Apple is now allowing in-app purchases in free apps. Yes, this creates many possibilities including the extinction of lite versions and new app store charts, but I think that none of these possibilities will come to fruition, for one simple reason: DLC simply won’t be widely implemented. One reason, and the reason I think developers have been loathe to implement DLC so far, is the public perception of DLC. The average app consumer is wary – perhaps rightfully so – of DLC, and automatically assumes DLC is there to rip off the customer. I think developers will even be aware of this when making free apps with DLC, as the fear of being nickeled and dimed could lead poor public perception, starting with bad iTunes reviews, which will be open to anyone who clicks the “Get App” button. In addition, I think consumers simply purchase less through in-app purchasing. Once you already have an app, that app can become boring quickly in this ADD app store, so instead of purchasing more content for that app, you are likely to impulsively buy a completely different and new one.

Rock Band released

Last night, EA mobile’s Rock Band was released onto the App Store. Sure, it’s got that EA polish, but is it really worth 10 times more than Tap Tap Revenge 3, its $.99 competitor. Early indication may be no. While Rock Band features four different instruments, they are all similarly tap-based. The gameplay is fairly unchallenging but fun, and the background graphics are very repetitive and there are no special backgrounds for songs as in TTR3. In addition, the game comes with an anemic set list of only 20 songs, compared to over 100 free songs for TTR3. DLC packs for Rock Band are scarce so far and come packaged as two songs for $.99, the same as TTR3. I think the Rock Band game itself is better than TTR3, just not ten times better.

Free ngmoco:) games!

Largely as a promotion for their Plus+ network, ngmoco:) has made three of their older games free. These are the full versions of the games, now including the excellend Plus+, and they’re all worth checking out:

This week’s upcoming app that looks freakin’ sweet:

There are a few good turn based strategy games on the iPhone, but the Battle for Wesnoth could just blow them all away. Here are a few features:

Over 200 unit types in six major factions, all with distinctive abilities, weapons and spells
Experienced units gain powerful new abilities as they advance.
Bring your battle-hardened troops with you as you fight through campaigns
Hundreds of campaign scenarios available, easily download user-made content
Day/night cycles, fog of war, racial traits
Cross-platform multiplayer

The Battle for Wesnoth has not been submitted, but you can download a free PC/Mac/Linux demo here.

This week’s sign of the apocalypse:

Ngmoco:) has recently been tweeting about, and advertising in their games, Epic Pet Wars, another dumb code-sharing text-based MMO. I thought you had high standards ngmoco:)…

App of the Week

Shrek Kart

Last week, I disappointedly reviewed Cocoto Kart Online, which simply wasn’t up to snuff. Happily, Gameloft’s Shrek Kart has provided a great karting experience. While the controls could still use some additional tuning, they aren’t nearly as awful as those found in Cocoto. Though there is no online multiplayer, the single player mode has enough content. The graphics are unbelievably crisp, the track design is good, and the Shrek license is actually used pretty well. At $4.99, it’s the best Mario Kart-esque game on the App Store.

Rock Band on the iPhone is exactly what you’d expect it to be… pretty and polished but somewhat lacking in fun. There’s only so much delight you can get out of a rhythm game on the iPhone.

Read More »

New Details of Need for Speed: Shift and NBA Live Released

Today we got some updates from EA on two highly anticipated franchise games coming to the iPhone. What we still don’t know yet are release dates for either. Though I think it’s safe to say they are trying to get them out in the next couple months in time for Christmas.

Need for Speed: Shift

The latest in this racing franchise from EA is Need for Speed: Shift. This iPhone translation looks like it will be a scaled down translation of the console game. While that’s a little disappointing, the previous in this franchise, Need For Speed Undercover [ our review ] was an absolutely excellent game on the iPhone.

Take a look at these screen shots for a look at the game. Note that I’m fairly sure that these are just mock-ups. They don’t look nearly as crisp as you’d expect for actual screen shots and there are other noticeable inconsistencies.

Unfortunately the specs read a lot like the previous version. 20 different customizable and upgradable cars (NFSU had 20 as well), 3 different racing environments, Tokyo, Chicago, and London (NFSU also had 3), 28 different events (NFSU had 20).

So, what is different?

The main thing is that there will finally be multiplayer. Unfortunately there’s no Internet multiplayer, only Wifi and Bluetooth. In addition I’m sure we’ll see the graphics quality upgraded a little. The previous one was very good for the time, but we expect more now. Take a look at the supplied stats below for more.

RIP IT UP AROUND THE WORLD
Rage on the roads of Chicago, London, and Tokyo in up to 28 Street and Pro racing events.

MATCH YOUR SKILLS AGAINST FRIENDS
Challenge friends to head to head races via Bluetooth multiplayer or WiFi.

MUSCLE OVER PERFORMANCE?
Get behind the wheels of 20 of the fastest, hottest, most powerful cars in the world and blow the doors off your competitors.

UPGRADE AND CUSTOMIZE
Take your ride to another level with Top Speed, Handling, Acceleration, and Nitrous upgrade features.

RACE FOR REWARDS
Earn points and trophies on the circuit for your Aggressiveness and Precision. Be a full-throttle Need For Speed superstar.

NBA Live

Considering the huge number of games in the App Store, over 15,000 at last count, there has yet to be a full 3D basketball game. NBA Live will change that. While we haven’t seen it yet, we’re hoping that it has the depth and great gameplay of EA’s last sports game for the iPhone, Madden 10. Take a look below for the stats, it’s looking good, though multiplayer is noticeably missing from the list.

NOTHING BUT NET. NBA LIVE by EA SPORTSTM delivers the most realistic 5-on-5 action available for iPhone® and iPod touch®!

Tip-off anytime, anywhere, and watch your game come to life in vivid 3D. Even replay your most awesome plays. It’s fun and intuitive enough for the casual gamer, but also delivers the authenticity to meet the demands of the most hardcore basketball fans.

AUTHENTIC TEAMS, REAL STARS, TRUE LEGENDS
With real NBA rosters, you can dominate the game as Dwight Howard and other NBA All-Stars. Or unlock legends and elevate your game with true Hall-of-Famers.

MULTIPLE MODES FOR EVERY KIND OF NBA ACTION
Match up all 30 NBA teams in the new 82-game Season Mode. Play a casual game in Exhibition Mode, or battle all the way to the Finals in the ultra-intense Playoff Mode.

PLAY WITH TOUCHSCREEN CONTROL
Control the game with a virtual analog stick. Use the accelerometer to accurately shoot free-throws. Touch the clip board to pick from a number of offensive plays or to select your defensive strategy.

TAKE IT TO THE RACK WITH A SOLID SOUNDTRACK
Stay in the zone with 15 music tracks from artists like Matt and Kim, Snoop Dogg and Xzibit.

COMMENTARY FROM A BROADCAST LEGEND
Hear legendary announcer Marv Albert accent the action as you rain 3s from downtown.

Mystery Mania won’t satisfy anyone who is a regular player of video game puzzles, but if you’re new to them or just want some light entertainment, then this might be an app for you. Provided you don’t mind the $3.99 price tag.

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FIFA 10 has a poor interface, a strange glitch, a high price tag, and average graphics, but delivers where it matters – gameplay, thus becoming the best soccer experience on the iPhone yet.

Read More »

Rock Band Coming To Your iDevice!

Rock Band, the granddaddy of all band games (I’m assuming that Guitar Hero is the graddaddy of only the guitar games) is finally coming to your iDevice. After seeing Tap Tap Revolution and multiple other apps not only appear, but do well in the app store, it was only a matter of time before EA jumped into the fray. My only concern was whether or not EA’s game would add to the genre, or just use the name to push to the top of the pile. After seeing some of the early screenshots, it looks quite amazing.

There are three things that stand out to me about the new iPhone version of Rock Band. First off, my favorite addition to the game is the ability to play all of the instruments that are available on the console version. Guitar, bass, and drums will all turn out to use the same standard tapping that all the other tap games use, but Rock Band is also including the vocal portion. I’m not quite sure how I feel about singing into my iPhone, but I’m sure it’ll be a blast.

My second favorite addition to the game is the live bluetooth multiplayer. I can just imagine being back in high school, riding the bus, playing Rock Band over bluetooth. I was of the generation that was plenty happy to play Tetris against each other on our TI-83’s, so this, to me is quite exciting.

On top of some of the features, the overall polish and depth of the game seems to be a bit better than most of the others in the genre. The graphics look quite amazing, the song list is superb (and can be added to through the in-game music store), and the sound is sure to be killer. Word is that Rock Band has already been submitted to the app store, and if all goes well, should be out sometime real soon.

Check after the break for the whole song list along with more screen shots.
Continue reading Rock Band Coming To Your iDevice! »

Mobigame’s EDGE Returns to the App Store!

After a long trademark dispute with Tim Langdell, Mobigame’s suberb game “EDGE” is back on the App Store. Tim Langdell is the founder of Edge Games. Instead of making games for the past 15 years, he has been making a living by suing any game with the term “edge” in the name, effectively trademarking the word. He made no exception to EDGE, and due to the pending legal action the game was removed for the App Store. The game made a brief reappearance but soon disappeared again. Things took a turn for the better, however, when EA joined the fray. Due to a lawsuit regarding EA’s “Mirror’s Edge,” EA petitioned to have the “Edge” trademark thrown out. Whether EDGE’s return is due to EA’s interference is unclear, but it certainly seems probable.

EDGE itself is a colorful puzzle/action game in which you move a colorful cube through isometric levels. The graphics are ultra-stylish, the music is killer, and the gameplay is fun and challenging. The overall experience is great and would definitely rank on a list of App Store “classics.” There has never been a better time to buy EDGE, as updates of the initial version have brought a hefty amount of new levels, and unfortunately we’re not sure how permanent EDGE’s stay will be.

Monday Morning App HQ

Random musings of the App Store.

App Store Pricing Fracas

In what is seemingly a periodic function, the app store community has been in an uproar over the pricing of a game. What was the sin? Pricing a game over the sacred $9.99 mark? Nope, it was the debut of the addictive but simple flash game Canabalt (free demo here) at a whopping $2.99. The game itself, from its great pixel artwork to the catchy in-game music to the simple but “one more time” gameplay, is actually fantastic, only lacking a global leaderboard. Well, apparently there’s some unwritten rule that if a game has a free flash counterpart, it can be priced no higher than $.99. Luckily, the average Joe App Store user was able to withdraw enough from their savings account to shell out the $2.99, as it’s ranked #78 amongst all paid games. Bargain bin App Store pricing is great for the consumer, but it sure does create some spoiled brats. Hey haters, you know what you can do if you don’t like the pricing? NOT BUY IT! But don’t go around calling for Semi Secret Software’s head.

App Store Starts to See Yearly Updates

We’re beginning to see 2010 installments of emerging App Store sports franchises, including Real Soccer 2010, Baseball Superstars 2010, and the upcoming X2 Football 2010. Not only does each of these titles bring notable improvements over the previous installment, but they are also another sign of the iPhone as a true gaming platform. Developers are clearly planning long term and are investing in the iPhone for their latest and greatest games. This trend will reach explosive new heights if EA Mobile joins in by releasing yearly updates to their sports games along with their console counterparts.

Mini Squadron Looks Insanely Fun!

This video of the upcoming “Mini Squadron” put it on my “can’t miss” list:

The game looks to have a nice amount of content with 50 unlockable planes and Wifi multiplayer, great graphics, and awesomely frantic gameplay. Look for this one near Halloween.

New Kontender?

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a competition for the best App Store Kart racer between Konami’s Krazy Kart Racing and Gameloft’s yet to be released Shrek Kart. Well now, a completely unexpected racer has entered the fray, Cocoto Kart Online. Cocoto is made by Eurocenter, the makers of such online luminaries as Dinosmash, Ace Tennis Online, and Bomber Online. Cocoto contains a generous single player mode and of course, fully functional online play over Wifi or 3G. Oh, and Cocoto has one thing neither of its competitor’s can beat: at $.99 price tag. We’ll try to review this one soon but until then here’s a video of Battle Mode:

Note: the game can also be played with accelerometer controls.

This Week’s Sign of the Apocalypse

Kyle Orton is now officially a better QB than Tony Romo. That is all. (Truth. -Ed.)

Games of the Week

Robocalypse – Mobile Mayhem

The App Store has seen a few, largely unsuccessful attempts at bringing an RTS to the App Store. Now, it finally has one worth playing, Robocalypse. Not only does Robocalyspe deliver solid RTS gameplay (though it is slightly simplified) but also a large dose of humor, nice graphics, a 17 mission long campaign mode, and online multiplayer. It’s tough to beat getting a full DS game for only $2.99.

FIFA 10 by EA SPORTS
It is with some reservations and trepidation that I name FIFA as an app of the week, but I do it because of one thing: gameplay, which makes it tentatively the best soccer (football) game on the App Store. Despite a very frustrating glitch that mixes up all your positions in manager mode and roster management menus that occasionally border on unnavigable, FIFA’s controls are pretty good – they just take some time to get used to. In addition, EA packed a massive amount of content, including a multitude of fully-licensed teams and several game modes. In addition, FIFA comes through when it comes to gameplay. Unlike X2 Football and Real Soccer, FIFA is realistic. The gameplay is very smooth with a fine attention to realistic detail. No 15-0 blowouts here; goals are hard to come by, and 1-0 results are common, making goals extremely rewarding. The game never feels “cheap,” and you only have yourself to blame for your losses. I reserve the right to change my mind on FIFA’s place in the soccer game pecking order until X2 2010 comes out, but as of now, it sits at the top.

Are you ready for some football? Madden 10, the latest in the biggest selling sports game franchise is here, and it’s here for the iPhone.

Read More »

More Madden 10 News

After posting the initial Madden screenshots yesterday, I got a message from EA with some more gooey details about the game. Assuming the graphics are smooth and the basic gameplay works, Madden 10 looks like it could be an iPhone masterpiece.

The real thing that I think is going to set this one apart is the touch control options. Madden 10 is implementing a ‘Create Your Own Play’ option, letting you hand draw hot routes for receivers for passing plays. Could you imagine being able to do this on your PS3? Also, there is an ‘Action Control Time’ option which will let you speed up and slow down time so you have the ability to make certain plays happen on the iPhone. Nothing is more annoying than needing to quickly hit something and miss because there is no tactile feedback. Now you can take your time to coordinate your play to perfection.

Along with the gameplay, Madden 10 is going to excel at depth and realism. Just like the console version, this one will have Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond, have full rosters, and will have all the stadiums. The game will also include a season mode that will have trades, free agents, and in-depth stats.

All I’m expecting to see now before launch is a gameplay video… which I’ll be sure to share with you as soon as I get.

Madden 10 Is Coming!!!

Madden launch day was a sad day for the iPhone world. Although we could all go out and drop $70 for a shiny new console game (which I’m sure ten billion people did), our beloved iPhones were sadly neglected. EA kept saying that the iPhone would get Madden, but the skeptics thought that maybe this wouldn’t be the year.

Well, I, along with the other skeptics, were wrong. Madden is coming… and I have some fantastic looking screenshots! The game will include real NFL rosters (including Brett Favre on the Vikings) and will be available for opening day weekend. As soon as I hear more, I’ll let you guys know.

Check out a couple more screenshots after the break. Enjoy!
Continue reading Madden 10 Is Coming!!! »

Rather than “addictive, stylish, and fun,” the normal words that pop into my head when thinking of Snood, the words I think of when considering EA’s abysmal port of the classic game are “baffling, inexplicable, and aggravating.” EA has simply made so many bad decisions in the making of this port that make you wonder if they ever even played their own game.

Read More »

Monday Morning App HQ

Random Musings of the App Store

More stupidity from Sony

An interesting article over at PocketGamer this week reveals some measures Sony has been taking to combat Apple’s wildly successful (but far from perfect) App Store and to make their virtual download service, the PSN, more appealing for both consumers and developers. Sony might be doing fine with consumers, as the reported top limit of 5 euros is less than the App Store imaginary limit of $9.99, so if consumers managed to stomach the outrageous price of $250 for the PSPgo, they should be pleasantly surprised with the game pricing. The question is, however, will there be any games worth buying. The upper limit of 5 euros is simply awful for developers. For any quality games that are worth buying to a consumer, the volume of sales just needed to break even is immense. This is one of the biggest problems of the App Store, but it has managed to get away with it – for now – because of the huge reach of the store – there are simply a massive amount of consumers who are willing to buy a lot of games. I can’t imagine the PSPgo will sell as many units as the iPhone and iPod Touch combined, so I can’t imagine how hard it will be for developers to turn a worthwhile profit. Just ask the Google Android – the entire Android store probably has seen less downloads than any of about 500 iPhone apps. To make matters worse though, Sony is taking huge control over the games, requiring a two week QA test and regulating release dates, further discouraging indie development. Sure, most people don’t see the iPhone in the same light for gaming as the PSP (though I could recommend you a couple of titles that might change your mind), but with the new insanely powerful iPhone 3GS and help like this from Sony, Apple might just eat away at Sony’s share of the portable gaming world.

Snood arrives in the App Store

Last night, Snood, a classic PC/Mac Bust-a-Move clone, was released by EA into the App Store. Despite some strange Facebook requirements, a quirky landscape interface (the game is played entirely in portrait view), and the fact that it’s an EA port, Snood has made it to the iPhone in all its highly addictive goodness… with online multiplayer nonetheless! Best of all, there’s not even a stupid cross-over promotional Pocket God pygmy in sight! A friendly warning: I lost many hours of productivity on this game back in the day. I’ve not spent enough time with the game (ok, basically none) to give it a recommendation, but we’ll try to have an official 148apps patent-pending review up soon (or not…I didn’t get that checked out with our editor, Chris. He might have some sort of strange anti-Snood bias).

App Store Fire Sale

It seems that in the App Store lately, everything must go! Developers have been slashing their prices to new lows, some even making their games free for a limited time. Rather than typing more, I thought I’d let our fancy boxes do the talking, so here are some notable price drops:

(Full disclaimer: I really don’t like NFL 2010)

This week’s sign of the apocalypse

The game Ricky is currently sitting at the number 33 spot in the App Store. The description tells me that if I like Super Mario Bros, then “surely I will like Ricky.” Well Ricky, the only thing I’m surly about is your game. Ricky is a blatant Mario rip-off (ported horribly I might add). The hills have eyes, the main character is an italian plumber, and oh yeah, the icon is the 1up mushroom. Really Apple, you saw no possible copyright infringement going on. It just makes you wonder how apps like this get through while quality games like iMech and A.D.D. are held up in the approval purgatory for months.

Apps of the Week

This week was a great game week, and while I was hoping Duke Nukem 3D would hold a spot on this list, unfortunately the controls are among the worst I’ve seen for a big title on the iPhone. Nevertheless, a duo of great games, one new, one old, made my list for the apps of the week.

Spider: the Secret of Bryce Manor

Spider is simply a work of art. The main gameplay, spinning webs to catch and eat bugs, is very compelling, especially with fantastic touch controls, but what makes Spider truly great is the multi-faceted story. The story is a human one that rivals many novels, but it is told through subtle clues found throughout levels. Items of seemingly little consequence can fill in a crucial missing piece. To top things off, Spider comes with many secret area to levels plus a secret room that it will take a true adventurer to unlock.

Civilization Revolution
Earlier in this article, I mentioned the addictive nature of Snood, but that is nowhere as addictive as the classic turn-based empire building game Civilization. Once I start a game of Civilization, I literally am not capable of doing anything else until I’ve finished the game. The iPhone version is slightly watered down, making it more accessible to newcomers, and it does have some interface/control issues (no performance issues over here on my iPhone 3G), but it’s still Civilization, and it’s still awesome.

That’s it for this edition of MMAHQ. Next week, I hope to have some super secret exclusive content for you all that I’ve been working (or should I say waiting) on. Enjoy your week!

App Store news Round-up for August 12th

Phil Shiller is writing back to Steve Frank about the App Store approval process issues. While we wait for Steve Jobs to return our correspondence, here’s the latest from the app store.

More Wolfenstein! The game was originally created by Id Software, ported to the iPhone by Firemint, and now published by EA. Delayed for nearly 2 months so as to not compete with with Wolfenstein 3D, the game was released yesterday at $4.99. A low initial price for an EA release.

It’s an interesting idea for a game. Take the Wolfenstein 3D game and add an RPG element to it. Early reader reviews are great. We’ll try to have a review up in the next couple days.

Plushed looks lush. Plushed, a new game from Blacksmith Games has a fantastic art style. Platformer + goth + pizza = Plushed? We’ll have to wait and see if the gameplay delivers. Take a look at the YouTube video for more. Blacksmith Games is also doing a promo where the more people that follow them on Twitter, the lower the launch price of the game will be. Expected release date is September/October.

Push, bid, push, bid. Ebay have updated their app to include push notifications for outbid alerts and watched items. You still don’t have a chance against the snipers though.

Monday Morning App HQ

Random musings of the App Store.

Retro Invasion

Retro games are appearing in the App Store in droves! Pac-Man Remix, Q*Bert Deluxe, and of course, the incredible Space Invaders Infinity Gene. All of these are updated in some way from the classic games. Q*Bert has updated graphics, Pac-Man Remix has updated graphics (though they are still not too hot on the iPhone) along with power-ups that sometimes feel gimmicky, and Space Invaders is a complete re-imagining of the classic game. Of these, the only game that really captivates me is SIIG. In my opinion, retro games are retro for a reason – frankly, they’re boring and outdated. However, the concepts are still good, and if they’re updated for modern gamers, they can turn out like SIIG. To go with these retro games, there are plenty more on the way: Snood, a classic match-3 shooting game, TAITO’s Bust-a-Move, and most importantly, Pac-Man Championship Edition. Pac-Man CE, for XBLA, is, along with SIIG, one of the best re-imaginings of a retro game I have ever played and, if the controls are changed from Remix, should translate fantastically for the iPhone.

Gameloft coming on strong (maybe)

Along with NFL 2010, Gameloft has an upcoming FPS, Sandstorm, and a GTA knockoff, Gang$tar in the works. These games are particularly of note because it seems as if Gameloft is attempting to directly compete with other developers. NFL 2010 was notably released before EA’s upcoming Madden 2010, and at a lower expected price point – $7.99 compared to $9.99. Sandstorm seems to be in line for direct competition with ngmoco’s upcoming FPS (as yet unnamed). Gang$tar looks to have a huge advantage on current App Store GTA-a-likes with a fully roam-able 3D world. If I was a betting man (ok, I am a betting man), though, I would count on the other two games losing out. If there’s two things Gameloft games have in common, with the notable exception of Castle of Magic, it’s lackluster, on-screen controls, and uninspired gameplay. Gameloft seems to put all of the genre “requirements” in their games, without doing anything truly unique to make the game their own. They seem stubborn about their controls as well, always opting for mediocre on-screen d-pads or joysticks, rather than attempting any innovation for the iPhone. NFL 2010 is a solid football game with licensing, and I’m sure Sandstorm will be a decent FPS. However, neither if these titles, probably, will be great.

Games requiring 3.0 software

I wanted to briefly address a common complaint springing up various places: games requiring 3.0 software or higher. Developers are excited to utilize 3.0 features and making their apps 2.2.1 compatible takes a lot of time, resources, and extra testing. Look, I know that the update is $10 for iPod touchers (whoops, that sounds weird), but that’s really not a lot for a major software upgrade, and if these stubborn users don’t update soon, they’re going to find themselves left out in the cold for some of the App Store’s best apps and games.

This week’s sign of the apocalypse

First Doodle Jump, now Harbor Master; the Pocket God pygmies are invading other games! It was bad enough that I had to look at those stupid pygmies while playing Pocket God, thinking I would eventually like it. But no, that wasn’t enough, now they have to ruin games that I actually play! I really want to kill a pygmy, and in a way so that they can’t be magically dropped from the sky a few seconds later.

Apps of the Week

Gomi

Last week, I previewed Kevin Calderone’s new game Gomi, mentioning the staggering amount of content. Now, the app is out, and not only is it huge, but all that content is actually worth playing! In Gomi, you clean up the world by eating pollution and the like while spitting (?) out trees and flowers. You have to eat smaller things to build your appetite, eventually building up to shopping malls and the like. The regular levels are great, the boss battles are challenging and clever, and the game is seemingly endless with 140+ levels, eight mini games, achievements, and online scoreboards. At the low price of $1.99, Gomi is a unique game and a highly recommended bargain. Expect a full review soon (sorry, I’m on vacation).

BargainBin

BargainBin is an app that allows you track other apps; creating wish lists with target prices and viewing the newest apps, updates, and price drops. BargainBin recently was updated with two major improvements: a nice UI update and a killer feature: push notifications. Now, whenever an app you’re tracking reaches your desired price, you’ll instantly receive a push notification without ever having to open the app. Finding the App Store’s best deals has never been easier!

Well, that’s it for this week, and I’m still loving writing this column! Apparently, I messed up the links for the previous articles, so commenting was impossible. This has been fixed, so hopefully this week my begging for feedback/comments will succeed!

App Store News Round-up

Google Voice Web App Inbound

Google is reportedly working on a web version of their recently rejected Google Voice application. The app will, if the rumors are true, have all of the features of the rejected native app. Though those features are still less than what the Google Voice application can do on Android phones where it can fully integrate with the dialer for the phone.
[via Apple Insider]

New Apple iPhone Ads

Apple have released a couple new TV ads. If you haven’t seen them yet, the new first ad focuses on sharing information and shows the apps Mover, Bump, and EA’s Scrabble. The second new ad, called travel highlights the apps Rick Steve’s Paris Walk, Tube Paris, and Postman from Freeverse.

Quick App Picks

First up is a new sub hunt game with an overly obvious name, Sub Hunt! This one bumps it up a couple notches with tons of power-ups for your sub. This pretty much converts the typical submarine shooter into a chaotic avoidance game. All in all, pretty good for a buck.

If you live in a busy metro area, chances are you get stuck in traffic regularly. An app was released this week that hopes to help you predict when the traffic is going to be better or worse. Inrix Traffic looks like Google Maps with it’s traffic overlay the difference is the forecast button in the upper right. Hit that and you can look at how Inrix predicts traffic will be up to an hour in advance. Too bad you can only do one hour, but it’s better than nothing at all and it’s free.

And finally, I’m not a big fan of soundboard apps. Typically they are either filled with either boring sound bites or unlicensed ones. But this one piqued my interest, iStooges. A fully licensed soundboard app with a bunch of sound clips from the Three Stooges. This app reminds me of so many afternoons after school watching old reruns of the Three Stooges.

Check back Monday, we’ll have more news for you about the iPhone and some information about an as yet unannounced huge name game to be released for the iPhone next Tuesday.

Sims 3 Theme Packs

I admit, I was a bit worried when Apple first hinted that developers would be able to add in-app purchases to their apps. I had this fear at the time that developers would take advantage of it the process, and games, especially online games, would require mafia game style add-ons to compete at higher levels. Well fortunately this hasn’t occurred yet, but as one could guess, EA is starting the in-app download trend with some additional theme packs for its ever so popular game, The Sims 3.

If I’ve learned anything from my years on Earth, it’s that have to pay my taxes, and that there will be expansion packs for Sims games. Oddly enough, this doesn’t bother me in the least. I admittedly don’t play the Sims too often, but who’s to say that some of the great games out there won’t follow suit. Would I be upset if Fieldrunners charged a buck or two for an expansion pack? No, probably not. The great thing that I’ve learned from the app store is that it’s a great example of capitalism at its finest (well, it may be a bit regulated for true capitalism). When people make good products, their apps sell… just look at Harbor Master. I’m assuming that the same will hold true for expansions and in-app add-ons.

Back to the Sims… I went on a bit of a tangent there. In the next update to The Sims 3, 6 theme packs will be available for download at prices that are yet to be determined. 5 are already set in stone by EA (Nightlife, Sci-Fi, Gothic, Medieval, University), and on the EA website, they are having a poll to choose what the 6th pack will be. Sounds cool to me.

There is yet to be a release date for this update, or the exact price of the add-ons, but I’m hoping that the date will be tomorrow and the price will be a penny. Maybe I’m a bit optimistic, but here’s hoping.

The 8 Lb. Gorilla in the Room – EA Casual iPhone Games Label Launched

EA has announced recently that they have started a new label to focus on casual iPhone games. Their first release is out now and we took a quick look.

This small group of apparently skinny-leg jean wearing hipsters will focus on creating a casual game per month for the iPhone. Their first release, Zombies & Me (App Info) was released this past weekend. The game is an interesting yet simple little game.

The idea if the game is that you are in the middle of a zombie invasion. You are tasked with protecting your grandmother who stays in her house and shouts one liners at you every once in a while. The government is bombing the zombies, you must guide them into the marked bomb targets. You do this by running around, past the house, and the zombies will be drawn away from the house and follow you. When they cross a bomb target, they will stay and wait to be destroyed. Zombies aren’t the smartest. The game ends when either you get hit by a bomb, or the house is destroyed.

The controls are simple — you just touch in the direction you want to go. This of course leads to the inevitable problem of you covering the screen with your hand so you can’t see what is happening on the screen. Tilt controls might have made this better, but yet more difficult.

The thing that’s really missing from their first release is any form of community. They have recently posted on their Twitter stream that they will add a global high score system to the game if enough people download the app. To me, this misses the mark.

For casual games to really stand out from the crowd, they need to be integrated with a social gaming platform from the start. I really think that EA/8 Lb. Gorilla should include a social gaming platform with all of their games. Perhaps they should integrate with one of the existing systems like OpenFeint or ngmoco:)’s Plus+ network. I really hope they don’t create their own system, there are already too many systems to really serve the needs of the consumer.

To release a casual game isolated from everything else on a communications device just doesn’t make any sense anymore. It’s an area where EA has lagged behind, really most of the large developers have lagged behind. Let’s hope that they get something ready in time for their second or third release.

In spite of the missing community features, not a bad first effort. From the things I’ve read about the group they have pretty loose reigns — it will be interesting to see what they come up with next.

More pics after the jump.
Continue reading The 8 Lb. Gorilla in the Room – EA Casual iPhone Games Label Launched »

It’s time to dust off your sleuthing gear, Mr. Boddy has once again met an untimely fate.

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Is this one of the full-featured games that us gamers are looking for? Maybe not quite. But it’s still one of the best games I’ve played on the iPhone so far. Get away from life and control someone elses.

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Take the helm of the USS Enterprise and destroy the enemies of the Federation in this frantic, but shallow, shoot ‘em up!

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HD Trailer for Sims 3 for iPhone Released

EA Mobile today released the high resolution trailer for Sims 3 for the iPhone. You can watch the HD trailer over at vimeo or the plain-old-def trailer below.

Sims 3 is set to be released on the iPhone on June 2nd. We’ll have more for you then.

Trivial Pursuit for the iPhone is a faithful recreation of the classic board game that sold ten kajillian copies. Fortunately for us, the difficulty has been ramped down a bit from the original, evil blue boxed version but is a bit harder than some of the more modern creations. With it’s nice game balance, new gameplay options, and inviting animation, Trivial Pursuit is a real winner.

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Need For Speed: Undercover is a groundbreaking example of how the larger developers should treat the iPhone. This game has been given very special attention to make it entirely unique to the iPhone, using the accelerometer and video playback capabilities to provide an amazing gameplay experience. Kudos to EA.

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Pandemonium is a port of an old PSone game, and it shows. It’s fun at first, but there’s nothing special in this 2.5-D platformer.

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First Look: Need For Speed Undercover Now Available

EA Mobile really likes to surprise everyone with the releases of their iPhone apps. No release dates, just bam, there they are. That happened again today with the release of one of the most hotly anticipated iPhone games, Need For Speed Undercover.

The game which has been delayed more than once, was first seen last year in early forms has finally arrived. You can grab it now via this link. It will show up in the iTunes App Store indexes after they are next refreshed.

This game had also been mentioned as a possible launch title for the rumored Premium App Store — guess this puts that rumor to rest, for now anyway. The game was released for $9.99, not the rumored $19.99 point. Pinning $9.99 as the top price point for games for the iPhone.

The game features a story mode like all of the recent Need For Speed games. Luckily all of the movies can be skipped so that you can get to the racing. And the racing, at least in our initial tests, delivers good and smooth, performance. There are multiple race types and of course multiple cars to unlock.

We’ll have a full review for you soon. But so far this is shaping up to be a pretty good racer.

For full app description and some more screen shots, check after the jump.

Continue reading First Look: Need For Speed Undercover Now Available »

Tiger Woods PGA TOUR is an excellent golf sim that would be amazing if not for a few flaws. The gameplay is quite fun and the sound is great, but the lack of WiFi multiplayer kills me in the deepest way possible. “No Tim, I don’t want to play hot-seat multiplayer with you, your hands smell like cheese… I want to play on my own phone.”

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GDC 2009 Wrap-up – iPhone Games Coming on Strong

If it’s one thing that GDC taught me it’s that the iPhone has a long way to go as a game console. It’s still a tiny little player in the whole gigantic video games world. But in the nine months since the app store launch, it has made some great strides.

For one thing, the iPhone totally dominated the Independent Games Festival Mobile awards. Not only did they will all the categories, they had most of the nominations as well. The iPhone is now, as far as most are concerned, the best mobile phone platform to develop on. As one developer put it, finally a mobile platform that doesn’t suck.

This past week we did get many clues about what 2009 will bring for iPhone games. First, this will be the year the big boys go full force after the iPhone market. EA, Chillingo, Glu, and others have announced some huge portfolios of games coming out this year.

We will also see an explosion in backend community systems, think XBox Live for your iPhone, and probably some consolidation of those services as well. Consumers aren’t best served by having multiple community systems, everyone knows that, but who will win out as the best? With GameSpy announcing they are bringing over their backend that already powers many console and desktop titles, they will likely start out in the lead. Then ngmoco announced they were opening up their platform to third party developers, another strong contender, but no release date announced. Then you have the underdogs such as OpenFeint, ByteClub, and a new contender, Agon. Then there’s also the Facebook Connect for iPhone that many systems are using. It’s not purely a gaming system, but many have adapted it. A force for sure, with Facebook having over 160 million users.

We also were fortunate to meet with some really cool developers and get a sneak peak at some of the great games coming out in the not too distant future.

Real Racing from Firemint
Release Date: Late April, 2009 at an unknown price
Without a doubt, the best we saw was Real Racing from Firemint. Real Racing is a racing game just short of a racing sim. It’s ultra-realistic and features some amazing community and asynchronous multiplayer modes. You even have the ability to publish hot laps to YouTube, automatically. The controls by default work great and are very responsive. This is one to watch for. Firemint are being close to the chest with the price on this one, but it will be released late April.

Touch Pets from ngmoco
Release Date: unknown
I’ll have to admit I was originally nonplussed on Touch Pets. But after spending some time with it I can see what the excitement it about it. For one this, this game is deep. There’s lots to do, lots of things to collect, there are missions to go on, there are achievements, tons of stuff. But above all, this game has a social aspect that could set it apart from all of the other virtual pet type games. This all ads up to a game that will be very enormously engrossing to many people, maybe even me.

Star Defense from ngmoco
Release Date: pretty soon at an unknown price
Tower Defense games are filling up the app store quickly. And many are really good. Star Defense takes a slightly different direction and adds 3D to the standard game. So instead of playing tower defense on a flat landscape, you play it on a 3D world. One of the more interesting parts of this is that, in one level, you are playing on a cube instead of a sphere. This basically divides up each level into 6 parts as you have to place defense on each of the sides since the weapons don’t seem to work around the corners of the cube. The game itself seems really well done and stable, and should be released soon. We’ll give it more playtime when it comes out and get a full review.

Star Trader: Moon Madness from HermitWorks
Release Date: very soon at $0.99
This game is an expanded version of the DopeWars genre that I’m sure everyone is familiar with. But it’s set in outerspace and uses the Quake engine to provide a 3D world where you can walk around and barter. The controls are a modified 2 location virtual touch pad as we’ve seen on other games and works well for movement and changing the angle you are viewing the world. The developers are releasing this at $0.99 and will be raising the price as they add features such as multiplayer in the future.

All in all a fantastic GDC. Had to great opportunity to speak with some amazing people. We’ll try to get full reviews of these games up as soon as they are available.

Tetris is a game with a strong following of dedicated fans and casual players alike. While EA Games has made a decent attempt at porting it to the iPhone, it falls short of its potential thanks to clunky controls and somewhat limited gameplay, which is a shame.

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