“Spore: Origins” is unevolved, uninspired, and boring. More of the same, which wasn’t a lot to begin with!

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Games like NFS Shift are why the iPhone should be taken seriously as a gaming device.

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Madden 10 Updated for Playoffs, Predicts Future

The big game publishers such as Electronic Arts and Gameloft have a reputation, deserved or not, of rarely updating their titles. EA’s Madden NFL 10 definitely doesn’t fall into this category, as it just received its fourth update since being released in September. As far as updates go, this is a good one, and it has a particularly timely addition. You’ll see what I mean…

First off, a Hard mode been added for those who’ve mastered the game. The difficulty can be toggled between Normal or Hard via the Options screen.

Another addition is the ability to save a multi-player game. If you’re bluetooth session with a friend gets interrupted, you can save and resume at a later point.

The final addition is the ability to download a special Playoff Mode, FREE of charge. This mode features the 12 teams that are currently battling it out in the 2009 NFL playoffs, and can be installed via the in-game Madden Store. You can select one of the 12 teams, and then play your way through the playoffs from the official Wild Card match-ups to the Super-Bowl.

Playoff Mode also conveniently gives you the ability to simulate up to a selected week of the playoffs. We decided to put Madden 10 to the test, Jimmy the Greek style, by simulating this weekend’s games. The screenshot below shows the predicted winners…

So, what do you think? Will Philip Rivers get out-dueled by the inexperienced Mark Sanchez? Will the Ravens defense come up short against the well-rested Colts? Will Brett Favre deny the Cowboys their first road playoff win since 1993? And will Kurt Warner stave off retirement for one more week? Or is Madden 10 just full of you-know-what…

First Look: Word Crasher. Dropping January 11th.

Having worked 12 years in the gaming industry, working as a software engineer and senior programmer with major gaming outfits such as EA and RockStar Games, Edinburgh-based Kevin Ng has worked on and helped develop a slew of well-known console titles which we will most likely be familiar with or have played at some point in our lives; including the likes of: “Skate” for Xbox 360, “Bully” for PS2 and “Starlancer” for PC and Dreamcast. Leaving that life behind though (for the most part) Kevin is now going solo, becoming an independent developer specifically targeting the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. He was kind enough to give me a quick heads up on his debut iPhone title, and I even scored myself a pre-release promo copy to take a look at .. (Cheers, Kevin!).

Dropping January 11th, Word Crasher is a well-designed, graphically exciting word game. Playing through two modes; Marathon and Flood Panic the aim of the game is to create words from the letter chips that fall from above – but don’t make the mistake of picturing this as your normal every-day word puzzle. Its much more dynamic. Usually with these types of games we see a rigid setup which involves some kind of grid-like area, and you having to draw out or follow a certain path in order to create a word. Word Crasher throws that rule book away, adding it’s own pretty unique twist to it’s gameplay.

The game is set out in a ‘tank-like’ environment. With fairly straight forward gameplay, at the start of each level a number of letter ‘chips’ fall to the ground, and every few seconds or so after that, another letter chip will be added into the mix. Unlike other word puzzles of it’s genre, in Word Crasher you’re able to make a word from any of the letters on screen, regardless of their current position or proximity to others letters on screen. Almost psychedelic in it’s approach, the game has a sort of modern retro feel to it. Tapping letters on the board will see a faint colorful neon-like glow surround them. As you select various letters to create a word, they appear at the bottom of the screen allowing you to see just what you’ve selected and whether it actually does make sense (unlike my attempt – seen right!). The games AI then lets you know if the word exists by lighting up either the ‘tick’ symbol (bottom right), or cross symbol (bottom left).

The game’s “Flood Panic” mode injects even more challenge, introducing a rising water level which creates both a frenzied-type gameplay experience and a race against the clock. Having spent some time with the game, my first impressions are that this is one polished, well-designed and thought out title.

Fully supported by Open Feint, Word Crasher is reportedly set to make it’s debut on January 11th at the introductory price of $0.99 .. returning to $1.99 afterward. Also, while you’re at it, be sure to checkout the game’s official site at wordcrasher.com.

EA Update Big Hits with Multiplayer

EA have released updates for three of their largest games that give them local multiplayer capabilities.

Madden 10, Tiger Woods, and Command and Conquer have gotten updates in the recent days that give them local multiplayer capabilities and EA have done it right.

For example, when playing Tiger Woods, you will actually be watching your opponent live as they play. You see them swing and the travel of their ball live you your screen just as they do on their screen. Tiger Woods supports both Bluetooth and Wifi local multiplayer and all courses are available to play.

For Madden, you each choose your teams and battle it out over a game, each picking their plays and playing in real time. Madden only supports Bluetooth multiplayer.

And for Command and Conquer, each command factions on the game map at the same time. Clashing as each team seeks to expand their territory. C&C works with both Wifi and Bluetooth for local multiplayer.

While we’d love to see large scale global multiplayer in these games, this is a first step and a great step for big fans of these games.

Hands-on with Need for Speed: Shift, The Simpsons Arcade, and Spore Creatures from EA

I had the chance today to take a quick look at three upcoming games from EA. Some of them are hotly anticipated, another we hadn’t even heard about before today.

Need for Speed: Shift

This has to be one of the most anticipated games of the season. Well at least for Chris, our editor. He shut himself in a small room with nothing but red bull and Cheetoes and played Need for Speed: Undercover until his thumbs stopped working. I think he’s going to be out of touch for weeks when he get ahold of Need for Speed: Shift.

This game looks fantastic. While the original specs and screens we saw were less than inspiring. But now that the game is done and real, it’s fantastic. Especially so if you have a 3GS as it has some special graphic taking advantage of the better graphics processor on that device.

Shift has everything you expect in a Need for Speed game. There’s multiple events/tracks, multiple game methods, multiple upgradable cars, etc. The different events and cars are, of course, unlockable as you progress through the career mode.

One big feature that Shift has that the previous Need for Speed didn’t have is multiplayer. While it’s only local and 2 player with Bluetooth and 4 player with Wifi, there are 6 different game methods.

Here are a few more images to hold you over. Need for Speed: Shift will be out soon.

Spore: Creatures

EA announced Spore: Creatures for the iPhone a few months ago. But, they were quiet about it after that. Well, until now. While I don’t really think that Spore: Creatures is much different than Spore: Origins, it does take everything up a few notches. There’s just more of everything as this game is meant to pick up where Origins ended.

More creature customization options. Lots more. I’ve been told there are well over a billion different possibilities from the dozens of creature parts, colors, and abilities that you can add.

Included in the game itself are 4 different and distinct game play zones. Each zone has 5 different levels to travel through while evolving your little Spore.

The one thing that is really different with the game play over the previous Spore game is that ability to either fight or socialize. This can change the way the game progresses and how your creature evolves.

Here are a couple more pictures, Spore: Creatures should be out in January.

The Simpsons Arcade

This one came out of left field. The Simpsons Arcade is an old school arcade fighter set in the Simpsons world of Springfield. Developed under the supervision of one of the writers and featuring the voices of all 6 Simpsons voice actors from the series, this promises to be a fun and very funny fighting game.

You control Homer in this game. There’s an on screen joystick and two buttons that let you perform different attack and defense moves.

You progress through 25 levels set in 6 different environments in Springfield. There are of course a bunch of different weapons to use that you can pick up along the way. There are 6 major bosses and 12 mini-bosses. The final boss battle is said to be epic!

As a Simpsons fan, I’m looking forward to this. I was a little worried when I first heard of this. Lets be honest, there have been some less than stellar Simpsons games over the years. But in my short time with the game I found it to be interesting, well made, and really fun. The Simpsons Arcade will be out soon.

Daily Double Lucky 13: iBlast Moki for Free, Snood for $0.99

As we round the bend and head to lucky day 13 of our countdown to Christmas, we have updates on the deals today. The Appvent Calendar free game is a huge one, iBlast Moki. Will looked at it back in September and gave it 5/5!

iBlast Moki for FREE

iBlast Moki is a fantastic puzzle game where you use physics based devices to blast, lift, and squeeze the on screen characters to their goal. It’s a load of fun made even better with Plus+ integration.

At little quote from our review of iBlast Moki:

iBlast Moki contains a nice clean 2D aesthetic that can best be described as more vibrant Rolando 1. The backgrounds are psychedelic, the Mokis cute, and the graphical style overall lends charm to the game. The music is ridiculously catchy albeit a tad repetitive, and the sound effects are good.

iBlast Moki is the best physics game for the iPhone, and at $1.99, it would be criminal to pass up one the best games of the year.

And it was a great deal at $1.99 — now it’s free. But just for one day, grab it quickly!

Snood for $0.99

Will also reviewed Snood from Electronic Arts. And unfortunately the review wasn’t nearly as good:

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.

But for $0.99, if you like the original desktop game, it’s an easy buy to make up your own mind on this one.

Mirror’s Edge Trailer

We recently reported that EA Mobile will be bringing Mirror’s Edge to the iPhone in January 2010. The console version of Mirror’s Edge was a pretty ground-breaking title, but wasn’t a huge hit commercially, so it’s nice to see that EA has not abandoned the promising franchise. A trailer has been released to go along with the first batch of action shots, and it looks every bit as thrilling.

Mirror’s Edge has already been successfully re-imagined as a 2D Flash game, which can be played at http://mirrorsedge2d.com. It’ll be very interesting to see how the iphone version, as a 3D side-scroller, will fit between the two. Here’s the official feature list released by EA:

EXPERIENCE THE WORLD OF MIRROR’S EDGE
A place where information is heavily monitored and law is brutally enforced in an effort to create the ‘perfect’ society.

YOUR MISSION
Take control of Faith Connors, a member of an underground messenger group known as Runners, as she races to stop a deadly threat that has grown from within their own ranks.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST AND FASTEST
Use Faith’s incredible acrobatic moves to outmaneuver the enemy–run on walls, slide down precarious ramps, ride ziplines, and leap between rooftops. Leave the enemy in your dust.

EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT EXCITEMENT
Burn through 14 levels of the fastest, most fluid action imaginable. Dynamic camera angles capture the intense action of this unique game.

HEIGHTEN YOUR SENSES
Immerse yourself in a stylish, graphically rich 3D environment flooded with realistic sound effects and phenomenal music.

Any way you slice it, it’s still Connect 4. A handful of bells and whistles does little to add some excitement to the old board game.

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Sneak Peak: Dragon’s Lair Screenshots

Dragon’s Lair, originally released in 1983, is a classic video game what was of a genre that never really took off. It was the first video game to use a branched laserdisc technology, where all of the on screen game came from a laserdisc player. It was especially amazing technology because it helped surpass the very limited graphics resolutions of the time, but it did introduce some great limitations in the game play. The user would move the joystick at certain times, times that were prompted on screen, and this would branch the user to a new video track. The game works in a similar fashion to the way that games that come with some DVD releases work these days.

With all of its shortcomings of this style of game, the game was beautiful. Animated by a former Disney artist, Don Bluth, the game is really spectacular looking, but very difficult to complete. Take a look at the screens below for an idea of what the game will look like. It’s expected soon and will be published by EA Mobile.

Mirror’s Edge Coming Soon

We’ve seen quite a few console titles brought to the iPhone (Assassin’s Creed, Time Crisis, Resident Evil), some of which work, and some of which don’t. Up to now, none of them came at a shock though. Most of the games are fairly similar to a DS game of the same title or have gameplay that just fits the iPhone.

Well, consider me shocked. Mirror’s Edge, quite possibly the prettiest console game out there, is coming to the iPhone. Gone are the ridiculous graphics and the fast paced first person gameplay, but we still have insane jumping… and that’s all that really matters right? Being an EA game, I expect a high level of polish, and judging by the screenshots, a very action packed experience. Expect this one to be live in the App Store in January 2010.

Edit 9:33 AM CST. After reading a recent comment, it was brought to my attention that the word “Edge” is in the title. Will Apple/Tim Langdell have a problem with this? I wonder if EA is too big a fish to fry.

Check out the rest of the screenshots after the break.
Continue reading Mirror’s Edge Coming Soon »

EA Mobile Announces 25 Games Til Xmas Sale

There’s been much mention of Blacksmith Games’ Appvent Calendar program, which offers a free app a day from December 1st to the 24th. EA Mobile has now followed suit, and although they won’t be offering any freebies of their own, they will be putting a game on sale every day until Christmas. According to their site, the sale prices will reach up to 80% off, and most games will be available for 99 cents.

The first title out of the gate for the 25 Games Til Xmas promotion is Trivial Pursuit. Normally available for $4.99, Trivial Pursuit’s sale price is $1.99. Chris reviewed it back in May, and gave it a very respectable 4 1/2 stars, calling it a faithful adaptation of the board game.

EA Mobile will be announcing each day’s discounted app on their Twitter and Facebook pages. Will any of the other big publishers follow suit? If Black Friday was any indication, then there’s bound to be a considerable amount of sales throughout the holidays, and we’ll be covering them all as they hit.

Visceral Games, An EA Partner Studio Announces Their Multi-Platform Social Media Experience: Dante’s Inferno. Works With iPhone!

If you’re a gamer like I am, it’s pretty much a given that you’ll be familiar with or have heard of, Electronic Arts. From their multi-million dollar Need for Speed franchise, to Tiger Woods, Scrabble, Command and Conquer, FIFA, Monopoly, Tetris, MADDEN and more, it’s clear EA really does play a major part in the day-to-day gaming experiences most of us buy into.

Today, Visceral Games a studio which is a part of EA, are announcing a new ‘experience’ across multiple platforms, which boasts both a fun social aspect that involves the iPhone. The app is called Dante’s Inferno™ and centers around the aspect of sending people and or brands to ‘Hell’. Based on the original poem (Dante’s Inferno), the app calls upon you to ‘damn’ others to one of 9 preset ‘circles of Hell’. These 9 circles include: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud or Treachery. Once you’ve decided who you’d like to damn, and why, you can then ‘punish’ your victim and await a reaction (if any) from onlookers who are also using the social experience. The free application will also come with a ‘Hell Browser’. This extension will allow you to see a snapshot of all the activity in Hell, on a daily basis, as well as allowing you to see what essentially will be “The Demon of the Week”. Basically, at that point you’ll be looking at the number 1 most hated person, TV personality or brand, for that week. Sound interesting? It gets better ..

“Angry at your mom for grounding you? Send her to ‘Treachery’. Mad at your ex- for cheating? Send them to ‘Lust’.”

Today we have confirmation from EA that one of the new features to the service will allow you to send someone directly to ‘Hell’ from your iPhone. Using the iPhone’s camera you’ll just be able to snap of photo your victim, choose which circle of hell you wish to throw them in, and then punish them. Now although we know the basics of how the experience works, we don’t actually know the true mechanics of how this will play out on the iPhone yet, and admittedly the information given to us has been a little sketchy on that side of things. One thing we are certain of though is that Dante’s Inferno will be in the App Store shortly, as a FREE app!
Continue reading Visceral Games, An EA Partner Studio Announces Their Multi-Platform Social Media Experience: Dante’s Inferno. Works With iPhone! »

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.

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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.