EA and Firemint’s Spy Mouse has an update out now that’s designed to be more appropriate for this time of year, with Valentine’s Day coming up. Love is in the air, and while the cats in Agent Squeek’s life are still out to keep him from getting his cheese, everything is a lot more lovey-dovey. The app icon shows not a stern and focused Agent Squeek, but a more charmed Agent Squeek, presenting delicious chocolate for a willing suitor. The whole menu is now Valentine’s-themed, which means that it’s more pink and heart-filled. In-game, the cheese crumbs that give bonus points are now hearts. As well, those cats now get hearts over their head when they spy Agent Squeek, broken heart icons when the try to grab him and miss. Plus, when they do get him, it’s now a heart-filled dust cloud. Okay. This alternate interpretation of Spy Mouse update is available now for both iPhone/iPod touch and iPad versions of the game.
EA Mobile and Firemint’s mousey hero Agent Squeek is now about to stealthily and cheesily sneaking around on the iPad in the recently released SPY mouse HD. The game, which topped the iPhone/iPod touch charts upon its release, has been re-worked to take advantage of the iPad. The game’s art and graphics are optimized to shine on the bigger screen, and the line drawing controls are more accurate thanks to the iPad’s massive screen. The iPad version features the same number of levels as the iPhone/iPod touch version, but the game boasts exclusive new content for the iPad version. Otherwise, this is the same hybrid of line drawing, popularized by Firemint’s Flight Control, and stealth action gameplay. Players control Agent Squeek by drawing lines that he walks along; however, he must avoid cats and other traps that get in the way between him and his beloved cheese. SPY mouse HD is available now for the iPad.
As we’ve seen, the iPhone 4S and iOS5 has been announced and with it has come a whole bunch of different features for app developers to implement in their products.
Historically, it’s always been Firemint and the Real Racing series that has been first to introduce such features such as iPad 2 optimization and 1080p output. It’s no different this time round with numerous features being added to Real Racing 2 and Real Racing 2 HD.
As predicted earlier in the year, AirPlay support will be added so that players can stream the game to their HD TV. Dual screen functionality will also be possible with real time racing telemetry on the iPad 2 or iPhone 4S.
More entertainingly is the addition of Party Play for 2 to 4 players, enabling players to play split screen local multiplayer over AirPlay.
Besides such revolutionary features, there’ll also be numerous visual upgrades to ensure that Real Racing 2 is still a cut above the rest.
Check out the Party Play trailer below. It’s looking pretty impressive.
The update is set to go live in time for iOS5 and the iPhone 4S release.
Until August 22, the entire series of Real Racing games are on special offer with some impressive discounts available for budding racers.
We at 148apps have been big fans of the series, especially the iPhone versions of Real Racing 1 and 2. With the iPad versions also doingwell so now is surely the ideal time to give them a shot.
Each title offers some excellent simulation based racing and are all equally worth players’ attentions. It’s particularly fun to see just how far iOS gaming has come just in the time that Firemint has been developing the Real Racing series. Real Racing 2 HD is particularly revolutionary with the likes of TV-out functionality and cloud based saving synchronization.
Don’t forget though, these offers end August 22. So be quick to snap up a bargain!
Consistently revolutionary Real Racing 2 HD, already famed for going 1080P when using an external monitor, has extended this further by offering streaming.
It’s impressive stuff but come the release of iOS 5 later this year, it’ll be possible to stream Real Racing 2 HD to a big screen TV over AirPlay providing a completely wireless experience. It all sounds wonderfully futuristic being able to transfer the iOS gaming experience to a TV without even needing any wires.
Real Racing 2 HD already looks gorgeous on the iPad 2 so it’ll no doubt look just as tremendous when it hits the big screen.
The update should come along around the same time as the release of iOS 5 in the near future.
Real Racing 2 HD is available now for the iPad priced at $9.99, with iPad 2 owners being able to view it in 1080P via an external monitor and adapter cable.
EA is trying to set themselves up as the dominant player in the mobile and iOS markets, and months after acquiring publisher Chillingo, EA has acquired developer Firemint. Based in Australia, Firemint are known for Flight Control and the Real Racing series, which are responsible for over 4.5 million and 2 million downloads respectively. No details have been released on the terms of the transaction, or if Firemint’s operations will change in any way. While Chillingo is largely just a publisher of apps, any changes on their end have been largely in the background, as they have continued to operate normally on the surface, continuing to regularly publish independently-developed games. Firemint being an actual developer themselves, they may be subject to more changes, although any changes are largely speculative at this point. EA reports that Firemint will be maintained as a studio under the EAi group which includes their mobile, social, and online game offerings.
What this move does for EA is that it brings a pair of successful yet disparate franchises into their tent, and that may have been what made Firemint such an appealing acquisition target. Flight Control is a popular casual game that at one point was possibly the most popular game on iOS around when it was released, and is a progenitor of path management games to this day. Meanwhile, Real Racing is a graphics-intensive game, showcasing some of the best graphics and racing gameplay on iOS. As such, it has always sold at a premium price point, but this hasn’t kept the franchise from gaining popularity of its own, based on the number of downloads it too has gotten.
This move could be based on bringing Flight Control and Real Racing, along with any other future Firemint projects, to other platforms. Firemint has partnered with Namco to publish Flight Control on Android and Windows Phone 7, along with a PC version available on Intel AppUp, but we have yet to see Real Racing leave iOS yet. EA has also recently acquired Mobile Post Production, who have largely worked on cross-platform mobile projects, including the porting of games across various smartphone OSes. This could mean that Real Racing might be popping up on non-iOS platforms at some point, but this is all speculation at this point. While it’s unknown what will come of this move by EA, it’s another example of them making a big splash in the mobile gaming market.
In an age where it is hard enough to find a console game that displays in full 1080P, it is practically unheard of to even fathom an iOS game reaching those heights of resolution. Choosing to push the envelope of the platform, Real Racing 2′s developer, Firemint, has announced that there is an update that should be hitting by Easter that will unlock full 1080P output from the iPad 2 if you use an external monitor that is HDMI capable.
These unique dual screen controls allow you to interact with what is happening on your external monitor, while displaying the groundbreaking game with a graphical fidelity has been unheard of on the platform, truly showing off what the iPad 2 as a device is truly capable of. But now that they have pulled out all of the stops, where can Real Racing 2 go from here? Watch out Gran Turismo, there is a new competitor in your rear-view mirror.
Firemint today announced that its next major update to Real Racing 2 HD will bring full 1080p-out support for the iPad 2.
Although the iPad 2 itself only displays video in 1024×768 at the highest, with the use of the iPad HDMI adapter, it can output 1920×1080 video to a monitor or television that supports 1080p, which is exactly what Real Racing 2 HD will do.
Firemint did not say exactly when this update will be released– just that it’s coming in the “next major update.” Color us excited for this high resolution treat!
Real Racing 2 HD is one of the most impressive racing titles on Apple’s iOS. It features a 10-hour single-player campaign and gorgeous 3D visuals. The game has an average rating of 4.5 stars on the App Store and nearly 1,000 user reviews, while the iPhone version of the game garnished an Editor’s Choice Award right here on 148Apps. You can download it for $6.99.
Check out video of Real Racing 2 HD running in 1080p on an external monitor below.
Firemint have done it again. Real Racing 2 HD hits on the eve of the iPad 2 launch.
One of our highest rated games of all time, Real Racing 2 has been given the HD treatment just in time for the iPad 2 launch.
Firemint have released Real Racing 2 HD to really show off what the iPad 2 can do. This version includes full screen anti-aliasing for an ultra sharp look. In addition, seven new career events are exclusive to Real Racing 2 HD.
The feature that really stood out to me is one that more games need – your progress is synced between the iPhone and the iPad versions, ensuring that you can pick up just where you left off when you switch from one device to the next.
A big announcement kicking off the day today, as Firemint announced that they have acquired fellow Aussie developer Infinite Interactive. The agreement means that Firemint will now be the exclusive publisher of all Infinite Interactive games, which means they’ll need more kangaroo pouches in which to stuff all the money they’re about to make.
“I’m incredibly pleased to welcome Steve (Fawkner, founder of Infinite Interactive) and his team to Firemint,” said Firemint founder Rob Murray. “Steve is an outstanding game designer and our two studios evolved very similar philosophies of developing addictive, fun and polished original games. By bringing our studios’ talents together, we will be able to create even more awesome games – and more of them.”
Fawkner added, “Firemint has had huge success designing, developing and publishing great original games. By joining forces, we now have a way to further develop some of the exciting new concepts we’ve been working on. This new position really frees me up to focus on game design and I can’t wait to get stuck into it!”
Infinite Interactive is the studio behind the extremely popular Puzzle Quest franchise, while Firemint is best known for games like Flight Control and Real Racing 2. With the two studios set to work together it likely means that none of us will ever get anything done ever again, so we may as well just all quit our jobs now and wait for the companies’ first joint-venture game. Will their combined power be enough to knock the traditional powerhouses from their perch atop the App Store? It’s impossible to know right now but we wouldn’t be surprised if whatever they come up with makes some major waves in the realm of iOS and beyond. This is truly a powerhouse pairing, and one with a whole lot of promise.
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Posted December 17th, 2010 by Chris Hall Our Rating: :: FANTASTIC
Sony has Gran Turismo, Apple has Real Racing. Real Racing 2 can't compete with the 1,031 cars that GT5 has, but for a mobile device it's just as impressive.
Real Racing 2, possibly the most ambitious app to hit the App Store launched today. It’s a new version of one of the best racing games ever seen on a mobile device, and better than many seen on consoles. Firemint, based in Australia, has a lot riding on this game with a reported 2 million dollars spent on it’s development. We fired off a few questions to the fine folks down under to get some of their thoughts on the iOS platform and development of Real Racing 2.
Q: Real Racing 2 integrates Game Center for multiplayer, leaderboards, and achievements. How have you seen the performance of the Game Center multiplayer system? You’ve been able to do something others haven’t by bringing 16 player multiplayer to iOS.
Game Center has been great for us and we are big supporters of it. Beyond just leaderboards and achievements, we can use your Game Center ID to locate your save games and link to other services like Youtube uploads etc. The awesome thing about Game Center is that it provides an easy way to create peer to peer multiplayer connections with up to four players at once. We have supported this in Flight Control, Real Racing, Flight Control HD and Real Racing HD.
For Real Racing 2 we have implemented a hosted solution because we wanted to support our 16 car single player grid in multiplayer games as well. We also wanted to make it really simple to find and play multiplayer games, on every device. This is something we have been working on for a long time. It is more difficult for us to do things that way, but it means we are able to support all devices.
Q: A few months ago you released a story about how you had tuned the AI in your bots to such an extent that they were cheating. Are you sure they aren’t still cheating? Some of the AI race drivers seem awful good! Tell us more about the AI in the game for the computer drivers.
Well the Real Racing 1 AI weren’t cheating as such, it was more that they were finding exploits in the physics engine, the same exploits that human players could find. An example of that was that the AI found if they hit a certain corner at exactly the right angle, they would explode down the track faster than any car could drive. Needless to say, we fixed that bug before release!
In Real Racing 2, we have gone to great lengths to make sure the AI are competitive without cheating. Some games allow their AI to have faster or more responsive cars, or add catchup code so that they are competitive. On release, our game has none of this, the opponents never drive a car that out performs the ones the player can drive in the game. However, they may take you to the cleaners if you enter a hard career race under-spec’d. So choose a car with as high a performance rating as possible and ideally well suited to the particular track, for example top speed is pretty critical on an oval but it’s not so helpful on a winding track. If the AI is driving a car that you know has a higher top speed than yours, then you can be pretty sure that they won’t be so good on the corners.
The AI have been written to use the same inputs that the player has, accelerate, brake and steer. The down side of this as developers, we have to make our AI really smart to keep up with a human player.
One advantage that the AI do have is that they are precision drivers, the best AI can hit a precise racing line every time, so while it may seem like they are cheating, they actually take great lines through the corners and may come out of them faster than you if you make a small mistake. So just like when you are down at the track, winning at the high levels in Real Racing takes precise driving.
Even with all our effort into improving the AI, we would still rather take on the fastest AI we have than try to compete with a top ranked Real Racing player!
Q: What can we expect in the future for Real Racing 2? Any planned updates? An iPad version perhaps? Voice chat like we’ve seen you recently add with Flight Control?
You can be pretty certain that we will do an iPad version and we want to do something special, but definitely not until next year. We also have the online save game system now so that we can share your progress across versions of the game including from iPhone to iPad.
We do have all sorts of ideas and plans for Real Racing 2, however they are just ideas at this stage. Announcing things is easy, but delivering is hard, so we are cautious about announcing too much at this stage. Hopefully then, when we do deliver something, we will have over-delivered
Q: You’ve developed your own 3D engine for Real Racing 2, Mint 3D. Can you tell us a little more about it and what are the advantages of a custom engine over a pre-built one?
Mint3D is a powerful and highly optimized rendering engine designed to get great performance out of the current iOS platforms, particularly iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4. It supports standout visual effects like shadow mapping, depth of field, motion blur, detail textures, reflections, level of detail, specular highlights, glints, flares, particle effects, animation and even some improved real time shadows, whilst being able to push large quantities of polygons and models through the hardware each frame. The cool thing is, we have a very optimized legacy engine within Mint3D that was developed along with Real Racing, which is how we are able to continue to support earlier devices, albeit without the same high level of effects possible on the newer hardware.
We have to render a 3 mile track being traversed at high speed, from any angle with 16 cars, sometimes all on the screen at once, all with unique textures, see through windows, reflections, shadows, damage etc. It all has to look great regardless of what the player is doing with their car or with the camera or where they are driving. Everything moves by very quickly so dealing with a large object count is very important to a racer, and when you have 16 cars with physics and AI on top of that, there is a lot of variety to deal with. Mint3D is designed to handle this and to do a large variety of things well and at consistent framerates.
The choice of going with a custom engine over something pre-built is something that should be made for each game and each developer individually. It is not just an economic choice, sometimes a pre-built engine is the right choice for creative reasons. In our case, we design the game first and the engine has to keep up with that. By using our own engine we have the freedom to do whatever it takes to make it deliver for our particular needs. It feels like that is the best way for us to build signature titles and make them stand apart.
Q: How about some racing tips? Do you have any tips our readers for getting the best times on the Real Racing 2 tracks?
Generally, the fastest race times can be achieved by turning and braking as minimally as possible: a good race line with the goal of taking straight lines through corners, sufficient but minimal braking (losing traction washes off a lot of speed) and trying to maintain a high, constant speed throughout the race will hold you in good stead.
Every car handles differently, and braking and acceleration in and out of corners can count for a lot. Learn to exploit the varying performance attributes of each car and practice the techniques listed above. Driving with assists can be a very helpful way to learn to get your braking and racing line right.
Thanks to the folks at Firemint for answering our questions. Real Racing 2 is out now, and I strongly suggest you grab it if you enjoy a good race. Feel free to add me in Game Center, I’m jeff148apps — I’ll see you on the track.
For the past few days I’ve been lucky enough to kick the tires of Real Racing 2, the successor to the multiple award winning racing game. Real Racing for iOS really pushed the boundaries of what a mobile device can do rivaling the best that the PSP can offer. Real Racing 2 takes the core of it’s predecessor and amps it up in pretty much every way. Better display, more races, real licensed cars, and an amazing 16 player online multiplayer racing mode. 16 players! On a mobile phone! And it’s way more than what a PSP can offer.
So, how is it? Well you’ll have to wait for our full review next week. For now, enjoy this teaser video showing the game in action.
Real Racing 2 will be available on December 16th for $9.99. Here’s a full list of features straight from Firemint:
Real Racing 2 features include:
- 30 officially licensed cars
- 16 car grid against AI, and 16 player online racing – an iOS first
- Career mode with well over 10 hours gameplay and a range of event types
- Earn in-game currency to buy and sell cars, and buy upgrades
- 5 game modes: Career Mode, Quick Race, Time Trial, Local Multiplayer (8 players), Online Multiplayer (16 players)
- 15 locations with 40 miles of highly detailed race track
- Vehicle damage
- Online Save Game
- Game Center and Cloudcell integration, multiple profiles
- Wide range of control options
- HUD with minimap that can be turned on or off
- 5 camera angles including fully 3D cockpit view, and TV style replays
- Powered by Firemint’s exclusive Mint3D™ engine
11/19/10 – UPDATE: New Trailer. Feast your eyes on this:
Firemint today announced that the upcoming sequel to Real Racing will include licensed cars instead of the nameless cars of the original. We’ve seen Firemint release a special version of Real Racing for Volkswagon (Real Racing GTI), but this will be the first time that licensed cars will be including in the main game.
While this isn’t a big deal to many, in the world of video games this feature sets the high end racers apart from the pack by adding a certain prestige. Not to mention people love to drive cars that they could never afford to own, even if it is in a video game. I think this announcement just sets the stage for what we can expect from Real Racing 2. I think we can expect some amazing features in Real Racing 2. But what the wizards at Firemint have up their sleeves, we don’t yet know.
What new features would you like to see in Real Racing 2? What other cars would you like to see in Real Racing 2? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and we’ll let you know more details on Real Racing 2 as soon as we are allowed to!
We don’t yet know the full list of what cars will be included in Real Racing 2, but in the above image you can see the 2006 BMW Z4 M Coupe on the left and the 2010 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R on the right. Seems like a good start, but I’m sure we’ll see more.
When I first heard about multiplayer gaming on Game Center, the first thing I thought of brutal bouts of casual gaming goodness. There is just something heart pounding about playing someone else in a game that isn’t overloaded with overly caffeinated teenagers screaming “Head shot… loser!” Sure, there are many people, including myself, who are excited about first person shooter/action multiplayer gaming on the iOS, but my heart just wants to beat up on someone in a mellow game of Flight Control… and by golly, now I can.
To celebrate the release of GameCenter on the iPad with iOS 4.2, Flight Control is adding a slew of features to the Apple Design Award winning game. To help scratch that competitive itch, Firemint is adding an iPad exclusive verses mode map that can be played locally in the app or via Game Center or local Wi-Fi/Bluetooth multiplayer. Not to cut out the peaceful gamers out there (and I’m sure there are many), Flight Control is also adding a co-op multiplayer game that can be played universally via Game Center too, in addition to the already available local Bluetooth or WiFi . Like everything else on Game Center, you can either invite your iOS gaming friends or you can play with/against random players all around the world.
Since I have no chance at competing in the single player high scores, maybe it’ll be possible for me to compete with the masses in some co-op multiplayer gaming. The update isn’t out yet, so hang on to your excitement, but Firemint expects the new update to Flight Control to be out right around the release of iOS 4.2. See you online!
Editor’s Choice and 5-star rated Real Racing is finding itself on a week long sale beginning September 30. The 40% off sale will bring Real Racing down to the low price of $2.99 for a limited time. For those of you unaware of the racing powerhouse, you can find our glowing review here.
Those of you well versed in the beauty that is Real Racing understand what it means to get such a great app for such a low price. Even if you own it, don’t forget about the 6-person local multi-player mode. Snatch it up for a friend through the gift-an-app program and introduce someone else to this racing giant.
Firemint is celebrating this sale by offering their Twitter and Facebook communities a chance to win promo codes for free copies of Real Racing. Send a tweet or like them on Facebook and your set. (Full Contest Details).
In case you need additional convincing, Real Racing took, among other things, Best Game Graphics, Best Racing Game, and an honorable mention as the best app of 2009 in the Best App Ever Awards last year.
Eighteen months ago, the then-little-known developer company Firemint published Flight Control – a game where you land increasing quantities of planes on runways with a limited amount of space both on the ground and in air. It was awarded five stars across the board by 148Apps, as well as the Editor’s Choice badge.
Today, Firemint has announced that sales of Flight Control have passed the three million mark – on average, a little over 5500 copies a day are bought by new users for their iPhone or iPod Touch. At $0.99 a piece, with developers earning 70% of revenue, that totals just under $2.1 million for Firemint’s work – or, to put it another way, $3814.67 a day. In other statistics, some two billion planes have been landed according to Flight Control’s online leaderboards, equating to 2548 planes a minute or a little over 42 every second.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced on September 1st that the iPod Touch alone has more than 50% of market share for portable gaming, outselling Nintendo and Sony combined. The App store has already enjoyed over a quarter of a billion downloads to date, reflecting the ever-growing importance of third party application developers and their software.
Firemint, creators of Flight Control and Real Racing, have announced that a number of in-game achievements and leaderboards for their popular games will integrate with Apple’s soon-to-be-released Game Center application, built to bring iPhone and iPod Touch gamers together both socially and competitively.
For Flight Control there are currently three known achievements: Safety Card (read the game tutorial); First Flights (land an aircraft on every level) and Jet Power (land 20 jets in a game). Leaderboards will also exist, presumably for each level, to see exactly who the best flight controller in the world really is, and how you stack up against your friends.
Real Racing will see at least five achievements, including: Real Racer (complete a race using methods B or E); Between the Lines (win the race without going off track); Clean Sweep (get all gold in a championship); Perfectionist (beat the gold qualifying time for all classes) and Cream of the Crop (rank in the top 100 for any track).
What makes Firemint’s integration with Game Center so unique is that the developers won’t be scrapping their established CloudCell platform, which already provides features that Game Center offers, like leaderboards. Instead, where possible, achievements and leaderboards will exist to offer those with older devices a chance to get in on the action. “Originally launched in April 2009, Cloudcell enables extensive connected features and is currently being streamlined to make it even easier to use and even more unobtrusive” writes Firemint. “As well as extensive online leaderboards, both Real Racing and Flight Control integrate with Twitter and Facebook, making it easy to share new personal bests.”
Game Center is supported on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and third/fourth generation iPod Touches, and will roll out next week with the public release of iOS 4.1. If you haven’t yet bought Flight Control or Real Racing, you can read our reviews at the links below. Real Racing was awarded the 148Apps Editor’s Choice badge.
The increased resolution of the iPhone 4 has been the point of a lot of conversation from the moment it was first announced. Most of the conversation focusing on if it really is a “retina display,” one with such a high pixel density that the human eye can’t see the individual pixels. And around that, most of the conversation had to do how great text will look on the display. But what about games? How will the increased resolution impact games? Can they actually approach photographic quality? Wow, that would be staggering — and I can’t wait to see it!
In what I believe are the first games to be approved to take advantage of the Retina Display on the iPhone 4, Real Racing and Flight Control updates are now live. They include increased resolution graphics to fit the new display — rather than rely on pixel doubled graphics. In addition, Real Racing control has been updated to take advantage of the gyroscope in the iPhone 4. It should provide for even better control of the steering in the game.
Firemint has launched an update to its popular Flight Control game for iPhone. The update, available now, includes a new map, updated graphics, safe fast-forward plus new sound and music settings.
Flight Control is a highly addictive strategy game in which users take control of a selection of airstrips and must guide different planes and helicopters to their destination. While things start off easy, you’re quickly swamped by jets and light aircraft that need to be designated a runway before they crash into others.
First things first, the new map. Windy Airfield brings a new dimension to the already frantic action with runways opening and closing at timed intervals. Users will need to keep an eye on a windsock in the middle of the level that moves around to denote a change in wind direction. The direction of the wind affects which runways are open. Aircraft already on approach will still land but you’ll have to find an alternate runway for the rest.
So far, the new map is generating excitement among players with many uploading their score to the online leader board. A Google map is currently displaying where the high scores are coming from around the world. Check it out here
Flight Control’s graphics also receive a boost in this update with much brighter colors to help you spot those incoming planes quickly.
Another big addition to Flight Control is the safe fast-forward option that was launched in Flight Control HD for iPad. There are now three speed settings from “Off” through “Locked Fast Forward”. “Safe Fast Forward” speeds up the game but alerts players when a collision is imminent and slows the game back down to normal speed so you can avert disaster. Fast forward is sometimes required during the game to speed up the action and get on to higher scores but, use it carefully or you could cause an aeronautical pile up.
As far as settings go, Flight Control will now remember a user’s sound and music settings which can be altered in the app’s Pause Menu so you don’t have to change them each time you play the game.
As an added bonus to celebrate the update, Firemint has also released a free Flight Control wallpaper for iPhone users which can be downloaded from the Firemint site here.
iPad and desktop wallpaper is also available.
This is a great update from Firemint and we look forward to many more soon as well as tweaks to the iPad app. Check it out today by heading to the updates section of the App Store via your iPhone or in iTunes and, if you haven’t downloaded the game already, do it now!
I make no bones about it. Real Racing is my favorite iPhone game ever. I’ve always been a fan of racing games. Real Racing just hits a chord with my by making the game fun, very well made, and not crazy complex (and boring) with car customization options.
While I haven’t seen it yet, this is a preview you know, Real Racing HD looks to be everything that I love about Real Racing, but on a much bigger screen.
“We’re all very excited about the launch of iPad, and Real Racing HD really shows off the new possibilities that come with this breakthrough device,” said Firemint CEO Robert Murray. “Real Racing is all about authentic pack racing action. iPad is incredibly immersive and personal so playing the Real Racing HD App will be an adrenaline-fuelled rush.”
One of my biggest concerns with Real Racing HD, and any racing games on the iPad is how you will control it. When a racing game was shown at the iPad launch I was initially excited. Then I started to think — who wants to hold a 1.5 pound $500 device as a steering wheel controller? Not me for sure. Not only is it heavy, but seems like the risk of dropping it is increased greatly with rapid gameplay. Luckily it looks like Firemint have put some thought into this problem and implemented some iPad specific control schemes.
In addition, Real Racing HD adds some ghost racing options, and the ability to customize your car skin by importing an image from your camera roll. Real Racing HD is available now in the App Store — even if you don’t have an iPad to play it on!
Flight Control is one of the best and best selling casual iPhone games ever created. It started the whole line drawing genre and was one of the first iPhone games to sell over a million copies. It has now sold over 2 million copies and spawned Flight Control HD, it’s big brother.
Flight Control HD is more of what you love Flight Control for. It also adds lots of features that you could only appreciate on the iPad. The split-screen 2 player mode sounds like a blast. Firemint have also added a 3D level to the game — but you need the blue/red 3D glasses to see it.
The iPad is the perfect device to play this game on. It’s large screen allows you to see more of the area and not have the planes be as obstructed by your fingers. Some say that Steve Jobs created the iPad specifically so that he would have a larger screen to play Flight Control on*.
Here are the official list of features for Flight Control HD, available now on the iPad.
Flight Control HD contains everything included in Flight Control for iPhone and iPod touch, as well as many additions and improvements for its arrival on iPad:
More ways to play, including multiplayer modes that take advantage of iPad’s innovative Multi-Touch interface.
Split-screen “versus” mode: play competitively by sending your planes to capture aircraft from your opponent.
Co-operative multiplayer on a single iPad: share landing duties with a friend on one of three HD airfields.
Multiplayer on two devices (selected from iPad, iPhone or iPod touch): land aircraft of your own color, and direct others off the screen for your fellow Controller to land.
More space to land your planes and bigger airports thanks to the large iPad screen, with three new HD airfields.
Beautiful high-quality graphics throughout, including an all-new menu and updated graphics for the Classic airfields from the iPhone version.
New Snow airfield with variable wind direction in addition to the four Classic iPhone airfields (Original, Beach, Carrier and Outback) and three HD airfields, for a total of eight single-player airfields.
Quirky “3D view” airfield brings Flight Control to life like never before – use red/cyan glasses to see aircraft floating above the iPad (3D glasses not included, widely available from retailers such as amazon.com at low cost).
Many more enhancements including all-new path continuation, improved collision warnings, a new “safe” fast forward function, and a longer version of the Flight Control song that you just can’t get out of your head!
The Flight Control HD App for iPad is available for US$4.99 from the App Store on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.
Firemint have developed a special version of their racing game, Real Racing, to help promote the 2010 VW GTI. You could even win a GTI by playing the game. Details on the contest will be posted soon.
VW tapped Firemint to create a special version of their Real Racing, sort of a lite version, with tie-ins to the marketing campaign promoting the 2010 GTI. The app was released late last night at the conclusion of a special premier event in New York hosted by G4′s Olivia Munn. Sorry to say, I couldn’t be there.
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2009-10-22 :: Category: Games
The game itself is a slimmed down one based on the engine of the five star racing game we love so much. The main focus of the game, of course, is to push the new 2010 GTI. So, that’s the only car you have to drive in the game and you only have 1 course to drive. What this will give you is a good sense of the realism and amazing console-level quality of the full game, Real Racing.
Try out the 2010 GTI version of the game and if you like it, I highly recommend that you pick up the full version, Real Racing. I really can’t say enough good things about it.
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.
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2009-05-15 :: Category: Games
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.
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Posted July 17th, 2009 by Jeff Scott Our Rating: :: Best Racer Ever
Real Racing has taken a little longer than anticipated to reach our anxious little hands. The extra time was used to fine tune and perfect the game. It appears from the time I've spent with the game that it was well worth it.
Firemint gotten their hands on an iPhone 3GS and decided to take it for a little test drive. With it’s increased processor speed, better graphics processor, and extra memory, it’s built for killer games. The best way they came up with to test drive the 3GS was to make a special version of their fantastic racing game, Real Racing to stress it. The normal version of Real Racing has 6 cars on the track at once. Their iPhone 3GS test version has not 12, not 20, but 40 cars on the track at the same time! Take a look at the demo video below for the amazing proof — the real fun starts around 30 seconds in.
Amazing, just amazing. Looks like they might have even been able to put even more cars on the track! If you haven’t picked up Real Racing yet, what are you waiting for? It’s the best arcade game we’ve seen yet for the iPhone.
Firemint has just released a 1.3 update for their extremely popular Flight Control game that adds the ability to play cooperatively with a friend over bluetooth. Flight Control has sold over 1,000,000 copies on its way to becoming an App Store classic.
Flight Control is a deceptively complicated game in which you must guide planes and helicopters to their proper landing places by drawing paths with your finger. The game starts out very simply with very few vehicles on screen at a time, but quickly ramps up in difficulty as more planes and helicopters of varying speeds appear on screen simultaneously. If anything collides, the game is over. When Christine reviewed the game, she gave it a perfect five stars.
In previous updates, Firemint has added new maps and online leader boards via the Cloudcell service. Now, in order to utilize the new 3.0 software for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Firemint has added bluetooth play so you can share air traffic controller duties with a friend. No wifi is required, as you simply need two devices with bluetooth capabilities (note: only the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPod Touch 2G can use bluetooth).
In this new mode, you and your friend share a cumulative score for a game. Each person has a complete map on screen (you can either use the same map or different maps), but can only land planes of a certain color. If a plane appears on screen that you cannot land, you have to direct it to the side of you screen, which will cause it to appear on your partner’s screen. This makes the game even more hectic, as you have to manage planes that both normally appear on your screen and those redirected by your partner all while trying to communicate with your partner.
:: FREE THE CHEESE
EA Mobile and Firemint’s mousey hero Agent Squeek is now about to stealthily and cheesily sneaking around on the iPad in the recently released SPY mouse HD. The game, which topped the iPhone/iPod touch charts upon its release, has been re-worked to take advantage of the iPad. The game’s art and graphics are optimized to shine on the bigger screen, and the line drawing controls are more accurate thanks to the iPad’s massive screen. The iPad version features the same number of levels as the iPhone/iPod touch version, but the game boasts exclusive new content for the iPad version. Otherwise, this is the same hybrid of line drawing, popularized by Firemint’s Flight Control, and stealth action gameplay. Players control Agent Squeek by drawing lines that he walks along; however, he must avoid cats and other traps that get in the way between him and his beloved cheese. SPY mouse HD is available now for the iPad.
:: REAL FRUSTRATING
We at 148apps have been big fans of the series, especially the iPhone versions of 
Consistently revolutionary Real Racing 2 HD, already famed for 
EA is trying to set themselves up as the dominant player in the mobile and iOS markets, 
In an age where it is hard enough to find a console game that displays in full 1080P, it is practically unheard of to even fathom an iOS game reaching those heights of resolution. Choosing to push the envelope of the platform, Real Racing 2′s developer, 
When I first heard about multiplayer gaming on Game Center, the first thing I thought of brutal bouts of casual gaming goodness. There is just something heart pounding about playing someone else in a game that isn’t overloaded with overly caffeinated teenagers screaming “Head shot… loser!” Sure, there are many people, including myself, who are excited about first person shooter/action multiplayer gaming on the iOS, but my heart just wants to beat up on someone in a mellow game of Flight Control… and by golly, now I can.
Firemint is celebrating this sale by offering their Twitter and Facebook communities a chance to win promo codes for free copies of Real Racing. Send a tweet or like them on Facebook and your set. 
The increased resolution of the iPhone 4 has been the point of a lot of conversation from the moment it was first announced. Most of the conversation focusing on if it really is a “retina display,” one with such a high pixel density that the human eye can’t see the individual pixels. And around that, most of the conversation had to do how great text will look on the display. But what about games? How will the increased resolution impact games? Can they actually approach photographic quality? Wow, that would be staggering — and I can’t wait to see it!
Firemint has launched an update to its popular Flight Control game for iPhone. The update, available now, includes a new map, updated graphics, safe fast-forward plus new sound and music settings. 
