Imangi Studios: Harbor Master to Get Multiplayer

By now I’m sure you’re all aware of Imangi’s Habour Master. Ever since it launched back in June of this year, it’s been a well loved, and treasured App Store classic.

Similar to Flight Control, Habor Master centers around line-drawing, an App Store genre of game which first hit the App Store in January, with pretty big fanfare. In the game you’re in control of a busy harbor, controlling shipments of goods and packages, and docking the boats in a frantic bid to deliver these shipments to the right ports. It’s a fun title, taking into consideration the true mechanics and value of the iPhone platform, and taking advantage of touch, to create an overall addictive experience.

A few days ago, we got the heads up from Imangi Studios‘ very own Natalia Luckyanova, on a new upcoming update to Harbor Master which should hit the App Store any day now, and is bound to make you fall in love with the title again. The update we’re talking about is version 2.0, and it’s set to bring with it wireless multiplayer matches via Bluetooth. With the update, you’ll be able to select from the 6 included maps, battling to clear the harbor of ships, all the while playing against a friend.

But how are you going to keep track of all these boats? And just how exactly is this 2-player gameplay going to work? The studio explained:

“When a player sends an unloaded ship off the screen, it appears on the other player’s screen, at the same spot, fully loaded. That way, a player can use different strategies to try to overwhelm their opponent, such as timing waves of ships to send over all at once. The player who crashes first loses.”

We are told that the ‘Multiplayer’ aspect of this update will only work on OS 3.0 or higher, and you’ll have to have either an iPod touch (2nd Gen), iPhone 3G or a later model. That said, Natalia ensures the rest of the game will still work on all devices and OS versions.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Oh no, the update will also include a highly anticipated feature, which is been present in other titles for a while. A fast-forward button. Plus, we’re also told you’ll also be able to adjust the speed of this ‘fast-forward’ motion.

I for one love Harbor Master, I think it’s great – and this update looks like it’ll have me playing it even more! Look out for this mutliplayer update hitting the store very shortly!

Generally we see content updates like this for free in the app store, so some people might argue that this should have been rolled into vanilla Galcon. But, there is just enough new content here to warrant a second app. It’s priced right at $0.99 and well worth the purchase.

Snooker is a very skillful game and Ronnie is arguably its greatest exponent. In Ronnie O’Sullivan’s Snooker you get to re-enact his greatest moments in a very good – although not quite great – simulation.

Mino charges onto the scene with online multiplayer and a strong alternative to EA’s bloated, official Tetris incarnation. If you’re a Tetris fan, you definitely need to take a look at this!

Flight Control 1.3 Update Adds Peer to Peer Cooperative Multiplayer

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.

Flight Control

Our Rating: :: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Category: Games / Strategy
Released: 2009-03-06
Price: $0.99

A solid golf game that will remain on your iPhone for as long as you have it. With bright graphics, quality controls, and fun multiplayer, this app is definitely a winner.

UniWar is one of the iPhone’s best strategy games. While it offers almost nothing in terms of innovation, it delivers a solid, carefully crafted rendition of a turn-based strategy game, complete with online multiplayer (and support for twenty simultaneous games!).

Aurora Feint II: Arena Daemons is a complex, compelling match-3 with actual depth, featuring many multiplayer features and quite a bit of strategy. While it’s plagued with crashes and will drain your battery, the actual game is excellent.

Reversi Online Tournament takes a classic board game, adds a fantastic multiplayer, and creates a polished, detailed app that’s everything you could ask for from Reversi. If you’re a fan of Reversi (or Othello), this is an absolute must-have…and we have a free copy to give away!

Demiforce Throws In The Towel on Onyx

For all iPhone/iTouch users and developers who were looking forward to an Xbox Live-like interactive game play and ecosystem, you may have to wait a little longer. Followers of Demiforce will be disappointed to hear that the company is cancelling their plans for Onyx.

Onyx developer Steve Demeter, best known for the very successful Trism, broke the unfortunate news on his blog yesterday. Fearing the uncertainty of not being able to guarantee the App Store’s approval of the Onyx-enabled games, led the company to a potential business risk. The Apple store declined to elaborate whether or not Onyx would comply with the guidelines to the terms agreement contract and even though much time, money and effort was placed in the investment and development, Demeter decided to “throw in the towel.”

”The blame should lay with me for this,” Demeter stated on his blog. “I was the one who failed to acknowledge the gray areas in the Apple contract before starting Onyx. I sent out the initial announcement, getting peoples’ hopes up by calling for potential beta testers. I take full responsibility for this, and I apologize to you if you were one of the many people who have been patiently waiting for it. I always intended for Onyx to be for you guys, my peers in the indie developer community, so the pain really hits home when I say it isn’t going to happen.”

From online scoring to community forums to even level update packs for existing games, Onyx would have given developers a new outlet to create and erase solidarity game play as the only option for gamers.

However, there’s no shortage of companies out there planning to offer similar services and Demeter is eager to see what other companies can create. Until then, Demiforce and Demeter are keeping their heads up and are excited about the new and innovative games they have planned for 2009.

Check out Steve’s Blog for more info.

Versus Chess is a nicely done Internet enabled multiplayer chess game.

Asphalt 4 is pure racing goodness for the iPhone

Pretty good word game, probably not one you will return to often unless you can convince friends to purchase.

Interesting game with MMORPG aspirations that builds on the Bejeweled idea by adding (annoying) RPG elements.