Tag: 1000 »

Wired Magazine is reporting that the company Molinker, best known for being essentially a copycat developer who at their peak had 1000 applications submitted and approved on the App Store have been recently been removed. It appears that this removal was mostly based on the developer gaming the review system by giving away free application codes in response for 5 star reviews. The most interesting thing of all is, is the one line in the article that discusses the fact that one of this company's apps showed up in the "Staff Favorites" list which until now I honestly thought was chosen by people who worked at Apple. This opens up a can of worms in terms of how those selections are actually made, and should be investigated more.

On one hand I'm glad they decided to remove the offending company and their spamware, but on the other hand it brings out some glaring issues in the setup of the App Store. Since the launch of the App Store, there have been quite a few complaints about the approval process, the amount of spam apps that get on, and the general needle in a haystack feel that some developers are gripping with. I would love to see Apple find a way to help quality apps find their way out of the grime and for there to be a leveling playing field for everyone, but I sadly think that that day is a ways away.

On one hand I commend Apple for taking action on what essentially is a 1% cut of all their applications on the store, on the other hand, when there are 100,000 apps in the App Store, the store is going to get gamed and it shouldn't be up to other developers to report on people. It should be interesting to see what kind of precedence this sets for future developers and people abusing the appstore system.

Glu invited us into their offices again yesterday to take a look at some of their upcoming games. We saw some old favorites, some early prototypes, and a really innovative take on music games.

Glyder 2

First up, let's get what I really came to see out of the way... I finally got my hands on Glyder 2. It's still early for that title -- just a few builds past first playable, but this exciting sequel to easily my favorite Glu game ever is already looking good. As we mentioned previously there will be customization of your character available -- both in the form of the suit she wears and the wings she uses. The different wings give you slightly different skills -- climbing, turning, speed, etc. Not enough to make a huge difference in the game, but enough to be noticeable.

There will be six or seven new worlds to explore. And in addition to the crystal collection aspect of the previous game, you will also have multiple point quests to go on. Glu heard from the passionate users of the game that they wanted more of everything in the first one and new things to try. And we're going to get it.

Take a look at this hands-on video of Glyder 2 from Slide To Play:

[youtube knUYx5VRL2I]

One of the most exciting bits of news about Glyder 2 was that Glu have committed to providing multiple free updates and expansions to the game after it launches. No specific time frame was given, but if the game remains popular, it could be for a good while.

Glyder 2 will be out by the end of the year, and I can't wait.

Beat It

Beat It takes a new twist on the music game genre. This game actually makes you listen to the music. It turns it from a rhythm tapping game into more of a puzzle game. The result is a very compelling game that I found very hard to put down.

The idea behind Beat It is that you listen to a short 3 instrument rhythm track and you have to re-create it on a sequencer board. You do this by tapping cells to turn on / off that instrument for that beat. You can switch from listening to your current attempt to the original anytime, which is nice to see where you are missing notes. When you have the notes for an instrument in a particular bar correct, they start to twinkle letting you know you can go on to another. The game ramps up from 3 instruments and 4 bars to I believe 7 instruments and 6 bars.

Take a look at this hands-on video from Slide To Play:

[youtube TOW-0s8H2Ww]

It should also be mentioned that this game has some amazing animated art. Your game is separated into multiple worlds and there is a story unfolding behind your sequencer grid in each world. Before each new level you see a little part of the story and as your music clips get more complex so does the story behind you.

In addition to the multiple instruments, there are 5 different instrument sets that are used in the game. These are also available to use in the free play mode that lets you create your own tracks. In a future update you will be able to share your tracks with others.

Beat It should be available sometime this month.

Read on for details on 1,000: Find Them All, World Series of Poker: Hold'em Legends, and Taxi Fight.