Tag: Bit.trip beat »

Namco, of worldwide PAC-MAN fame, is having a huge iOS Christmas sale that will last until January 3rd. With a ton of apps that are going for $0.99 and $1.99, there's just no reason for people to not play the heck out of all the Namco games they can get their hands on. Enough talk though, here's the Christmas sale!

House of Glass – in-app purchase lowered to $2.99
BIT.TRIP BEAT Blitz – in-app purchase levels lowered to $0.99

BIT.TRIP BEAT - $0.99
BIT.TRIP.BEAT was definitely one of my favorite retro experiences over the past year. Taking the classic Pong game and pumping in some heavy interactive beats and crazy graphics, BIT.TRIP.BEAT will definitely entertain anyone looking for an extremely stylish retro gaming remix. It won't haunt your Pong loving dreams like Be2: Escape From Pongland, but it is definitely a game worth playing.

BIT.TRIP BEAT HD - $0.99
Isaac Newton's Gravity - $0.99
Mishap - $1.99
Mishap for iPad - $1.99

More Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawahsima - $1.99
Dr. Kawashima is the pioneer of tying brain exercise to video games with the huge success of Brain Age on Nintendo DS. After selling millions of copies of his book, many more millions of copies of his branded game on the DS, Namco decided to bring the brain training guru to the App Store. More Brain Exercise isn't quite as advanced as Brain Age, but if brain training is what you are looking for you've come to the right place. At this discounted price you definitely won't be disappointed.

More Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawahsima HD - $1.99
Mr. Driller - $0.99

Ms. PAC-MAN - $1.99
Ms. PAC-MAN, whether you like it or not, was the very first game to tie into Apple's Game Center. While I prefer regular PAC-MAN, gamers looking to capture a bit of gaming history can download the game and attempt to crack the global top 50 list... a list littered with hard core gamers that were patiently waiting for other games to populate the Game Center system. Good luck! The competition is stiff.

PAC-MAN - $1.99
PAC-MAN for iPad - $1.99
PAC-Match Party - $0.99
PAC-Match Party HD - $0.99
Pole Position: Remix - $0.99
Pool Pro Online 3 - $0.99
Pool Pro Online 3 for iPad - $0.99
Star Trigon - $0.99

Tamagotchi: 'Round the World - $0.99
Tamagotchi? In the App Store? As an app reviewer I feel like I should hang my head in shame, but as an adult stuck in the late 90's, all I can say is O.M.G. The App Store's description says that I can "Eat, dance, play and even poop your way to a happier and healthier planet!" Perfect.

In the event some beloved friend or family member gives you the gift of an iTunes gift card Namco has some good ideas on how to spend it as the company is offering three brand-new, high-profile games just in time for the holidays. And even if you don't have free money coming your way then go ahead and buy them anyway, because they all look pretty great.

First up is the newly-released Puzzle Quest 2, which takes the same addictive gameplay as the original and gets rid of most of the balancing issues and the annoying AI cheating. Yeah, the developers deny to this day that the game cheated, but considering how much more fair matches in Puzzle Quest 2 are when compared to the original, we're pretty sure they did something. The game's been available on other outlets such as Xbox Live and Nintendo DS for a little while now, but we're very happy to see it finally come to iOS.

Also currently available is Letter Labyrinth, which takes the traditional jumbled-letter word game and throws in a healthy dose of Pac-Man. The game also features a Calculation mode where you can work with numbers and equations rather than letters, and if Pac-Man eating math equations doesn't start raising test scores then nothing will.

Last but not least is the all-new Bit.Trip Beat Blitz, which brings the addicting and supremely challenging Bit.Trip gameplay with some fun new wrinkles. The game features some brand new power-ups, and is free to download. Of course, you'll have to upgrade to get access to all the levels and content, but by that time you'll be so hooked it won't even matter.

So we give thanks to Namco for dropping some serious holiday joy on all of us with a bunch of awesome new games. I will personally be enjoying all these titles while waiting for flights and sitting on planes as I head to and from my annual pilgrimage home. I just hope I don't get so frustrated with Bit.Trip that I end up hurling my iPod out of a plane at 30,000 feet.

I must break you...and your high score records.

On This Episode:

Carter talks with Brett Nolan of AppAddict about the games they've been playing lately, and some upcoming titles that intrigue them.

Carter talks with Philippe Longère of Moving Player about his company's new Bulkypix-published MMORPG, Yslandia.

Who We Are:

Host: Carter Dotson

Guest: Brett Nolan, AppAddict

Guest: Philippe Longère, Moving Player

Music:

"Beatnes7 (Theme to The Portable Podcast)" by The Eternal - Download on iTunes here:

How to Listen:

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Listen on WRGT Radio every Friday at 4pm Central

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Apps Mentioned on This Episode:

Blue Defense: Second Wave!
Cat in a Box Games is back at it with a sequel to their hugely poplar Blue Defense game from 2008. It is up to you to defend the Blue planet from those obnoxiously evil Red and Green enemies. Packed with a new Gauntlet mode, leaderboards, level select, 24 enemy types, and 64 levels will keep you busy for a long time. This pick-up and play Editor's Choice game has been destroying free time for gamers all over; it is your time to see what the hype is all about.

BIT.TRIP BEAT
Namco has decided it was high time to take the game of Pong, fuse it together with interactive beats, put a pretty coat of paint on it all, and push it out to iOS devices. You decide if tilt controls work best, or if you like touching the screen as you move a paddle up and down to bounce beats back to where they came from. Crazy scores, fun retro visuals, and four-player action make this a splendid addition to your gaming collection.

Across Age HD
FDG Entertainment is taking gamers back to the 16-bit era with this 2D action adventure RPG style game. Not to be forgotten, real environmental puzzles bring on a bit of the nostalgia that took the SNES by storm. Choose from two switchable characters to fight off the enemies and solve puzzles in a game boasting a 15-hour playtime. If you have been missing your SNES, venture over to the App Store and check out this throwback to a classical era.

FlightBoard – Live Flight Departure and Arrival Status
Turn your iDevice into a classic Arrival and Departure board reminiscent of the Charles de Gaulle Airport. This app covers 4,000 airports with 1,400 airlines worldwide. Instantly search for flights, easily switch between departure and arrival, and enjoy updates every 5 minutes. If you spend a lot of time doing the airport shuffle, this app just might be the time saver you need as you do the Gate Transfer Marathon.

PlainText – Dropbox text editing
Sometimes you just need a simple, distraction free, and uncomplicated text editor to get your work done. Hog Bay Software has a free app that will allow you to connect to your Dropbox account, and then edit, or create, simple .txt files. All that hard work saves in a UTF8 encoded file for easy sharing regardless of your OS or word processor of choice. Simplicity can be a good thing at times.

Knightfall: Death and Taxes - Namco is pretty good about trying to fudge genres together -- which makes Knightfall right up their alley. Nightfall is an RPG puzzler with a whopping 100 levels. The game features special abilities, different fighting styles, and a strange puzzle system that requires you to rotate levels to beat the puzzles. It's hard to really tell what the game is like, as the promo video is quite obscure.

BIT.TRIP BEAT - BIT.TRIP BEAT comes from the popular WiiWare title of the same name. The game resembles a musical version of Pong, where you have to bounce off wave after wave of balls to the beat of the music. the game includes the original three levels that came with the Wii version as well as additional levels that are able to be bought via in-app purchase for $1.99. There's no word on the multiplayer yet but the WiiWare version has a 4 player coop mode which would be supremely cool.

More Brain Exercise - More Brain Exercise looks like the iPhone's answer to Big Brain Academy on the DS. In it, just like other games in the genre, you complete a multitude of simple brain exercises to determine your braing age. As you play more and more of the game, your brain age will undoubtedly get younger over time. It comes complete with a hot-seat multiplayer mode and Facebook integration, so feel free to try to prove your intelligence to all of your friends.

I had the pleasure of talking with the folks at Namco today, and got a sneak peak at three of their upcoming games. They assure me that there are TONS of new gaming announcements for the iOS platform in the coming weeks, so stay tuned here and at The Portable Gamer to get the full scoop as the details filter in.

For now, though, here’s what I got to take a look at:

Mishap: An Accidental Haunting is, of all things, a hidden object game. Wait wait, don’t leave yet. This is a visually stunning, fully animated and voiced hidden object game with some seriously fun mini games thrown in for good measure.

Bit.trip Beat is the first musical chiptune game from Namco, originally developed by Gaijin Games for the Wiiware service. Namco took the game in house to develop the iOS port, multiplayer and DLC content, and is currently polishing up the final game for release soon.

Read about all three new games at The Portable Gamer.