News By Phil May at 14:54 on 05/02/2010 - 3 comments
Tags: iTunes, iPhone, iPod Touch, Game prices, Skinflints
Well this is going to end well...!
The trend to aim low and hopefully sell high when it comes to iPhone game pricing is once again under the spotlight, with several developers heartily agreeing with a stand taken by Swedish outfit UsTwo Games.
The developer, long dissatisfied with the 99c / 59p price bracket has levelled their app pricing to £1.19 instead, and is vociferously urging other developers to follow suit.
"We value the work we do, and 59p is as good as saying its free. It's a price that is impossible to cover costs" said the studio's creative director. "This is our Braveheart moment. If people are not willing to pay at least £1.19, then why are we in this game?"
Yeah, why are you? Is it because you thought it would be a quick ticket to fast bucks and loose women? Think you might've backed the wrong horse there, son.
What are your views on app pricing? Drop us a line in the box below...
Lion Pride is today's free quirky little game of the day
News By Phil May at 14:26 on 05/02/2010 - 3 comments
Tags: Lion Pride, iPhone, iPod Touch, Roar, Snarl
Ever feel that The Lion King felt a little lacking in the zebra-scoffing department? Me too, but thankfully free game of the day on iTunes is the superb Lion Pride. No, not gay lions - but one of those cool little stress management games, this time involving a pride of lions (no!) which you have to muster into some sort of hunting pack in order to eat various wildlife roaming the savannah.
It has OpenFeint support (which means yes, you're going to have another gorgeous icon on your iphone ruined by those shrivelled up leaves) but the important bit is that it's free today, gone tomorrow so go grab:
We'd be lion if we said it costs you
Footage of wootage:
Spring Fling free for today
News By Richard Horne at 19:59 on 04/02/2010 - 0 comments
Tags: Spring Fling, GTProductions, Doodle Jump, Free Download, Jump
GTProductions today confirmed that Spring Fling, its fun jumping game in the same vein as Doodle Jump, will be a free download for 24 hours.
The aim of Spring Fling is simple: try and reach as a high a point as possible by first charging your spring then releasing it to make it jump. Collect powerups and avoid obstacles as you make your way up through each level.
Free for a limited time only, so download it while you can.
Ghosts 'n' Zombies brings cartoon horror shooting fun to the iPhone
News By Phil May at 12:37 on 02/02/2010 - 1 comment
Tags: Ghosts 'n' Zombies, Tipcat, Zombies, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad
What'ya gonna do? The world's being swiftly overtaken by the forces of evil. People are turning away from religion in their droves, and to top it all the flippin' planet's being overrun by pesky zombies and annoying ghosts.
The Vatican won't stand for it though, so in a last ditch effort to save humanity from the brain-feeding chain-rattling hordes, the Pope sends his top operative into the most infected zones. Armed to the teeth, the bushy-eyebrowed Anthony Hopkins look-a-like takes one look at the situation, and wades into the thick of it.
If that hasn't sold TipCat's Ghosts 'n' Zombies to you, then you're obviously one of the undead yourself. For 59p, the game's polished, innovative in its use of tilt and touch controls, and will offer more than a few belly laughs into the bargain.
It offers OpenFeint support (the only thing I have against OpenFeint is that horrible inclusion of the OF logo on your app icons - that really sucks), so you can measure up your zombie slaying skills against the rest of the world. The side-on 2D cartoon graphics are beautifully drawn and the sound effects nicely comic too.
Here's some footage of le beast in accion, tout le monde.
Revs iPhone Review
Review By Richard Horne at 19:18 on 01/02/2010 - 17 comments
Tags: Revs, Big Head Games, Top Down Racer, 2D, 8-Bit
I've always been a sucker for old-school, top-down 2D racers, and so when I got the email from Big Head Games announcing their latest release, the glorious 8-bit Revs for the iPhone and iPod Touch, I bought it in a heartbeat. I wasn't disappointed.
Big Head Games is on a bit of retro kick at the moment and the British developer has gone to back to basics and started producing games with an emphasis on pure gameplay instead of focusing on visuals and polish. Now normally that sounds like a tired excuse for a poor game, but with Revs it's clear from the outset that designing the graphics with 8-bit limitations in mind actually adds a great deal of charm to the overall experience. The reason being that with this type of game it doesn't matter whether the vehicles are rendered in glorious 3D or hand painted, pixel-by-pixel, they all still feel the same. And with the core gameplay mechanics distilled down as much as they have, the NES-style aesthetics give you a warm nostalgic glow inside and make the game feel that bit more authentic.
Keeping things simple also applies brilliantly to the controls. So many iPhone games try and fail miserably, to implement an on-screen d-pad and virtual buttons. Instead creating a control scheme that feels loose, vague and lacking in feedback. Revs' controls couldn't be any simpler. Your vehicle accelerates automatically and you touch and hold the left hand side of the screen to turn left and the right hand side to turn right. There's none of that fumbling around trying to re-align your thumbs or stabbing at and missing virtual buttons. It feels instinctive, natural and most importantly for games like this, really responsive. Revs felt like the first racing game I've played on iPhone where I could control my car to a satisfactory level instead of constantly over-compensating or missing my mark with the clumsily implemented controls.
Unfortunately though, Big Head Games' back-to-basics approach is taken to its fullest extreme when it comes to Revs' sound effects, or lack thereof. Each race is a desperately desolate and silent experience limited to the odd electronic beep every time you collect the cash bonuses strewn across each level, or a quick swoosh when you collect a nitro boost. And that's it. There's no funky chip-music soundtrack, gravelly engine roar or digitised voice samples. A fact that unfortunately serves only to lower its score from a cast-iron 5, to a still highly recommended 4.
If you loved Super RC Pro Am, Crazy Iron Man Ivan's Off-Road Racing or any of those retro 2D top-down racers, then at 59p there's no question that Revs is an essential purchase. With 8 courses, two modes (Championship and Time Trial), vehicle upgrades, worldwide leader-boards and a glorious visual style that far from making the game look dated, actually enhances it, Rev's is undoubtedly the best 59p you'll spend this month. I look forward to Big Head Games next release with great anticipation.
Chillingo Announces Vampire Origins
News By Drew Bower at 18:29 on 01/02/2010 - 3 comments
Tags: Chillingo, Vampire Origins, Shooter, Van Helsing, Puzzle
You can't beat a nice bit of mindless slaying, can you? Vampire Origins, from prolific publishers Chillingo, is heading to the App Store soon. The game is an atmospheric Gothic styled 3D shooter which places you in the boots of Dracula's arch rival Van Helsing. Assisted by guns and swords, you will face off against legions of underworld creatures.
Combat is taken care of with a simple 'point and click' approach where, as the system suggests, you simply jab a finger at the enemies and Van Helsing will take care of the rest. The idea may sound a little too simple, but as you will see from the video linked below, the fast-paced action keeps you on your nimble toes with little time to spare.
Although Vampire Origins is primarily a balls out action title, there are plenty or puzzles and exploration to keep things interesting.
To whet your appetite for blood, guts and violence, take a look at the gameplay video from developers Ice Hill Entertainment.
Succumb to Daisy Mae's charms on the iPhone
News By Phil May at 13:52 on 01/02/2010 - 0 comments
Tags: Daisy Mae's Alien Buffet, IUGO, twin stick shooter, tits
What better way is there to make an ordinary average twin-stick shooter a bit more special, than by including a female main character with T & A appeal?
IUGO's Daisy Mae's Alien Buffet has a hillbilly chick as its heroine. She's armed to the teeth and ready to defend her trailer park against rampaging alien hordes.
Featuring spectacular bosses, unlockable weapons and costumes, and of course plenty of risque gags and suggestive taunts, Daisy Mae's Alien Buffet is sure to be a big hit amongst a certain section of the iPhone-owning fraternity.
Wanna see? Here you go, weirdo:
Assassin's Creed II: Discovery sneaks onto the iTunes app store
News By Phil May at 12:55 on 01/02/2010 - 0 comments
Tags: Assassins Creed, Discovery, iPhone, iPod Touch, Ubisoft
Innovative controls, all new visuals. What's not to love about Ubisoft's mini version of Assassin's Creed II - subtitled "Discovery"?
Well the price is a bit steep but Ubisoft assure us that it's a big and proper iPhone game, not some lightweight pretender to the throne.
With its new left to right slidey control apparently offering a non-obscuring way of controlling Ezio's athletics, there's no lite version so you'll have to lay your sexy money down if you want to find out just how well it works.
Here's a handy dandy iTunes store link (£5.99)
ABC Alphabet Soup mini review
News By Phil May at 08:30 on 01/02/2010 - 4 comments
Tags: ABC Alphabet Soup, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, RoDen Apps
I'm pretty sure that Alphabetti Spaghetti was banned at our school or at least on the rare occasions it was served, all the Fs and Cs were taken out to make sure impressionable little scrotes didn't make rude words out of their lunch.
ABC Alphabet Soup brings a neat little presentation twist to the iPhone word game genre, by giving you a rich tasty broth filled with pasta letters. You're given a selection of blank word spaces, and it's up to you to use your mix of tasty tomatoey letters to fill the word spaces up with as many words as possible. Get the lot and you win the level, the game and the undying love of Sir Charles Thackeray-Newman.
ABC Alphabet Soup would suit younger players thanks to its attractive and colourful design, but that's not to say that older wordsmiths won't find plenty to get their teeth into. Like newspaper word puzzles, the selection of letters you're given can actually make one long word if you're smart enough to figure it out, the real challenge comes in trying to work out what all the missing words are that you can make from your letter selection, without resorting to the game's hint system to cheat a little.
Hints will fill in some of the blanks on your napkin-based word grid, helping you to figure out what you're missing (range from 3 to 6 letters in length).
Tapping and dragging your soupy letters into place on the side of your bowl is extremely satisfying, and the game's extremely cute and a nice change from the usual stale and boring wordgame setups.
The full version offers more words to find and more variety but the free version's pretty good too so definitely try before you buy. As it stands though, ABC Alphabet Soup is a neat little touch game and a tasty recipe for commuting fun.
Dang, there's no YouTube footage but this will do instead :)
Lite Non fat Diet Version (Free)
Full Fat Lardy Version (59p)
Implode! Nature mini review
News By Phil May at 08:18 on 01/02/2010 - 0 comments
Tags: Implode! Nature, Iugo Entertainment, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
Implode! Nature
Let's face it, blowing stuff up is fun, and any game that allows you to vent your destructive side automatically gets a few brownie points.
Physics-based games are ten a penny on the iPhone, so when you stumble across a good one it's your rightful duty to tell everyone about it, so that's exactly what I'm doing with Implode! Nature from Iugo Entertainment.
Presented in a weird chalkboard / blueprint style, the core objective of Implode! Nature is to bring a structure crashing to the ground using a few well placed explosive charges. In essence it might sound a little like Castle Crashers but instead of relying on the unpredictable nature of a trebuchet loaded with projectiles, you get to be a little more hands-on, strapping explosives directly to supporting beams within a free-standing structure.
Though it's easy enough to bring a building down, the trick is to get the heap of debris created by your explosion down below a target level. This isn't as easy as it sounds when you realise you have to start thinking about how the building is going to fall.
Thankfully Implode! Nature features a stack of different explosive types from shaped and directional charges to sodding huge barrels of TNT for maximum splodability (is that a word? It is now). But don't get too smug. Later levels in the game also task you with avoiding dropping blocks and frames into water, and there are other sneaky level designs to twist your demolition-obsessed brain around later in the game too.
Implode! Nature does feel a tad easy at first, and feels slightly repetitive due to the lack of variety in graphics, but the free version has more than enough gameplay to keep you working out the best ways to flatten architecture, long into the wee small hours. The full version has more levels and embellishments but if you can put up with the nag screens in the lite version you might find it's all you need.
A superb little game though all the same, and once again the type of game you'd love to see on XBLA or PSN. Beats the hell out of me why physics gaming seems to be the realm of the iPhone but there y'go.
iTunes Store Link (free)
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