News By Richard Horne at 23:37 on 27/07/2010 - 2 comments
Tags: We Rule, Farm, ngmoco, Update, Free
ngmoco's hugely popular farming sim We Rule has been updated yet again with its level-cap now raised to 35.
There're also additional crops which can be harvested for extra cash and XP including: blueberries, honey-dew melon, sunflowers, dragon fruit and cat whiskers.
New structures include the Red Dragon Lair - only available at level 35, as well as the level 16 coach house.
We reviewed We Rule some time ago, scoring it 3/5, and criticising it for its ultimately pointless gameplay with no apparent end in sight. Ironically, this update serves only to reconfirm that statement.
Let us know if you're still playing. I personally stopped at level 26.
Reckless ('Deliverace') Racing now apparently backed by EA's developer program
News By Phil May at 13:56 on 22/07/2010 - 6 comments
Tags: Reckless Racing, EA, Pixelbite, Deliverace, iphone ipad ipod touch
Don't panic, it's not an iPad-only game but Pixelbite have obviously impressed the socks off EA with Reckless Racing. So much so that the game is now an EA distributed title and falls under their developer program.
What does this mean? Not a lot but it means it actually exists, and players who've gone hands on with the game for the first time at comic-con have been playing it using iPads and retina display resolutions to good effect.
Pixelbite's top-down racer looks absolutely gorgeous and the iPad version seems to have some sort of "everyone pick a corner" multiplayer mode. Sounds like a lot of fun.
Once again no one wants to nail their colours to the mast of a release date, but don't be surprised if you see that sucker turning up on iTunes with the usual EA price of around £4.99 sometime very soon.
Meanwhile here's a new screenshot to feast your peepers on. Sexy isn't it.
Goldarn it I've probably run this trailer before but here it is again just to remind you how bloody great this game looks:
Scarabeus - Pearls of the Nile brings a touch of egyptian puzzling to your iPhone
News By Phil May at 14:55 on 21/07/2010 - 0 comments
Tags: Scarabeus, Pearls of the Nile, Digital Reality, Catmoon Studios, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
Though I'm slightly disappointed this isn't a revival of the classic C64 / Ariolasoft game Scarabeus, it's welcome nonetheless. Digital Reality and Catmoon studios have collaborated to bring Scarabeus - Pearls of the Nile to the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Mixing some neat Egyptian visuals with a ton of devilish puzzling, the game will be released on the 22nd July. Wait a second, that's tomorrow by the way. Get in.
The game will cost £1.79 on the UK iTunes App store.
Screenshots below for your delectation and now updated with a trailer too:
Jim and Frank Mysteries - The Blood River Files Review
Review By Drew Bower at 10:13 on 20/07/2010 - 5 comments
Tags: Jim and Frank Mysteries, Chillingo, 99 Games, Professor Layton, Puzzles
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Charles Caleb Colton apparently coined this phrase, and he was pretty darn bang on the money with it. The world of videogames is littered with many, er, let’s call them ‘homages’ to the greats. Tetris clones for example, are ten a penny and there have been many imitations of Super Mario.
Considering the success of the Professor Layton games on Nintendo’s DS, it’s something of a surprise that so long has been taken for someone to create a similar styled game for the iPhone. 99 Games and Chillingo have finally spotted the glaring gap in the market and delivered The Jim and Frank Mysteries: The Blood River Files for your favourite Apple touch-screen device.
To say that The Jim and Frank Mysteries: TBRF has been inspired by the Layton games is something of an understatement. The art style and gameplay are very similar as are the puzzles and tasks. That said, if the game is good fun to play, then that really doesn’t matter a jot. And thankfully it is good fun - very good fun, in fact.
The story follows friends Jim and Frank as they embark on Jim’s traditional birthday quest set out by his grandfather. The quest sees them take on a constant barrage of puzzles that include logical, mathematical and physical in order to progress. Puzzles usually tie in with doing a helpful deed for someone and thus sometimes can be a little tenuously linked. For instance, helping a policeman work out the order a thief has robbed a 4x4 grid of houses, by tracing six contiguous lines over them all.
There are plenty of story puzzles to wrap your noggin around. From classic block sliding to mathematical equations they are presented nicely and often imaginatively. It’s very satisfying when you work out a puzzle quickly and more so when you stream off 4 or 5 in succession. There are a couple of negatives that I should point out though. Sometimes the wording of a puzzle’s information can be a little vague but a dash common sense is usually the simple answer to that problem. A little less forgivable comes when a puzzle has more than one solution. The aforementioned house thief for example has 15 (according to a quick Google search, anyway) possible solutions. When I worked out my first answer, the game frustratingly told me it was wrong and docked points. This really shouldn’t happen in a game of this nature. Thankfully, these situations are very few and far between.
To assist in working out puzzles, you have access to a blank notes page where you can scribble down anything you think might be useful. I also found a lot of enjoyment from using other real life methods to work out answers. Such as setting up a spreadsheet to work out a mother and daughter’s ages or cutting out a cardboard cube to work out how the symbols on each side line up.
Even Layton veterans are likely to get stumped at some point and this is where ‘Eureka’ hints come into play. Hidden amongst each beautifully hand drawn scene are two eurekas. To collect, you simply tap them and they are added to the collection in your satchel. You can then spend Eurekas on hints or you can buy your way past a puzzle completely. There are more than enough hidden Eurekas to get you through the game, but if you run out, more can be brought via an in-app purchase.
Aside from the story puzzles, you will occasionally be awarded with a cue card. These feature a cartoon scene with a short phrase. The final word is blanked out and you must fill it in by firstly unscrambling 4 short words and then using the highlighted letters to un-jumble the missing word.
The Jim and Frank Mysteries is an excellent game in its own right, no matter what the similarities are to a certain Professor Layton. Whilst there are a few frustrating moments that can cause a grumble, the good parts easily outweigh them. With over 60 puzzles to set your mind into action, the game will keep you occupied for many hours and at the current launch price of 59p, is a complete no-brainer purchase.
Fancy recreating that horny scene from Ghost on your iPad
News By Phil May at 08:03 on 20/07/2010 - 2 comments
Tags: Let's Create! Pottery, iPad, Infinite Dreams, Bong, Hemp
Well this is my game of the year, absolutely no doubt about it. Bringing back memories of those heady schooldays where your art teacher would slap a giant ball of brown crud onto your worktable - THEN tell you it was time to go and get some clay out of the cupboard and make pots, the iPhone app "Let's create! Pottery" does exactly that. Lets you make pottery.
You take your rough misshapen lump of clay and using your deft fingers, shape it on a potter's wheel into a fantastic and bizarre pot design. Next, you fire it up in the kiln (if it's anything like any of my efforts it then spontaneously explodes and takes everyone else's pots with it). Lastly you can paint your creations in a variety of colours and designs.
It's mental. It truly is mental that something like this exists but here's a great little trailer. You know what though, for all my mocking tones I am having a copy of this and I'm going to sit on the bus turning pots like a smelly lentil-eating old hippie.
Utterly utterly awesome.
Plants vs. Zombies coming to XBLA this summer
News By Richard Horne at 19:30 on 19/07/2010 - 0 comments
Tags: Plants vs. Zombies, PopCap Games, XBLA, Tower Defense, Realtime Strategy
PopCap has announced that its much-loved take on the realtime strategy/tower defense genre, the delightful Plants vs. Zombies, is coming to Xbox Live Arcade this September.
Costing 1200 Microsoft Points (£10.20), it's the first time the game has been released in true high-definition, though anyone that tries to convince you that this game requires it, has been smoking some plants of their own.
The XBLA version features co-op and versus multiplayer, 12 achievements and 21 mini-games.
Achievements can be read in their entirety below, if you're that way inclined:
Home Lawn Security 25
Complete adventure mode
Master of Morticulture 25
Collect all 49 plants in the game
Smarty Branches 15
Grow the Tree of Wisdom to at least 100 feet
Crash of the Titan 10
Defeat your first Gargantuar
ZFF's 4 Evr 20
Bowl a winner with a friend in Co-Op Wall-Nut Bowling
Alive and Planting 25
Survive 40 waves of pure zombie ferocity
Soil Your Plants 10
Plant your first 10 peashooters
Versus vs Versus 15
Go on a 5 game winning streak in VS. mode
Explodonator 20
Blast 10 zombies at once with a Cherry Bomb!
Close Shave 15
Win any level after all 5 lawnmowers have been used
Shopaholic 10
Go trunk diving and spend at least $25,000 on Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies
Nom Nom Nom 10
Stop the horde using only the Sunflower, Wallnut, and Chomper on any level
Cave releasing Do-Don-Pachi Dai-Fukkatsu on iPhone this summer
News By Richard Horne at 19:19 on 19/07/2010 - 3 comments
Tags: Cave, Do-Don-Pachi Dai Fukkatu, Bullet-Hell, ESPGALUDA II, Shmup
Fabled Japanese shoot-em-up (shmup) developer Cave has revealed that its popular arcade title Do-Don-Pachi Dai-Fukkatsu will be released on the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad via the iTunes App store this summer.
After its success with the marvellous ESPGALUDA II, Do-Don-Pachi follows in the same mould and delivers a bullet-hell experience unlike no other.
As per Cave's previous release, Do-Don-Pachi is only compatible with third and fourth generation devices and so will not work on the iPhone 2G or iPod Touch generations 1 and 2.
No word on pricing or a concrete release date, but a price-point similar if not identical to ESPGALUDA II's ($8.99) seems fairly expected.
Cowboys vs. Zombies Shuffling its way to iPhone shortly
News By Richard Horne at 16:06 on 15/07/2010 - 1 comment
Tags: Cowboys vs. Zombies, Tall Chair, Tower Defense, 3D
Developer Tall Chair has revealed via its Facebook page that its alternative take on the tower defense genre, Cowboys vs. Zombies, has been submitted to Apple for iTunes App Store approval.
Instead of viewing the action from a 2D overhead perspective ala FieldRunners et al, Cowboys vs. Zombies takes the Crash Bandicoot approach to 3D action and sees you defending a route that snakes off into the distance. It's one of those things that's hard to describe but easy to understand.
Check out the official trailer below and we look forward to its imminent release.
Play SNES games using Wii Remote on your iPad
News By Richard Horne at 21:18 on 13/07/2010 - 0 comments
Tags: SNES Emulator, snes4iphone, Jailbreak, Super Mario Kart, LifeHacker
You remember when Nintendo was banging the whole connectivity drum? Well we're not sure this is exactly what they had in mind, but nonetheless, what follows is a cool and useless hack that is bound to give you nostalgic pangs.
The guys over at LifeHacker have just released a guide that outlines, quite simply, how to run a SNES emulator on your Jailbroken iPad, and perhaps best of all, control it using a Wii Remote connected via BlueTooth to your iPad.
The SNES emulation software is called snes4iPhone and has to be purchased for $5.99 from the Cydia store - Cydia is a program that gets installed after JailBreaking your device. And other than that, that's about all you need. Looks easy enough to do and I'm sure SNES games will look glorious on the iPad.
Luigi's Mansion returning in 3D?
News By Richard Horne at 11:12 on 13/07/2010 - 1 comment
Tags: Luigi's Mansion, 3DS, Hideki Konno, Nintendo, Portable Gaming
Nintendo producer Hideki Konno, while to speaking to Wired this week, revealed that Nintendo actually had glasses-free prototypes of its 3D technology as far back as the GameCube days.
Nintendo has been experimenting with 3D since the early NES days and has trialled it in many diifferent formats with varying levels of success. It's only recently that it's been satisfied with the results and confident enough to take the development further, hence the reveal of the 3DS.
Perhaps most interestingly, Konno also added that a 3D version of the much-loved but low-selling Luigi's Mansion was even developed. Could this see a return on Nintendo' new hand-held?
Would we even care?
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