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Let’s be real, here: Chair Entertainment could toss out a fart app on the App Store and make millions upon millions of dollars. Its previous game, Infinity Blade [$5.99] , is hot and people tend to flock to follow-up titles — regardless if they’re good or not. Chair wouldn’t sink that kind of money grabbing, though. That’s not how the studio rolls. Good design is tops, which is why we probably won’t see a Shadow Complex for iOS.

"I still cannot think of a way that we'd be able to bring over the precision controls [to touch screen devices] that Shadow Complex needs to be amazing," Mustard told Euro publication Eurogamer in a recent chat. "If you or any of your readers have some amazing control scheme idea that would work on a touch screen, let me know.

A few months back, Mustard kept the idea of Shadow Complex for the iOS open as a possibility in a conversation with us. If you read between the lines in the above, the man is still doing that. But, I think he’s becoming at least a little more frigid on the idea of a touch version of the Metroid-style action title, as he still hasn't figured out a way to translate the game to iOS.

"Shadow Complex is designed for a controller,” he told Eurogamer. “I'm not a fan of trying to shoehorn console controls onto touch screens. They don't feel right. You just lose so much precision." In his conversation with us, Mustard elaborated, “For me — this is what it comes down to, if it can't be amazing, then I don't want to do it. I don't want to shoehorn controls in. I don't want to force it.”

So, will we see Shadow Complex on iOS? No, probably not. It was a game made for the controller and the iPad and iPoud Touch, as miraculous as they are, do not have on-board, physical means of tactile control. That doesn’t mean we won’t see a Shadow Complex runner or a turn-based RPG, though… Oh, crap, I just got myself excited!

[Via Eurogamer]

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Hey there, do you like over-the-top action movies from the 80s and early 90s? And do you like pinball? Have you always dreamed that both of these things could be magically fused together in a game for your favorite iOS device? Well Gameprom is ready to make your dreams come true with their upcoming game War Pinball HD.

Gameprom has been one of the preeminent pinball developers for iOS, with their Wild West [99¢], The Deep [99¢], Jungle Style [99¢], and Slayer Rocks [$2.99] pinball games all garnering huge download numbers and earning many fans. All of these games are available individually or in a single app called Pinball HD [99¢/HD]. Two hallmarks of Gameprom’s pinball games have been really solid physics behavior, which can often make or break a pinball video game, and impressive graphics which are rendered in full 3D.

War Pinball will retain these hallmarks, and I was able to play a preview build of the game at GDC a couple of weeks ago. If you’ve played any of Gameprom’s previous pinball games, War Pinball feels very in line with those experiences, which is to say it’s a lot of fun. What really surprised and delighted me was the theme of the game. War Pinball will contain 3 separate tables, each one crafted after a war-themed action movie. There’s one based on Platoon, one for Navy Seals, and one for Missing in Action which features prominent Chuck Norris decor.

The first trailer for War Pinball doesn’t show off a ton of gameplay, but in true action movie form it features a montage of all 3 tables:

War Pinball was looking great when I checked it out at GDC, and I’ve been enjoying a preview build on my iPhone ever since. The evolution of Gameprom’s pinball creating prowess is clear in each new game, as War Pinball is a much more complex and strategic game in comparison to the relatively simplistic Wild West Pinball. The game has already been finished and shipped off to Apple for review, complete with optimizations for the new iPad 2, so we’ll be keeping our eyes out for it to hit the App Store soon.

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We're just one day away from the iPad 2 launch, as every schoolchild knows, but early reviews of the unit have already begun to appear, and they all indicate that the iPad 2 is notably faster than its predecessor. No surprise there, given Apple's claims that the iPad 2 features "up to 2x faster CPU" and "up to 9x faster graphics," as compared to the original iPad.

But, how fast is it, really?

As gamers, we're quite anxious to see just how well Apple's new tablet can push the pixels and polygons with its A5 processor. This new system-on-a-chip features 512MB of RAM, two (dynamic-stepping) 1GHz CPU cores — ARM Cortex A9-based — and a new graphics subsystem, which almost certainly utilizes at least one Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX543 core, the same GPU used in Sony's upcoming NGP (in quad-core GPU configuration).

Until game developers widely get their hands on the new device, we can only look to early benchmarks taken on the few press evaluation units Apple has provided to key media, in order to try and glean a feel for the iPad 2's performance as a game platform. Happily, developers will be able to grab their iPad 2 just over 24 hours from now, but as those are going to be a long and painful 24 hours, let's take a look at some benchmark data.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball has posted one of the aforementioned iPad 2 reviews, in which he shares his reactions to the device as well as some benchmark numbers. And, Gruber's suite of benchmarks is a little more interesting than most that we've seen so far.

He posts the results of the Sunspider JavaScript benchmark that everybody with an iPad 2 has been running, for both the iPad and iPad 2, showing the latter to come out on top due both to improved hardware and, more directly, iOS 4.3's bundling of Apple's Nitro JavaScript engine into the iOS 4.3 version of Mobile Safari. He posts Geekbench results, as well, which show the iPad 2 performing 159% faster than the original iPad, overall. But, what's rather more interesting are the results of a benchmark custom-coded by Guy English of Kickingbear (who did some work on Tap Tap Revenge), written to measure specifically the graphics capabilities of the iPad 2, from a developer's perspective.

The custom benchmark in question renders thousands of sprites moving about the screen, with gravity, while tracking up to three touch points. The results show the iPad 2's graphics improvements to go well beyond simply those of the dual-core CPU.

For example, on my original iPad, with 200 on-screen sprites, the framerate dropped to 45 fps. On the iPad 2, with 400 on-screen sprites, the framerate remained at 65 fps. On the iPad 1, Guy’s demo app dropped below 60 fps with about 100 animated sprites; on the iPad 2, it didn’t drop below 60 fps until there were over 750 animated sprites.

After I showed him the results, Guy told me, “The results show that the iPad 2 is easily about twice as powerful as the original and that this speed gain is a freebie — you don’t need to change your code structure in order to see significant gains. The differences in the amount of time spent rendering indicates that the GPU is really much faster than the original."

English indicates that the original iPad has a comparatively weak fill-rate and that the new device's much more powerful graphics subsystem should allow for some really incredible visuals in games and applications written (or updated) to take advantage of the native hardware.

"Up to 9x faster graphics"? Based on what these benchmarks are showing, it doesn't seem that Apple's claim is too wide of the mark. And, I'm guessing that there's more than one PowerVR core in that A5. (I tried, but was unable to squeeze any clarifying info out of the Imagination Technologies folks on the GDC expo floor.) We'll find out soon enough. But, whatever the case, it's clear that the iPad 2 is going to be an iOS gaming powerhouse. Developers, your work is cut out for you.

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About a month ago, we were somewhat surprised by the announcement that the arcade classic Double Dragon would be getting an enhanced iOS remake. I’m a huge fan of the Double Dragon series, both in the arcade and at home with the many console ports and sequels, and to be perfectly honest I wasn’t that excited by the news. I didn’t really dig the new graphics, and I was definitely not a fan of the virtual controller that took up the bottom third of the screen. I’m all for big name titles coming to iOS, but in this case it seemed that my nostalgia for Double Dragon was poised to get dragged through the mud.

Then last week, Double Dragon [$3.99] quietly snuck into the App Store, and with the madness of GDC coming to an end I’ve finally had a chance to spend some quality time with the game. Not only was I pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed this new Double Dragon, but I’ll even go as far as saying that it’s easily my favorite beat-em-up in the App Store. It just goes to show that you really can’t ever judge a book by its cover.

Double Dragon on iOS is developed  Brizo Interactive, who are also responsible for the somewhat obscure version of Double Dragon on the Zeebo. The iOS version is loosely based on the Zeebo one, meaning that it has 4 levels that somewhat resemble the arcade originals plus 2 completely new levels unique to the remake. Also, there is a huge assortment of bosses and enemies to unlock in addition to the main characters Billy and Jimmy Lee, making for a whopping total of 26 playable characters.

The gameplay remains true to the Double Dragon series as you travel from left to right through the 6 levels section by section, taking on countless waves of thugs and squaring up against a boss at the end of each level. You can choose to take on the game solo or with a buddy in local Bluetooth co-op multiplayer, which is insanely fun and works like a dream in my experience. There’s also a Time Attack mode where you can play any of the 6 levels individually for the highest score and fastest time. All of these modes have associated leaderboards through Game Center, but unfortunately something seems to be screwy with that function as I’m not able to access any of them.

Despite the additional 2 levels over the original Double Dragon, the iOS version won’t take long to complete. Brizo compensates for this nicely by adding incentive to play through the game multiple times. There’s the 24 extra characters to unlock, and even though their move sets aren’t as robust as what Billy and Jimmy have, it’s still really fun to play through the game as one of the various henchmen or boss characters. There are also a ton of achievements to earn by completing all sorts of different tasks in the game. Even though the Game Center integration is currently broken, the achievements are also accessible in-game and I’ve been having a great time trying to get them all.

Given that Double Dragon is a button masher by nature, there have been concerns on how well this will translate to the touch screen. Thankfully the controls here are as good as virtual d-pads and buttons can be, which is to say that there is the occasional misfire but nothing earth-shattering. There's even the option for either a 4 button control scheme or a simplified 3 button setup, which makes the game considerably easier to play but also limits which moves you're able to do. Some players in our forums have complained that the controls are too small, but I personally haven’t felt that this is a problem.

What is a problem, however, is the awful looking overlay where the buttons are placed. This overlay takes up a good portion of the screen and can even block enemy positions or pits that lead to instant death. For the most part it stays out of the way, but when the overlay does block the action it can be an incredibly frustrating experience. An alternate overlay or even the option to increase the transparency would be a really welcome addition.

I am firmly a fan of this new Double Dragon and stand corrected by my initial judgment from our first preview. The redone graphics actually look fantastic, giving the game an almost comic book style that retains a retro feel. The controls are more than adequate and the fighting system is fairly deep, with experience earned from playing going towards unlocking an assortment of new moves. Coupled with unlocking new characters and achievements, there’s actually quite a bit to do in Double Dragon for such a fundamentally short game.

If the developer can sort out the Game Center and control overlay problems, I really wouldn’t have anything to complain about with Double Dragon. If you like beat-em-up arcade games and can deal with the changes from the original Double Dragon, you’ll likely find this version a highly enjoyable title. It’s currently on an introductory sale of $3.99 but will increase to $7.99 before long, so if you have any interest in the new Double Dragon for iOS then now might be the best time to pick it up.

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An interesting trailer just passed through our inbox for an upcoming platforming game called Mos Speedrun. The game is being developed by Physmo, who have previously released Seaglass [99¢/HD] in the App Store, and it caught our attention with its focus on completing levels as fast as possible. It appears that just one hit will kill the character known as Mos, and the ghosts from your previous attempts will be running alongside you in the background to give you a means of measuring how well you’re doing in your current run (though this feature can be turned off if you choose).

Physmo promises a simple to use two button control scheme for working your way through the initial 20 levels, with additional level packs already planned for updates. Each level will have multiple goals to shoot for too, like strictly finishing as fast as possible, collecting every coin and item, or finding all the hidden skulls spread throughout. There is also the possibility of sharing ghost data online so you can take on your friends’ best runs, but this feature won’t make it into the initial release.

Mos Speedrun has a really nice 8-bit style and reminds me a bit of one of my other favorite iOS platformers League of Evil [$1.99/Lite]. That game proved that you can have tight controls using virtual buttons and it also had a focus on completing levels as quickly as possible. If Mos Speedrun can offer a similar experience with even just a fraction of the execution of League of Evil, then we may have another winner on our hands. Physmo only hints that Mos Speedrun is close to completion and doesn’t offer a solid release date, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled for it to hit the App Store hopefully sooner than later.

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French iPhone blog iPhon.fr recently managed to snag a hands-on of Gameloft's upcoming Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard. Yesterday we posted the game's trailer, along with the announcement of the release date which just so happens to be next Thursday.

I would have loved to see some of the co-op in action, as the game comes packed with three player online co-op as well as ten player online multiplayer. Regardless, it's cool to see the game in action and only serves to further point out how difficult it's going to be to choose which two friends of mine I want to blast through the game in co-op mode with first.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard is a first person shooter set in the Tom Clancy universe. The Rainbow Six series of games historically have been fairly awesome and packed with tight urban squad-based combat, so I'm really hopeful for this one.

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Grumpyface Studios released their first iOS game called Wispin [$1.99/Lite] for the iPhone and iPod touch last November. Wispin is a unique take on arcade-style arena battling games and used a color coded system of combat that had you matching the colors of your foes in order to defeat them. The gameplay was fun and decidedly different from any similar games, and the wonderful art style gave it a certain charm that was hard not to like.

While we really enjoyed the game in our original review, there were a few hiccups associated with a first time release, mostly dealing with finicky controls. Grumpyface updated Wispin several times since then, incrementally improving the entire experience and tightening up the controls. The culmination of this was the 1.1 version released in early February which finally struck upon a solid feel for the controls as well as added a brand new level, a new enemy, and an assortment of other goodies.

With all the rough edges finally smoothed away, Grumpyface went to work on a native iPad release of Wispin which has just gone live in the App Store. Wispin HD [$2.99] retains all the core elements of its iPhone counterpart but comes with a few iPad-only features to accommodate the device’s larger screen. Each level is expanded accordingly to fit within the larger play area, and the controls are now completely customizable with the ability to drag and place them wherever you choose.

There’s not currently a video of the iPad version as its too new, but if you’re completely unfamiliar with Wispin then the original trailer will give you a good idea of the game:

Wispin has remained one of my favorite games since its release, and now iPad owners have the ability to experience it in a version that is tailored for their device. There is a ton of fast-paced and strategic gameplay in Wispin, with achievements and leaderboards using Game Center that will have you giving it “just one more go” for a new high score. There are plenty more positive impressions in our forums, and if you’ve been holding off on Wispin until an iPad version was released then now is your chance to get in on the action.

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You know I'm not a fan of proof of concept stuff. It’s just no use to you, as the consumer, to be exposed to mechanics that might not make it into the final build of an iOS game (if the game makes it out at all). But in talking with Cale Force Logic this morning at GDC in San Francisco, I got a strong vibe in, at least, the direction of their upcoming game Pocket Aces that I’d like to share.

Cale Force thinks there’s a market out there of older gamers with the cash for games, but not the time required to really dig into them. So, their games will cater to this audience. Pocket Aces, at least for right now, does demonstrate how they will.

Pocket Aces is, basically, a card game with casino hub worlds. The game's basic narrative supports this hub structure: you'll play as a detective investigating the death of a New Orleans councilman, and your travels will have you rolling around in a variety of casinos. What triggers progress is the card play. I saw Blackjack in action and poker will be included, too.

But how does it cater to this audience of dudes with limited time? Getting into card games is super snappy — while purposeful or not, Cale Force didn't incorporate any elaborate dealing animations into the game and there's no UI to speak of; click, deal, hit or stay, and get your card. If you've played other games with card games bolted on to them, like, say, Red Dead Redemption, you know how dragged down the card action can get when developers pile on supplemental animations and nonsense elements.

Pocket Aces, as a whole, is a little like Epic Citadel [Free] (it uses the UDK, actually). It's first-person and you'll rove around environments in full 3D with the same basic movement mechanics. The effects I saw were rough and the same for the visuals, so this is definitely a wait-and-see kind of project.

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So, earlier at GDC in San Francisco I went hands-on with an upcoming puzzle title called Daddy’s Dojo. Don’t read into that playful, unconventional name — it offers more depth than you’d figure, but also offers the ease of play that it should.

In a nutshell, Daddy’s Dojo is about moving pegs to their appropriate holes. The catch is that each space a peg has previously occupied becomes a space that can no longer be used by future pegs within the same level. And as the progression ramps up, more unusual obstacles will meet you: elemental pegs that can only travel and land in certain places and also arrows that allow you to teleport across the board.

So, yeah, it’s a traditional type of puzzle game. Here’s a video of it in action starring the sultry tones of one of the developers who showed it off to me. You’ll get a better sense of the game when you check this out:

A couple of things to note: the target release date is April and the team plans to throw it out on the App Store for a penny shy of a dollar. An HD version is in the works too, and while it’ll cost a bit more, it’ll also offer some different content on top of the iPod touch and iPhone stuff you see above.

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I’m not a huge fan of posting about proof of concept demos. Games evolve during the design phase, and mechanics, whether promising or not, tend to disappear. But I have to share what I saw earlier last afternoon, an ambitious puzzle / adventure game dubbed MacGuffin’s Curse. It smells like the kind of game I’ll be able to dig for long stretches, and it definitely has a fun art style.

The concept art I’ll share below, unfortunately, won't give you a taste of the action. But in a nutshell, MacGuffin's Curse is a top-down puzzle game in which you’ll be tasked with moving a special object within the confines of a singular, locked room. Think: older puzzle games. In this specific case, though, you’ll be moving around batteries as one of two different characters: a man and his werewolf alter ego — the dynamic here is a weak, cunning character versus a strength-based avatar. You'll be able to switch to the wolf when the sun goes down.

What I saw this afternoon was early, so nothing really feels “confirmed” to me, but the devs, Brawsome, told me that the game would support a rich hint system and over 150 rooms to figure out, and that includes side-missions. Look for the game later this October at a premium-ish price point on the iPad.

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