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If roleplaying games are your cup of tea, I would find it to be impossible to believe that you've never heard of Atlus, or if the name isn't immediately recognizable, surely you've played an Atlus game at some point in your life. Originally founded in 1986, this Tokyo-based developer (and publisher) have been responsible for quite a number of games on nearly every console going all the way back to the NES. Like many Japanese developers, games of theirs we see in the USA are filtered through an American subsidiary and the games released by Atlus USA are only a small sampling of what is actually available in the East. Their most recognizable US releases are likely the Tactics Ogre series (which I'd love to see on the App Store) and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness.

Published via Nate Games, a somewhat confusing spinoff of South Korean telecommunications operator SK Telecom comes the even more confusing iPhone port of the PSP game Crimson Gem Saga [$9.99]. Crimson Gem Saga is actually the sequel to an RPG called Astonishia Story, originally published in South Korea by SK Telecom as Astonishia Story 2, then as Garnet Chronicle in Japan, and finally as Crimson Gem Saga in North America. The reasoning behind all this odd name swapping is that even though the story is actually continued from Astonishia Story, quite a few of the game's mechanics were changed, and somehow, somewhere, someone thought three different titles for the same game would make this less confusing.

Despite this twisted web of renaming and publishing, Crimson Gem Saga actually was reviewed quite well when it was originally released on the PSP. Sporting a metascore of 78 and a user score of 8.2 over on Metacritic, the gaming media seemed to enjoy the turn-based gameplay even though the game itself doesn't do anything particularly new or exciting in either the gameplay or storytelling departments.

We're still working on our review of the game, as any game that boasts over 30 hours of gameplay is going to take some time to review, but initial impressions in our forums seem mostly positive with the main issues centralizing around the somewhat expected clunky nature of the port as the game went from the physical controls of the PSP to the virtual controls of the iPhone. Clumsy controls aside, Crimson Gem Saga on the iPhone is the same game available currently on the PSP which sells for three times as much.

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This afternoon I chatted with Brian Howard, founder of InMotion Software, who explained that the next iteration of the I Dig It series was submitted to the App Store today. After downloading a preview build of the game and installing it on my iPad, I can say with utmost confidence that iPad-owning fans of the I Dig It games are going to be in for a treat.

If this is the first you've heard of these games, here's what you've been missing: Around the time of WWDC last year, the original I Dig It [99¢] hit the App Store, and if it wasn't for a surprising amount of people talking about the game at the event, it likely would have never even appeared on our radar at all. In the game, you pilot a retrofitted farm tractor turned subterranean digger in attempts to raise $100,000 to save the family farm. Luckily, the ground under said farm is absolutely chock full of valuable things to dig up, and gameplay amounts to drilling tunnels, collecting diggin's, and selling your spoils to purchase various upgrades for your digger.

I Dig It was a huge success, topping the iTunes sales charts in a number of countries including the United States, so a sequel was only natural. I Dig It Expeditions [$2.99 / Free came next, expanding on the original gameplay of I Dig It as you take your digger on the road and search for archeological treasures in exotic locations such as the Antarctic tundra, the South American Amazon, and even under the ocean.

We loved both games in our reviews (I Dig It, I Dig It Expeditions) and lite version of Expeditions is on my short list of games I automatically recommend to anyone with a new iPhone asking me what games to try. So what's new with the iPad HD edition? Well, first off like many iPad adaptations of iPhone games, you can see substantially more of the game's environment. Also, your digger's radar has been moved from a completely separate screen to a mini-map that is always in the top left corner. These two things alone really improve the game, as being able to see more of your elaborate tunnel system and not needing to page back and forth between the radar makes for a much better overall experience.

The content of I Dig It HD is similar to Expeditions, although not exactly; so even if you've made it all the way through Expeditions, the HD version should still be worth playing. Also, there are new iPad-only challenges not found in the other games. However, the absolute coolest addition to I Dig It HD is the included level editor which fully utilizes the iPad document handling system to allow you to create, share, and import custom levels made by other people.

According to InMotion Software, the editor is what they're calling a beta, and is a little rough around the edges. Regardless, it still works well enough. Much like the document handling of the iWork suite, you can import/export custom levels via iTunes or by either emailing or clicking a link to a .idigit file. Even in its current state, it seems like there is quite a bit of potential if the level sharing community takes off– Something InMotion Software is waiting on to determine how much more development effort to invest in the level sharing and creation system.

As mentioned previously, I Dig It HD has already been submitted to the App Store, and barring any unforeseen rejections or other issues, should be available very soon. As far as how many of these enhancements will make their way to the iPhone, according to Brian Howard, the ability to import community created levels is a "real possibility" but due to differences in screen size they don't see a level editor on the iPhone.

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Apple's surprise announcement of their new social gaming network caught a lot of people by surprise. Most affected by the news were the many social gaming networks that have sprung up on the iPhone over the past 3 years.

OpenFeint was the earliest iPhone Gaming Network and remains the largest one in terms of active developers. We caught up with Jason Citron, founder of OpenFeint, and asked him his reaction to the news (full interview embedded below). OpenFeint seemed to be taking the news in stride and has already issued a press release indicating that they are refocusing their product behind OpenFeint X which was announced this past February.

Personally, Citron believes the move is "a really good thing" for gamers, as he acknowledged that the fragmentation in the market has been difficult for users. In the long run, he expects developers will adopt Apple's solution for leaderboards and achievements. He reports, though, that they plan on continuing to support OpenFeint's implementation and will offer developers and users an easy migration path to Apple's solution when it ultimately goes live. But Citron points out that OpenFeint offers a lot of additional features that don't fall under Apple's Game Center, the most significant one being a OpenFeint X which offers developers tools to build free-to-play games with micro transactions. This so called freemium model has been massively successful on Facebook and is making its way to the iPhone.

Ultimately, Citron believes that they will be able to tie in their features into Apple's Game Center which will allow for a single consolidated login, but from there they can build additional features for developers. He hopes to migrate other OpenFeint features (such as replays) to the new system, but details will have to wait until Apple releases more information about Game Center.

Citron wanted to reassure developers that they are continuing to support OpenFeint and will offer migration paths when Apple finally launches Game Center.

Podcast music provided by Overclocked Remix.

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes or Direct Download (M4A, 14MB)

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Last night Gameloft released their latest game Fishing Kings. We had previewed the game during GDC in March. Fishing Kings uses some proven gameplay mechanics like those found in Flick Fishing, but adds some nice new features and top notch graphics.

When you start the game you are shown an overhead map displaying North and South America. From here there's five different locations you can choose to fish in, with four of them unlocked from the start. The locations include the Bahamas, Lake Erie, New Zealand's longest river the Waikato, Nahuel Huapi lake in Argentina, and finally the Amazon River, which is the one locked location. Each of these fishing areas breaks down into three smaller sub-areas. There's a nice mixture of places to fish, some of which are quite exotic.

Also displayed on the world map are four buttons that include the necessary tools you'd expect from a fishing game. "Tackle" lets you change lures, rods, lines and reels. All of this equipment can be upgraded with the money you earn to assist in reeling in the tougher fish later in the game. "Diary" keeps track of a few different career stats, as well as Gameloft Live achievements and leaderboards. The "Guide" option displays a picture of all the fish you've encountered along with their preferred lure, and finally a "PDA" option let's you know about tournaments and other missions.

The actual fishing mechanics are very similar to Flick Fishing, except everything is in landscape mode. You'll flick your device forward to cast your line, jerk it upwards to set the hook in the fish's mouth, and finally spin a small touch reel to draw the line in.

Where Fishing Kings differentiates itself is in requiring you to tilt your device with the hooked fish's movements so as not to cause too much tension and snap the line. This really adds to the realism and fun of catching fish as you grip your device tightly and swing your arms to and fro trying desperately to not let that sucker break your line. At the same time this makes it much more difficult to catch fish than in Flick Fishing, but far more satisfying. You get the hang of it with practice, and the various upgrades you can buy help make the process easier.

So far Fishing Kings seems to be solid take on iPhone fishing. The fishing works as expected, and is decidedly more fun and interactive than other available titles. As with most Gameloft games, the graphics are quite good and the underwater camera element adds a nice touch. There's also plenty of upgradeable gear and fishing venues to work your way through, as well as tournaments to enter and achievements to unlock. Finally, other early impressions in our forums have also been quite positive.

App Store Link: Fishing Kings, $2.99

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Firemint has let loose gameplay videos for iPad sequels for their massive hits Real Racing and Flight Control.

Real Racing HD

The iPad enhanced version carries enhanced graphics and a number of new features including:

• Car Skins – select photos from your photo album to wrap the images around your selected car
• Ghost Racing – race against a pre-recorded ghost from other players around the world
• Watch replays of their races within the game with different camera angles

Flight Control HD

Meanwhile, Firemint's genre-creating Flight Control also benefits from the large iPad screen with many more features including a 3D-glasses mode.

• Split-screen “versus” mode: play competitively by sending your planes to capture aircraft from your opponent.
• Co-operative multiplayer on a single iPad: share landing duties with a friend on one of three HD airfields.
• Multiplayer on two devices (selected from iPad, iPhone or iPod touch): land aircraft of your own color, and direct others off the screen for your fellow Controller to land.
• New Snow airfield with variable wind direction in addition to the four Classic iPhone airfields (Original, Beach, Carrier and Outback) and three HD airfields, for a total of eight single-player airfields.
• Quirky “3D view” airfield brings Flight Control to life like never before – use red/cyan glasses to see aircraft floating above the iPad (3D glasses not included, widely available from retailers such as amazon.com at low cost).
• Many more enhancements including all-new path continuation, improved collision warnings, a new “safe” fast forward function, and a longer version of the Flight Control song

The two sequels are iPad only and available now.

App Store Links (iPad): Real Racing HD, $9.99, Flight Control HD, $4.99
App Store Links (iPhone/iPod Touch): Real Racing, $4.99, Flight Control, $0.99

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Last week, TouchArcade attended the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2010 in San Francisco, CA. It was an intense and incredibly fun week of developer meetings, parties and events.

We got sneak peeks at a number of games which we've already reported on and a number of unannounced titles that we'll be hearing more about in the near future. Even though GDC officially ended last Saturday, we're still recovering from the trip and catching up on the backlog of games and news that has come out since. We also expect a few more GDC-related posts to trickle out over the next few days.

The iPhone game that seems to have gotten the most buzz at GDC 2010 wasn't even a finished game. Sword and Sworcery definitely wins the prize as the biggest surprise of the trip. In this week's podcast we discuss the reason why the game — even in its unfinished form — seemed to have captured people's imaginations so much.

And our reactions weren't out of the place, as the game has seen a similar reaction amongst other gaming sites as well.

In our GDC Wrapup Podcast we also discuss other interesting games including Sketch Nation, Faraway, Assault Squadron as well as games from Gameloft, Namco and the promise of iPad gaming.

In my mind, the biggest value of these large conferences to developers is the after-hours events and meet ups with other iPhone developers. As much as TouchArcade is a news and review site, it is also a massive community that successfully brings both developers and players together. It's great to meet up in person with TouchArcade forum regulars who happen to also be developers, even if just to say "hi".

Check out our GDC 2010 Wrapup podcast where Blake, Eli and I discuss the most interesting games that we saw.

Podcast music provided by Overclocked Remix.

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes or Direct Download (M4A, 42MB)

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As a followup to yesterday's inteview with ngmoco CEO Neil Young, this morning we spoke with Freeverse President Ian Lynch Smith to hear what the recent purchase of Freeverse by ngmoco means to them. The full audio is attached below, but here is a summary of the talk.

Originally founded in 1994, Freeverse's earliest titles were Mac shareware games. They later branched out in to games for Windows, XBOX Live Arcade, and most recently the iPhone. Freeverse's MotoChaser was one of the few 3D games that launched with the App Store. Also immediately available were Big Bang Sudoku and Jared. They then went on to release a catalog of great iPhone games, both developed in house and and by outside developers published by Freeverse.

Photo by Crain's New York Business

Since the surprise announcement yesterday of ngmoco's purchase of Freeverse, what we've all been wondering is what is going to change. Ngmoco has recently shifted gears to an entirely free to play business model, while Freeverse has been happily releasing massively successful 99¢ games like Skee-Ball and Flick Fishing while working on highly anticipated games such as Warpgate.

The short answer of what is going to change initially is almost nothing, with very little changing in the future aside from the shift in payment models. According to Ian Lynch Smith, they wouldn't have done the deal if it wasn't for the shared vision between both companies, as each of them focus on the iPhone and iPhone OS. This doesn't mean they're abandoning the Mac games, applications, and everything else they do either. Freeverse will remain its own company in Brooklyn, just as a wholly owned subsidiary of ngmoco.

In addition, Freeverse will continue to publish the works of other iPhone developers, with the same level of quality and care we've seen in the past. As Smith put it, "[Ngmoco] did not buy Freeverse to make radical changes. They bought us because of our success, and they bought us because of what we've been doing right."

From Freeverse's perspective, the main motivation behind agreeing to this deal is the immense potential for growth. Through the years they've done everything they could to reach a larger audience, originally starting with shareware, then making the jump to retail shelves, then bringing their games to both the PC and XBOX, and finally jumping on the iPhone.

In regards to ngmoco's recent push to "freemium" games, Smith said, "We wouldn't have done this if we didn't think there wasn't more growth and more possibilities to reach more people in the free to play model." He cites people (now teenagers) who have grown up playing high quality free flash games as well as the massive successes seen in Asian markets as proof that the free to play model works.

Ian seems open to all forms of free to play games currently, including a one-time purchase to unlock all the features and functionality of a game– Something often requested by forum members regarding ngmoco's TouchPets and Eliminate. Freeverse has no intention of "nickel and diming" gamers, and plans on just being smart about how these things are implemented.

While he was reluctant to comment on future game development, when asked if they were still going to provide substantial gameplay experiences for gamers to enjoy instead of Farmville-like games, Smith simply responded "Yes" and mentioned a "substantial game" being discussed behind the scenes.

Freeverse admits they have much to learn about the free to play world, but with the combined expertise of ngmoco, they hope to release compelling games that can be played at no cost to the player, while providing optional in-game purchases for players who spend hours a day playing. They're hoping this will result in games that see the same exponential growth that the iPhone in general has enjoyed, instead of the current linear growth patterns Freeverse sees now.

Prior to this recent acquisition by ngmoco, Freeverse has never had investors and has been profitable on their own for the last 15 years. According to Smith, the main motivation for agreeing to the purchase was to "swing for the fences" and feels we're at a major moment in time, an inflection point, where we're going to see an explosion of mobile gaming.

"At the end of the day, we are just trying to sell our games in a way that lets us grow and continue making more games," Smith explained.

We recommend listening to the entire interview yourself, which is included here.

Podcast music provided by Overclocked Remix.

Interview Audio: Subscribe in iTunes or Direct Download (M4A, 12.9MB)

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Ngmoco's CEO Neil Young took some time to speak with TouchArcade about their just-announced acquisition of Freeverse. The response to the acquisition in our comments and forums has been very lively both about the overall move as well as the adoption of the freemium model.

In the interview, we addressed their choice of Freeverse as a target, as well as their move into freemium content. The full audio recording is included in our podcast format, while a summary is transcribed here.

Addressing why they choose Freeverse, Young was very complimentary about the company and described them as "wonderful people" who shared their vision and values while also having a pool of talented people and intellectual properties that complemented Ngmoco. Freeverse will remain functionally independent and retain the Freeverse brand. According to Young, to the outside world, things won't look very different initially.

One hot topic amongst our readers is Ngmoco's recent move towards a freemium model — where games are free to download and revenue is generated through in-app purchases. The reason for this move was a combination of factors according to Young. Despite the running speculation, the move was not in response to the high piracy rates on the iPhone.

Instead, there were two main factors. First, they felt that there was a large pool of App Store customers who only participated in the free-download side of the store that were not being captured in the traditional model. Young cited download numbers 10-20x higher for the top free apps compared to the paid apps. And, second, in looking into the future of the App Store, they saw a general trend away from higher priced premium games, and towards these type of games that can be played over time.

Interestingly, Young admits that the first incarnations of their freemium models for Eliminate Pro and Touch Pets Dogs were somewhat "clumsy" and "1.0" versions of the model (and to be followed by 2.0, 3.0 etc…). Part of this is attributed to the fact that neither game was originally conceived to be freemium. Young said, however, they have continued to learn and made ongoing adjustments to the model for their upcoming games including God Finger and We Rule, and beyond.

Finally, Young confirms that Freeverse's existing games including the upcoming Warp Gate won't be affected by the acquisition, but that future games will be designed around the freemium model.

We recommend listening to the entire interview yourself, which is included here.

Podcast music provided by Overclocked Remix.

Interview Audio: Subscribe in iTunes or Direct Download (M4A, 14.7MB)

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Little White Bear Studios joined us on our podcast this week and discussed their latest game Compression, the iPad and their experience with FreeAppADay.

Little White Bear Studios

• Compression – Their latest game in which Tetris meets Bejeweled. This husband/wife team made the switch to full time just this past September and talk about their success and plans for the future. We also discussed the new iPad and their participation in FreeAppADay.com

Games We Played

• Vector Runner ($0.99)
• Angry Birds ($0.99)
• Arctopia ($1.99)

Podcast music provided by Overclocked Remix.

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes or Direct Download (M4A, 38MB)

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In the wake of Apple's keynote today unveiling the iPad, we rounded up Dave Castelnuovo and Allan Dye from Bolt Creative, Anders Mårtensson from Illusion Labs, Natalia Luckyanova and Keith Shephard from Imangi Studios and Bruce Morrison from Freeverse to hear what four successful iPhone development studios thought about the new device.

The reception amongst this group of developers was remarkably positive, and everyone had ideas for new projects exclusively for the iPad, as well as refining or enhancing existing games to take advantage of the additional screen real estate and processing power of the device. We also discuss the niche that the iPad will likely fill, and what kind of usage patterns we expect the device to see once it is available for purchase.

Music lovingly lifted from the Steve Jobs YTMND.

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes or Direct Download (M4A, 50MB)

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