TouchArcade.ru

Aside from gracing a platform that can also make phone calls, the neatest thing about Hatchi [$.99] is that it can be constantly updated with features that dramatically change up the user experience. Your Tamagotchi couldn’t do that. No way.

Game creator Portable Pixel teased some huge changes coming in the next update about a week ago, and we’ve got some firm details on those. Here’s a run-down of what we know:

On Food. Portable Pixel tells us that it has been “overwhelmed with the popularity” of its title and wanted to get some new features out in front of people as fast as possible. One of those features is additional food options. Joining the game’s basic hamburger is pizza, apples, bread, cake, ice cream, and what appears to be a turkey leg. Weight is now a factor that the game figures in, and different foods will affect your Hatchi in different ways.

On Waste Management. We’ve received inscrutable image confirmation that, in the next update, your Hatchi gain the ability to poop. Steam will come off of its turds, and presumably, the washing feature will have to be used to take care of the on-screen mess. This was the game’s most requested feature, apparently. We salute you for making this so, sirs.

On Evolution. Portable Pixel is adding an “additional evolution” stage, and is also greatly expanding the possible evolution tree. We’ve got a great image right here that’ll give you a couple of clues as to what to expect.

On Death And Liberation. Soon, when your Hatchi dies, he will be laid to rest in a cemetery. Additionally, if you’d like to give up on your Hatchi without killing it manually, you’ll be able to free it in a “forest sanctuary.”

There you have it. We’ve asked for additional details on when this will release, but we’re guessing it’ll be out in just a week or so. Hatchi pre-update is pretty awesome, too. Give that write-up a read if you’re interested in the title.

[source]

George Washington’s birthday is coming up soon, and in our neck of the woods, this means one thing: sales. Check the list of notables below if you’re into saving some dough.

Ever wonder what’s up with these holiday sales? There are a couple of good reasons. The biggest of which is that Apple generally doesn’t bother with coordinated “sale” events like Valve does with its platform, Steam. So, App Store publishers target holidays to do their thing instead since they’re notable days on the calendar anyway.

And now for that list:

• Dead Space – $6.99 – $.99
• Reckless Racing HD – $4.99 – $.99
• FIFA Soccer 12 for iPad – $9.99 – $.99
• End Night HD – $2.99 – $.99
• Plunderland – $1.99 – Free
• ASH II: Shadows (Gold Edition) – $4.99 – $2.99
• Grand Prix Story – $3.99 – $.99

This is just a Cliff Notes version of what’s out there and on sale, by the way. The usual suspects like Telltale and Gameloft, for example, are slashing prices across the board. Check out their respective publisher pages linked above.

[killer image via lustidrike on deviantart]

[source]

The clone conversation is getting pretty heated of late, so we thought we’d bring you a more chill take on cloning from a developer that has had its game ripped off more times than we care to count. Specifically, we wanted to point out what Mojang business head honcho Daniel Kaplan had to say about the swarm of Minecraft clones out there.

“As long as [cloners] don’t use anything we MADE, we don’t care,” Kaplan told Eurogamer in a chat the other afternoon when asked about possibly suing a cloner. “Like, would the Doom creators sue everybody who has done an FPS? Don’t think so,” he said, hopefully with a hrumph.

Minecraft gets ripped off in a pretty wild variety of ways. Some titles just take the look. Others just nab the specific crafting and building mechanics. Of course, there are other games out there that steal whole hog, while carefully adding the slightest touches in their code to differentiate the look.

That said, there’s a fine line between iteration and cloning. The Doom-to-FPS example Kaplan threw out there isn’t a good one; a lot of games built on what Doom did, sure, but most of those games brought something new to the genre.

“I’m really bored by the clones,” Kaplan said in the chat. “They don’t bring anything new to the table, which is really sad.”

Zynga and Glu Mobile recently released a total of three Tiny Tower [Free] clones between each other in the last couple of weeks. Tiny Tower creators, NimbleBit, and the game’s fans, are rightfully still outraged by these games. In the iOS universe, the last big pseudo-clone we saw was a poor attempt to capitalize on Temple Run’s [Free] success. That title was removed from the App Store by Apple.

[via Eurogamer]

[source]

Junk Jack [$2.99/Lite] developer Pixbits has shown a strong amount of post-release love to their 2D Minecraft-esque title, and in their latest update which has been partway released on the App Store they once again deliver the goods.

Wait, how is the update partway released, you ask? Well, for some reason, Apple went and approved the update for the lite version last week, with the full version update still waiting to get the go ahead. So, if you’re dying to see some of the newly implemented features, you can catch a glimpse from Junk Jack LE if  you really want.

Since Pixbits was kind enough to list the extensive number of changes in this latest update over on their website, we’ll refrain from reposting the entire thing. But here’s a list of the major new additions, and you can check out their website or the update description in iTunes for a full list of tweaks, bug fixes, and other changes:

• Craftable jigsaw puzzle!
• Junk Jack Shop! (buy small things to support the developers)
• Explosives!
• Attack visibility toward mobs (experimental)
• Walking behavior for mobs
• Writable signs
• New mob: maya zombie!
• New mob: mummy!
• New mob: zombies!
• New mob: skeletons!
• New mob: mother dynaslime!
• New mob: dynaslime!
• New mob: meat launching zombies!
• New mob: skeleton bomber!
• New skeleton statue (hard to craft)
• New zombie statue (hard to craft)
• Wild boar goulash can now be crafted
• Dead tree saplings!
• New craftable cottage pavement
• New craftable cottage bricks
• New craftable roof tiles
• Delicious cactus soup can now be crafted

As we said before, you can catch a glimpse of some of these features in the Junk Jack Lite Edition if you’re the impatient type, and the update for the full version of Junk Jack should release just as soon as it’s approved by Apple, which I’m hoping is in the next 10 seconds.

[source]

As of today, GDC is only three weeks away. 2012 will be the fourth year that TouchArcade will be covering the event, and I’d argue that aside from maybe Apple’s WWDC, GDC is the most important event to attend as an iOS developer. (Or, heck, any game developer.) The conference sessions are worth the cost of the trip alone, but the people you’ll meet and the contacts you’ll make seem to border on priceless per some of the “GDC success stories” I’ve heard.

If you’re interested in attending, the GDC web site has all the details on how to do so. If you already are planning on coming, and would like to meet up with us to show off what sort of games you’ve been working on, let’s do it. Starting today, I’m booking appointments for developers to show us their games for the entire week of GDC. It seems like I’m always striving to come up with more efficient ways to book conference meetings, so this year let’s try this:

1. If you haven’t already, set up Google Talk.
2. Solve this CAPTCHA to get my Google Talk email address.
3. Add me to your buddy list, I’ll authorize you as soon as I’m available, and we can chat and confirm a time.

That seems simple enough, and vastly preferable to playing email tag to secure a meeting time. Also, keep in mind that I’m in Barcelona right now (GMT +1), so the best time to catch me is during the American business day as I’m always at my computer then.

If you’re attending GDC, but don’t necessarily have a new game to show off and still want to meet us, come to our GDC party! The whole TouchArcade crew will be there (which will actually be 8 strong this year) and we’ll have an open bar for all game developers and TouchArcade fans willing to trade us a business card for the bracelet that turns on the free beer.

Here’s the details:

• WHEN: Tuesday March 6th, 7:00 PM until they kick us out.
• WHERE: Bin 55 in the lobby of the Marriott Marquis at 55 4th St.
• WHY: Because there’s way more cool people we want to meet than we have meeting time slots for!

I can’t wait to see everyone at GDC. If you’re on the fence about whether or not you want to come, if there’s any way you can swing the trip, you really should. GDC is incredible.

[source]

People had been clamoring for an official mobile version of Minecraft for some time, and after a brief period of Xperia Play exclusivity, Minecraft – Pocket Edition [$6.99/Lite] launched for iOS this past November. Despite the high anticipation, most fans found the release underwhelming due to it lacking the major components of its desktop counterpart, like enemies and crafting. Those were the major reasons we didn’t totally love the game in our review, although it was a totally decent creation-only version of Minecraft on the go.

Developer Mojang heard the player feedback loud and clear, and immediately put a plan in action to get the missing components stuffed into Minecraft – Pocket Edition. Part of that plan was releasing an update with a bunch of behind-the-scenes infrastructure stuff that will allow for the addition of survival elements and crafting. We detailed this update last month, and although I think it’s hitting a wee bit later than Mojang had wanted, the update is now live for the Android version of the game, and the iOS version is currently in review with Apple and should be hitting at pretty much any time.

In the updated version of Minecraft – Pocket Edition, there’s now a day/night cycle and the first introduction of creatures to the world, sheep and zombies. You get new blocks to build doors, fences, and gates with, and since crafting isn’t part of the mobile package just yet, there is an assortment of pre-made tools to help you get by until you’re able to build your own someday. It sounds like the new update goes a long way in rectifying the fairly mundane first release of Minecraft – Pocket Edition, so be sure to keep your eye out for it to hit the iOS App Store soon.

[Via The Verge]

[source]

We’re fans of huge numbers, if you didn’t know. Last week, actually, we shared news of Jetpack Joyride’s latest downloads. Since going free, the title has wrangled in around 13 million consumers. That’s a lot, right? Check this, though: Imangi’s Temple Run [Free] just hit 36 million downloads. That’s more downloads than there are people in Canada, or uh, roughly 35.9 million more blocks than my Church of Brad has in our Minecraft server.

Temple Run ended up going free late in its cycle, too, and has enjoyed the spotlight of being the App Store’s number one game thanks to the constant support that it receives. It was also pseudo-cloned, but Apple fixed that issue fairly fast as we all expected it would.

Anyway, if you’re not one of these 36 million people, you should probably give Temple Run a look. To quote our review:

Corners are something you see a lot of in Temple Run. The game eschews the more traditional one-button jumping control of most runners for a swiping method that still allows for one-handed play . You can swipe up to jump, down to slide, and left or right to turn.

This control setup is risky — it’s much easier to mess up a swipe than a tap — but it works. Though the world is randomly generated, the addition of twists, turns and crossroads makes it feel more organic, like more of an adventure.

[Via @nattylux]

[source]