TouchArcade.ru

Surely you’ve heard of Words With Friends by now, haven’t you? I figure, if my mom plays it, that’s a pretty good benchmark for the entire world knowing about a video game. Well, if you haven’t, here’s the gist- Words With Friends is basically the game of Scrabble with a social cross-platform twist. Utilizing the magic of asynchronous multiplayer and push alerts, you can play games of Scrabble with friends across the world. Cooler yet, it doesn’t matter if your friends have Android phones or are even playing the Facebook version of the game… It just works.

It’s casual and simple enough that you could play with your grandma, while being classic enough that it’s fun for even the most hardcore types who enjoy playing word games with their friends and family. Seriously, I can’t say enough good things about Words With Friends.

I can say one bad thing though, in that the advertisements that power the free version can get a little obnoxious at times, especially if you have a hatred for interstitial ads… Which is exactly where today’s sale comes in. For a limited time, you can get the ad-free version of Words With Friends for 99¢. I can almost promise you’ll get more than 99¢ worth of entertainment out of this game, but, if you’re a cautious App Store customer you can always try the free version first. All of your games will transfer over if and when you decide to spring for the paid version.

[source]

Assassin’s Creed, as far as I can tell, is about stabbing dudes and pushing down NPCs while on the way to stab more dudes. The upcoming board game for the iPad, on the other hand, is about building a beastly deck of cards and pummeling dudes into submission and taking their territories in real-time. Intrigued? We still are, even though the new details out there are still pretty vague.

IGN recently got their hands on with Assassin’s Creed Recollection and are reporting that it features several mechanics from other collectible card games, but fiddles with pacing by introducing a “looping timeline” as seen in, say, Lumines. Cards apparently have the power to attack players or seize a territory, so that’s how the action part of the game works, at least.

Ubisoft is still tossing out phrases like “deep tactical gameplay” and “challenging political battles” in regards to what Recollection will offers, but we’re not sure how it’s going to execute on these promises. We’d look to the new trailer to see what’s up, but Ubisoft is still in full-blast mystery mode for its November-bound game.

Regardless of the lack of intel, this continues to be something our all-seeing eye is keyed in on. Assassin’s Creed fans should definitely stay with Recollections, too, as it’ll deliver collectible assets from all the games, as well as reconnect you with characters and “memories” from Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed 2.

[Via IGN]

[source]

It was just last week that we were singing the praises of Mika Mobile’s Zombieville USA 2 [99¢] in our review and discussing it further on our latest podcast. But already, Mika Mobile has released an update to the game which fixes a few bugs, makes some adjustments, and adds a new playable character.

The first major improvement is to the control wheel. The touch radius has been increased significantly, which means that should your thumbs slide beyond the visual boundaries of the control stick circle, then you will still continue to move in the direction you are pushing. Previously, if your thumb went beyond the control stick your character would stop dead in its tracks, causing all sorts of trouble.

Another chief complaint about the initial release of Zombieville USA 2 besides the control stick was the lack of loot drops from enemies. The times that a zombie would drop off some coins for you to collect in the release version of the game was few and far between. A much more reliable place to gather loot was in the destructible objects peppered throughout each level. This led to some people actively avoiding killing zombies in favor of running through more of each level in order to run into treasure producing objects.

Seeing as killing zombies is a major facet of the game, Mika Mobile has balanced out this issue by making sure that zombies will drop money much more frequently now. They’ve also increased the overall rate that money is earned, and have double the amount of cash that drops on a level during co-op play to compensate for the extra player.

Joining the already impressive lineup of playable characters in Zombieville USA 2 is the new Tycoon, a dandy looking gentleman who resembles a 19th century philanthropist. Word is that the Tycoon is planning on opening up several businesses in Zombieville, but must first rid the streets of the actual zombies to make room for a railroad, bank, and oil rig.

Finally, Mika Mobile has found and rectified a couple of rare but nasty bugs that might have lost your iCloud date or caused the game to crash. It’s nice to see these various issues addressed so quickly after the release of Zombieville USA 2, and I’ll be looking forward to what’s in store with future updates.

[source]

One of my favorite thing about the iOS world is how many AAA industry veterans are returning to their roots of indie development, potentially bringing decades of experience with them. This is the case with Glenn Corpes, whose 20+ years in video games has had his hands in Populous, Dungeon Keeper, and a ton of other great games. On the App Store, he’s released Ground Effect [$2.99] and is hard at work on Topia: Age of Creation.

Anyway, in a recent interview with PocketGamer.biz Glenn explains that even though the iPhone 4S looks identical to the iPhone 4 on the outside, the internals represent an even bigger leap than the one between the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. Corpes calls A4 devices “irritating,” as they had tons of potential utilizing shaders, but were ultimately too slow at processing the actual pixels. Things were only made worst by the Retina Display, as App Store customers quickly became disinterested in anything that didn’t push all 614,400 pixels.

He explains that some of the cool shaders we’ve seen in Infinity Blade 2 could be done at a lower resolution, but you just can’t release games like that. A5 devices, on the other hand, are powerful enough to use shaders that would have only been useful on PC’s and current-generation consoles before. While fully utilizing the 3GS required code rewrites, developers can take advantage of the 4S by simply using better shaders. Even more spare horsepower can be utilized with anti-aliasing, post processing effects, and other things A4 devices weren’t capable of.

I imagine just like the 3GS, it’ll take some time for developers to actually start taking advantage of all the new capabilities iPhone 4S. I can’t wait.

[via PocketGamer.biz]

[source]

We’ve been following GameStop’s entry into the tablet gaming world for some time now. Rumblings started when GameStop started taking iOS devices on trade-in, which we determined utilizing the latest tinfoil hat and witching stick technology might mean they were going to start selling iOS devices soon. A few days later, news hit that GameStop wouldn’t be selling iOS devices, and instead is launching it’s own Android gaming tablet. Since then, we’ve speculated heavily on our podcast regarding what this tablet will be like, if GameStop will have a proprietary storefront for it, and whether or not that storefront will offer some kind of trade-in gimmick.

Per a recent report from PC Mag, GameStop just started a pilot program where they will be selling not one but three Android tablets in 200 locations. The lineup includes the Acer A100 at $329, the Asus Transformer at $399, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab at $499. Naturally, these are coming pre-loaded with GameStop software, and they’ll be promoting tablet-optimized games to play on them. Interestingly enough, it doesn’t sound like GameStop is going to be pushing touch-based games, as all but the low-end tablet will come packaged with a Bluetooth controller.

We’ll have to wait and see how this pilot program does, as it’s very interesting seeing GameStop respond to iOS games taking off the way they have as well as online game distributors and streaming services like Steam and OnLive eating so much of their proverbial lunch. I tend to think for this to get anywhere GameStop will need to take a much more unified and powerful approach to the whole thing, far beyond the “Oh hey, here’s three Android tablets and two of them come with Bluetooth controllers” thing they’re doing now.

[via PC Mag]

[source]

Every logic puzzle lover should know about nonograms. You might know them as picross puzzles, or griddlers, or maybe just the younger sibling of Sudoku, but you should know them. If you don’t, no foul: Fugazo’s World Mosaics [$1.99] is a good place to start.

If you’re not in the know, here’s the quick version: a nonogram puzzle presents you with a grid. Each row and column has numbers listed with it, and those numbers correspond to how many of its cells must be filled in. A row with 5 and 7 listed beside it would need 5 adjoining cells filled in with boxes, then at least one space before 7 more cells are boxed in. The clues intersect so you can puzzle out the solution, and when you’re done you’ll have formed a pixelated picture.

There are some great nonogram apps on iOS already, though fewer than I’d like. World Mosaics joins these after enjoying a successful career on PC and Mac. It’s not perfect, but it scratches the logic puzzle itch nicely.

World Mosaics takes roughly half its list of puzzles, the first 99, and wraps them in a globe-spanning story. You follow pictographic clues left around the world to discover the origins of the Sea People. I’d point out that logic puzzles need stories like fish need bicycles here, but the story does give Fugazo a chance to wrap the puzzles in entertaining themes. I could also stretch and say that it offers a reason to keep pushing to the end of the game, but I suspect it’s more likely there to bring in fans of hidden object games and match-3 adventures.

But these casual trappings don’t detract from the quality of the puzzles. The nonograms in World Mosaics are good, challenging and varied. Beginners will find the difficulty curve just perfect — a few introductory 5 x 5 puzzles make way for 10 x 10, 15 x 15 and eventually 20 x 20 grids. Each jump increases the difficulty, but it’s a slow climb. A wide range of challenges are available within those sets, too, with some puzzles that have plenty of large numbers and clearly defined borders, and others that scatter ones and twos to the wind and leave you to pick your way through cell by cell.

Control is a huge problem with nonogram apps on small devices, and it’s one that’s not fully addressed here. There simply isn’t enough screen real estate to tap around a 15 x 15 grid. Fugazo has included an awkward set of on-screen controls, with a direction pad for navigation and buttons to mark boxes and cross out spaces. Since these controls offer no feedback, it’s all too easy to mis-mark a cell.

Mistakes will cost you, but failure isn’t a real threat. You can make up to 8 mistakes per puzzle, and each gives a handful of hints if you need them. This is where World Mosaics goes most seriously awry. The game tracks your mistakes, hints and completion time, but it doesn’t seem to maintain that information anywhere. Without Game Center integration or any kind of tracking or ranking, there’s nothing to keep you from using each of your freebies to brute force your way through tough spots. Best put yourself on the honor system, because it’s much more fun to play properly.

World Mosaics could also be better in the looks department. The game isn’t ugly, exactly, but it’s not a looker either. Retina graphics are badly missed. They’d make the game’s large puzzles much easier to look at. On top of that, the interface is utilitarian at best. Put these things together with the lack of Game Center and World Mosaics starts to feel like a bit of a shoddy port.

It’s not a shoddy game, though. Along with those 99 story puzzles, World Mosaics offers another hundred or so that don’t fit with the story’s themes. That’s a lot of hours of entertainment to be had. If you have an iPad, I’d recommend waiting for the HD version, which is due to hit in mid-November. Nonograms are more fun when you have more space to work with. But for those of us who want good nonograms on the small screen, World Mosaics is an ample fit. Make sure to stop by our discussion thread and let us know what you think.

[source]

When it was initially released for DSiWare last year, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge [Free / $2.99 IAP], was an underappreciated gem on a service that most people didn’t bother using. Now, thankfully, the game might find a little more grounding with the wider release on iOS, but as we’ve seen time and time again, platformers are a difficult sale on touchscreens, and Shantae, despite its pedigree, will have to keep up.

The game is a sequel to the Shantae, which was released for the Gameboy Color well into the rein of the Gameboy Advance. It follows the story of the belly-dancing, hair-whipping Shantae, as she seeks out her arch nemesis, Risky Boots, in order to get a magical lamp.

As a game, Shantae takes most of its cues from Castlevania and Metroid, meaning it’s essentially a large, open-world 2D platformer, where gaining certain transformational powers will unlock new areas. You’ll be able to turn into a monkey to scale walls, an elephant to pound rocks or a mermaid to swim underwater. As you discover new powers, you’ll be backtracking and searching out new nooks and crannies to explore. On top of those powers, you’ll also get magic spells, which are purchasable in the main hub town, and performance enhancers, which enable you to attack faster, stronger and more.

Most interesting is its introduction of a somewhat three dimensional plane, where each smaller 2D area has several levels to it — like a stack of papers with levels drawn on them — you’ll bounce forward and backward through each section. It’s too bad they’re not used more throughout as it’s truly the most interesting addition to the genre.

It’s all rather clever and the level design keeps up, which is a good thing, because in general, most Metroidvania games we’ve seen so far have been lacking in their ambition. Unfortunately, you won’t find guides of where to go and the maps in the game are terrible and unhelpful — Shantae is all about exploring and figuring things out for yourself. This is frustrating at points, especially when you’re at a loss for where to go next, but the reward for finding your own way often makes up for it, even if it does make it so you never feel like your properly progressing. Despite its clear influences, it’s not derivative of either of the above games, and mostly forges its own path while maintaining the feeling of a good homage.

Most frustrating is the lack of a quicksave option, and the fact the game has a tenuous relationship with multitasking, working seemingly at random, doesn’t help. I’ve complained about this before with iOS games and you can call me weak for doing so, but when playing on a mobile device, I’d like a quicksave option for when I need to put it down for a moment — even if it’s just one slot, a bookmark to come back to but not exploit. There’s also an option for iCloud saving, but it doesn’t appear to be working at the moment, but thankfully, the IAP of the full game has no problems transferring from device to device.

Visually, the game is hit or miss. It’s weird to say, but the game actually looks better on the lower-resolution DSi screen, because the pixel matching feels more natural. On retina display, the it looks a bit muddy and it isn’t helped by the hideous bright-blue border around everything. It looks even worse on an iPad, like a blown-out tiny image. Despite itself, it still manages to be passable on the quality of the animation alone. WayForward has a way with 2D platformers that few developers can imitate and even through the pixels don’t look quite right, the game itself never feels gaudy or horrible and you’ll quickly get used to it. I don’t think they needed to invest in making everything a higher resolution, but I feel like the emulation of the pixels could have been a little more clear, especially considering the border around the game screen and characters are all converted up.

The sound too, is worth mentioning. Jack Kaufman’s soundtrack is like something pulled straight out Aladdin, with a chip-tuned, Middle-Eastern vibe pushing you along the whole way. The game was created to look and sound in the vein of SNES and Genesis classics and it succeeds in nearly every way.

Unfortunately, it’s still a platformer on iOS and the virtual controls will never have the tuned accuracy of a physical stick. It does feel like the game was loosened up a bit from its DSi counterpart to correct this, although since Nintendo doesn’t allow for downloading older games onto a different device, I can’t redownload the DSiWare version to confirm this. It’s certainly a bit easier than most of the games that inspired it, which is nice considering the controls aren’t as precise as they need to be. For what it’s worth, the virtual stick works as well as it can, but can’t be customized or moved, so if your hands don’t conform to where they’re at, you’re out of luck.

If you don’t have a DSi or 3DS, or you just don’t want to plop down $12 to play on those systems, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge is a solid port, but marred with the same problems we’ve come to expect on iOS. It’s certainly one of the better virtual control schemes and you’ll only occasionally find problems with it, especially when required to jump and attack, but overall, it retains the engaging gameplay from the original.

[source]

Last week ustwo™'s Whale Trail [99¢] hit the App Store. It was quickly featured as game of the week, and was met with tons of critical acclaim. We thought it was great in our review, and most other reviews online that I've seen mention similar feelings. Sure, the gameplay is a little on the basic side but Whale Trail's production values are absolutely through the roof.

A behind the scenes video from ustwo™ recently was released, and aside from the game's producers and designers providing their thoughts on the game, ustwo™ also revealed the staggering amounts of time, energy, and money that went into the project. "Chief Wonka" Mills also discusses the concept of a "succailure," citing previous apps Papercut [$5.99] and Nursery Rhymes with StoryTime [$3.99]. Both well received, with tons of support from Apple, but neither turning a profit.

Take a look:

Another interesting point raised in the video is the significant advantage that indie developers can have. Running a design firm like ustwo™ is expensive, and investing in the App Store is risky business when you've got a full office, staff of employees, and all the other expenses that come with that. The App Store is a curious place, as it really makes no difference to the end user if you're working out of your bedroom or releasing projects from a design firm that have invested over £500,000 into them. Every iOS developer has equal chances of discovery, visibility, and success– Assuming of course that they put out a good product.

We're anxious to see what ustwo™'s next move is going to be. Whale Trail is going to need to be downloaded a ton to break even, especially at a 99¢ price point. I'd love to say "hopefully this doesn't discourage them from iOS development," as I think it's outfits like ustwo™ that seem the most likely to push the platform forward, but how much of a financial hole can they dig themselves keeping their fingers crossed that critical acclaim and love from Apple eventually turns into the hundreds of thousands of downloads they need?

[source]

Retro gamers are about a week out from a true bundle of 8-bit gaming goodness, with a promise of much more to come. On the weekend of October 28th, Elite Systems will be releasing the Elite Collection and Elite Collection HD (for iPad) that bring a dozen 8-bit games to the App Store, and at a week-long introductory price of $0.99.

Last month I spoke with Elite Systems co-founder Steve Wilcox who took me through his studio's plans to bring a great number of notable 8-bit titles from years past to iOS gamers, using a new proprietary technology developed within Elite. This new system, or facilitator, brings these titles to iOS at near 100% accuracy and allows a great degree of control customization thanks to the studio's "iDaptive" control system. Elite's initial move in this effort involved ZX Spectrum-only titles, but it's worth noting that with this new collection, Elite has pushed beyond just the ZX Spectrum platform.

The first wave of titles in the Elite Collection effort arrived at the end of last month in the form of individual, stand-alone titles. The games released were Black Magic, First Samurai, and Enforcer — all in both iPhone and iPad "HD" versions. The Elite Collection arriving this weekend brings 12 titles in all, as well as an in-app store through which additional games will be made available (and the plan is for over a hundred titles in all).

[ Also see - video links for: Black Magic, Enforcer, First Samurai ]

The bundled titles consist of:

• Elite Collection Vol. #1:
  • featuring ALTERNATE REALITY: THE CITY and also including
  • Black Magic
  • Alternate Reality: The Dungeon
• Elite Collection Vol. #2:
  • featuring URIDIUM and also including
  • Buggy Boy (a.k.a. Speed Buggy)
  • First Samurai
• Elite Collection Vol. #3:
  • featuring BUNDESLIGA MANAGER and also including
  • Denaris
  • Enforcer
• Additional 8-bit "Singles":
  • Battleships (a.k.a. Battleship)
  • Frank Bruno's Boxing
  • Batty

Released simultaneously with the Elite Collection will be the individual, stand-alone titles Alternate Reality: The City, Uridium, and Bundesliga Manager DE, each in both iPhone and iPad "HD" versions at $0.99 each.

Wilcox indicates that Elite will be releasing four volumes of games, each consisting of one to six 8-bit home computer titles, each month. One of the titles soon to be released is a particularly excellent game that's sure to get many readers out there excited: Choplifter! At the time of its initial release, the Elite Collection in-app store is expected to have 13 additional titles available for download. We'll have more on those when the app goes live.

Some prospective additions to the Elite Collection's in-app shop, down the road, are:

• Audiogenic Software Vol. #1 featuring Emlyn Hughes International Soccer
• Free Fall Games Vol. #1 featuring Archon II: Adept
• Geoff Crammond Vol. #1 featuring Stunt Car Racer
• Ozark Softscape Vol. #1 featuring M.U.L.E.

Between their ZX Spectrum-based efforts and these new 8-bit titles, Elite is truly driving a massive campaign that I feel sure most every retro gamer out there can appreciate. We'll keep readers updated as new titles arrive, but in the meantime, enjoy these excellent games from a different time.

[source]

Putter King Adventure Golf [99¢] is released by Putter King, a company with real indoor miniature golf franchises, so these guys should know how to design a fun and challenging mini-putt experience. We were keen to see how their real-world ideas would translate onto our iOS devices. The good news is: They've done a pretty decent job of it.

This game sports four different modes: Championship mode is a regular single-player round of mini-golf. In Time trial mode, you're racing against the clock to sink the ball in the shortest possible time on any specific unlocked hole. Multi-player mode allows 2 to 4 local players to take turns on the same device (there's currently no online multiplayer). But before you play the other modes, you may want to invest some time on practice mode, to hone your skills. It would be nice if there was a career mode or tournament, to tie multiple games together, but there's currently not.

There are four cartoon avatars to choose between (2 male, 2 female), although this decision only affects which character appears on the screen. The avatars have no different attributes and don't really impact the game, so they're basically just a cosmetic preference. Although they are quite large and do obscure your view of the course, so since there's no option for "no avatar", it's probably a strategic advantage to pick the thinnest character.

There are three different courses, with 23 uniquely themed holes to play in total. The courses include 'Adventure in Japan', 'Trip around the world' and 'Putty's playground', with the last course being initially locked.  Each hole in Putty's playground must be unlocked by completing a specific challenge, such as: Score two hole-in-one's in a row, or finish a championship below par.

The courses are all rendered in 3D and feature all the slopes, jumps, water traps, bridges, tunnels and obstacles you'd expect to see on a regular mini-putt course.  Some of the more elaborate obstacles include a sumo wrestler, a moving sushi conveyer belt and the mandatory windmill.  There's different surfaces, like fake grass, wood, stone and even an ice slope. They also mix things up occasionally by making you take shots in the dark or without any aiming lines. One level even asks you a multi-choice general knowledge question, which opens a short-cut if you answer correctly.

The physics are well implemented, providing the same frustration you'd feel in real life as your ball circles the hole without sinking, or narrowly misses the hole and rows back down the slope of Mt. Fuji (again). The main challenge is getting the speed of your swing right, as a gentle touch is required at times.

The controls work pretty well …mostly. A large horizontal slider along the bottom of the screen lets you choose which of the three starting points to tee off from (not sure why you can't just touch a starting tee).  To aim your shot, you drag your finger around the screen while little white dots indicate where you're aiming. When you're ready to hit the ball, you simply drag a large vertical slider down …and then push it upwards at the desired speed. Very occasionally, it wouldn't let me aim the ball in the direction I wanted, as it became a little confused in tight spaces, although it would always respond in the end.

In real mini-golf there's often a maximum 9-shot limit, to stop queues forming at holes. But here, you can take over forty shots. There's no option for throwing your clubs when you play badly, but you can hit the ball right off the green, into the "out-of-bounds" area, which every mini-putter needs to try at least once.

Once you eventually sink the ball, your result is displayed (eg: Bogey) and your overall scorecard appears. Unfortunately the scorecard doesn't include an in-progress total, so you can't immediately tell if you're above or below par overall. Openfeint leaderboards are provided for the three courses and for time trials on each hole, with just seven achievements.

The 3D course graphics and themed backgrounds are generally well presented, although your avatars feet and club often pass straight through the objects on the course. And some text labels exceed their background boxes, which looks untidy. Also, some objects become translucent when they block your view, however a couple of times my view was completely obscured in both camera perspectives, making aiming difficult, which is particularly frustrating if you're in the middle of a dream round (I wasn't).

Putter King Adventure Golf does a great job of capturing the spirit of miniature golf, bringing back memories of playing this as a child against my father. With the multiplayer mode, a family of four can now have mini-golf competitions at home, with the loser doing the dishes. The 3D holes are pretty creative, but if you want something different, the developers are currently running a design-a-hole competition, with the winning three user-designed holes to be added as a free update in future.

[source]