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Gendai Games recently announced some drastic changes to the way they license GameSalad, a simplified game development tool that allows the creation of games without a single line of code. Previously, developers had different options on how to license the GameSalad SDK ranging from a $99 to $1,999 yearly subscription which then allowed developers to export binaries to then upload to Apple for approval to be sold (or given away) on the App Store under their own name. At GDC Online in Austin, Texas earlier this month, Gendai Games revealed that they were doing away with this subscription model and instead would be positioning themselves as a publisher of sorts. Per a FAQ posted later, the SDK will be completely free to download and instead all games will be published under the GameSalad name (similar to how Chillingo and other publishers work) with a revenue sharing agreement.

When existing GameSalad subscriptions expire, several things are going to happen: First off, all developers will be forced to publish their projects under GameSalad. This means they lose a great bit of their identity, have no control over promo codes, and will need to work through GameSalad instead of with Apple for any App Store issues. Secondly, all existing GameSalad games won't be able to be updated since currently there's no way to move an existing App Store listing to a different publisher and the new free version of the GameSalad SDK won't export a binary that can be sent to Apple to update the existing game. As of this writing, no program has been announced to allow existing developers who have invested in GameSalad to be grandfathered in to a program that will allow them to continue independent GameSalad development.

Max Vector, a GameSalad-powered shooter.

Needless to say, this change of events has stirred up quite a bit of unrest in the GameSalad development community. A blog (and forum) called I Just Wanna Make Some Games has sprung up detailing the GameSalad saga and offers some assistance for developers looking to migrate to similar tools without forced publishing. Quite a few developers seem to be jumping ship to Ansca Mobile's Corona, a similar tool that leverages the Lua scripting language. If you've dabbled in GameSalad in the past, or are looking to start, it might not be a bad idea to see how this all plays out before getting much more involved.

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Last week we reported that, thanks to Apple recently relaxing its iOS SDK agreement, Manomio submitted a major 2.0 update of Commodore 64, their C64 emulator / game system, to the App Store with BASIC reenabled (and fingers crossed). We're happy to report that the app has been approved and is now available for download [link].

I had a chat with developer Stuart Carnie yesterday, shortly after he received word from Apple that Commodore 64 v2.0 was approved, during which he shared further details concerning this notable update.

With BASIC back, so too is the full C64 keyboard. Carnie is excited about the prospect of users having full and complete access to every game presented, which, in some games, can only happen when a full keyboard is available. And, while it's here in v2.0, the keyboard hasn't gotten any attention since it was removed back in November and, as such, a near-term update will address the absence of a few missing keys (semi-colon, colon) as well as a lock mode for the RUNSTOP, C=, and SHIFT keys, to use in conjunction with others.

A bit further out will come cycle-exact emulation on newer hardware (ARMv7), to resolve digital sound issues with Space Taxi and enable a few free games from Beam Software, such as Exploding Fist.

We've seen a lot of anticipation from readers for an iPad version of C64, and Carnie tells us that it's big on the roadmap. Thanks to Apple allowing BASIC, he really wants to create a great experience for iPad users wanting to experiment with the language, including a finely tuned keyboard and even Bluetooth support. "Think 'full' C64 experience," says Carnie. Due to Manomio's work on the upcoming Amiga classic titles, these more significant upgrades are slated for release next year — and we can't wait.

As for additional games on the horizon, Carnie was able to reveal that they're in the progress of bringing several more Thalamus titles on-board: Creatures I and II and Retrograde. Also on the way is MYTH: History in the Making from System 3, which requires emulated 1541 floppy drive support and a disk-swapping user interface (which is already in the system).

Thanks to Apple for their relaxed stance on the SDK agreement and thanks to the folks at Manomio for giving retro fans like myself so much sweet candy to enjoy.

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An App Store favorite of our readers who relish the retro is surely Manomio's Commodore 64 [link], the C64 emulation system / game store that does a great job of putting an expanding list of 8-bit classics right in our pockets. We first got wind of Manomio's emulation effort in June of last year, when it was submitted to Apple and rejected, as it was determined to be in violation of the iPhone SDK agreement.

Then said Apple,

Thank you for submitting C64 1.0 to the App Store. We've reviewed C64 1.0 and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because it violates the iPhone SDK Agreement; "3.3.2 An Application may not itself install or launch other executable code by any means, including without limitation through the use of a plug-in architecture, calling other frameworks, other APIs or otherwise. No interpreted code may be downloaded and used in an Application except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple's Published APIs and built-in interpreter(s)."

It was the system's included BASIC interpreter that was the sticking point for Apple, it turned out. Manomio disabled (and then removed, as it was deemed necessary) the BASIC interpreter and the app finally found its place in the store, and in Apple's good graces.

Last Thursday, Apple made significant changes to the iOS SDK agreement, relaxing restrictions on development tools used to create iOS applications. One of the areas of the SDK agreement affected was section 3.3.2, the specific part of the agreement that Apple determined Manomio had violated with the initial releases of C64. Upon hearing this news, Manomio CTO Stuart Carnie was quick to read over the new Apple document and found the following, updated section 3.3.2.

3.3.2 An Application may not download or install executable code. Interpreted code may only be used in an Application if all scripts, code and interpreters are packaged in the Application and not downloaded. The only exception to the foregoing is scripts and code downloaded and run by Apple’s built-in WebKit framework.

As can be seen in the new language, interpreted code is now acceptable under certain circumstances. In light of this fortunate turn of events, the developer has put together an updated version of C64 (v2.0) with BASIC enabled. Wanting Apple to be fully aware of his re-inclusion of the BASIC interpreter, Carnie extensively underscored his changes in the Reviewer Notes section of the submission form and additionally sent a courtesy e-mail to Apple on the issue. Since then, the developer and Apple have had further correspondence regarding the update and the response so far is positive. Apple will, understandably, spend additional time reviewing the application, but Carnie says he remains cautiously optimistic.

If Apple does end up rejecting the update, Manomio's plans are to remove the BASIC interpreter, but leave in place the other enhancement that this update brings, Carnie tells us. Those other enhancements include:

• FIX – fix crash when attempting to use the "Download All" feature and many games are queue
• FIX – Add additional controls to Hunter's Moon
• FIX – iPad landscape view is no longer partially off the screen
• NEW – Upgraded to OpenFeint 2.6.1 (includes time-scoped leader boards)
• NEW – iOS 4.1 tested
• NEW – New "Always use keyboard" option to access additional in-game features

Apple's recent update to the SDK agreement gives developers of all manner of apps more flexibility, but is a particular boon to developers of retro system emulators and games. We've got our fingers crossed that C64 with BASIC enabled is given the nod by Apple and that other developers are inspired to bring others classic systems and games to our favorite mobile device family.

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It's amazing to see the success of Doodle Jump [99¢], especially when you consider the meager beginnings of Lima Sky, which essentially is little more than two brothers building simple games for the iPhone. Igor and Marko Pusenjak announced this afternoon that since its release, the game has been downloaded over 5 million times, which they believe is a first on the App Store.

Since its initial release, Doodle Jump has become somewhat of a pop culture phenomenon. It's been mentioned on the show Big Bang Theory, spoofed on the Jimmy Fallon Show, and the doodler himself has even been spotted on stage with Lady Gaga.

Doodle Jump like so many other games built in one or two man teams perfectly embodies the indie spirit of the App Store. It's hard to say what really made Doodle Jump take off like it has, but it's unreal to think that the $99 a year Lima Sky pays for their iPhone SDK license has given them access to their pool of 5 million customers, and even more remarkable to think that this is barely 5% market penetration, per the "over 100 million devices" figure Steve Jobs quoted in his latest keynote address.

The Pusenjak brothers seem to be planning to keep the regular updates coming, with an underwater Doodle Jump theme in the works. After winning an Apple Design Award this year at WWDC, I'm confident that Lima Sky will keep the updates rolling for some time to come. Either way, it's no secret that we love Doodle Jump around here. If you haven't yet, give episode #10 of our podcast a listen, we interviewed Igor regarding the game and his company a few million downloads ago.

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Back in January, we got pretty excited about the Parrot AR.Drone Quadicoptor. The Parrot AR.Drone remote control quadricopter is controlled by creating its own WiFi network that either an iPhone or an iPod Touch connects to. The Parrot AR.Drone is then maneuvered using the accelerometers of the iPhone combined with a video feed from the forward facing camera on the drone itself. A smart piloting system intelligently compensates for wind and other environmental conditions, and utilizing a second camera which faces the ground can perform a stationary flight on its own.

We had some hands-on time with it back at CES, and were impressed:

Of course, the big question on everyone's mind was "when" and "how much". Ars Technica reports that the Parrot AR.Drone will finally go on sale this September at a price of $299. The device itself is only so exciting on its own, but combined with its open SDK, Parrot is hoping that developers will take advantage of the device's controls and cameras to create augmented reality games. At least a couple of these titles are said to be available at launch.

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If you've been looking for an online pool game, here's your chance. Namco's Pool Pro Online 3 for iPhone and iPad are now free for a day.

This represents the 3rd in the franchise which originally began on mobile phones but is now extending to smartphones and even the desktop. The game allows both single player and online play in 8-ball, 9-ball and Snooker. Players can also make in-game wagers against their opponents and use winnings to upgrade table felts, cue sticks and new pool halls. The 3d game allows you to rotate your view and pinch/zoom to line up your shot.

The games are free for Wednesday only (normally $4.99). Pool Pro Online 3 represents the launch title for Namco's UniteSDK which provides achievements, leaderboards and cross-platform online play.

App Store Links: Pool Pro Online 3, Free, Pool Pro Online 3 for iPad, Free

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There's been a lot of talk about the possibility of some sort of physical game controller for the iPhone and iPod Touch. While there have been a few announcements, none of the projects have ever come to market. We never heard for certain, though we'd heard suggestions that Apple might not have previously been allowing official SDK-supported versions to be approved.

22moo seems confident that they will get approved and recently released a new rendering of their planned game controlled hardware add-on. The redesigned device is said to include stereo speakers, omni direction mic, built in lithium battery, and 30-pin connector. More exciting is a note from Manomio's Stuart Carnie that they are working with 22moo to support the Gamebone in their C64 emulator in the App Store — and according to Carnie this will be an official solution that does not require jailbreaking.

There is some ongoing debate about the point of such controllers for native iPhone games. Why do you want to carry an extra accessory around with you? But I think emulators are a clear use example as people do want to relive their emulated games without working with touch-screen controls,

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Namco held a press event last night where they announced the iPhone version of Pool Pro Online 3. This represents the 3rd in the franchise which originally began on mobile phones but is now extending to smartphones and even the desktop.

While the game may be of interest to those who enjoy pool, it also represents a few first of potentially a series of games using their UniteSDK which allows cross-platform online play. Jonathan Kromrey, general manager of apple games for Namco Networks, writes "This is only the beginning of where we are going as a company. Over the next several months, we will roll out a series of other features and games that are powered by UniteSDK, including tournaments for Pool Pro Online 3."

Pool Pro Online 3 will eventually be also available for PC, Mac, Android, Java, BREW, RIM and Windows Mobile, and will allow instant online play across all the platforms. UniteSDK also includes the usual friend lists, leaderboards and such that we've already seen in OpenFeint and Plus+. Namco is also opening up UniteSDK to 3rd party developers as well.

As for Pool Pro Online 3, it allows both single player and online play in 8-ball, 9-ball and Snooker. Players can also make in-game wagers against their opponents and use winnings to upgrade table felts, cue sticks and new pool halls. The 3d game allows you to rotate your view and pinch/zoom to line up your shot.

The iPhone version of the game will be released on Thursday for $4.99.

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Daniel Zandelin, who is apparently a big fan of Mario Kart DS

Donut Games is the developer/publisher of well over a dozen iPhone games including fan-favorites like Rat On A Scooter XL, Comet Racer, and Cows in Space. Officially titled "Swedish Game Development Group AB," Donut Games has all of their games available in flash form on their website, where they can be played for free. With a arcade-like menu and three-star rating system for the levels in all their games, Donut Games has earned a large fanbase by consistently providing simple, quick experiences that draw players in for more, usually with a focus on increasing high scores.

I got the chance to find out a little bit more about one of the important faces behind the company, Daniel Zandelin, one of the founders of Donut Games.

Touch Arcade: What is the history of Donut Games as a company?

Daniel Zandelin: We're a small team of game enthusiasts, with roots going back to the good old days when the 8 and 16-bit gaming systems evolved. As a kid in the '80s I was quickly sucked into the intriguing gaming world of the Commodore 64, and together with my older brother, Ola, I grew an early interest of developing our own games, which lead to a bunch of quirky, buggy BASIC-games. Many years (and programming languages for that matter) later, in 2003, Ola started his own indie company to develop shareware games, and a couple of months later I quit my current job to join him.

The shareware market, which had just started to transform into the casual games market, was a blast! You could be a small team of 2-5 people and release quick, innovative downloadable games on the internet without the need for large budgets, and our titles (which we released under the Arcade Lab brand) were very well receieved.

As the casual games space and its portals grew more mature, productions grew bigger and a few certain genres got established and didn't leave much room for creativity or variety. So in 2006 we launched DonutGames.com, which started off as site for our Flash games. This project would give us our much needed room to play with new concepts and try out new ideas or whatever fun or crazy thing that popped into mind. When Apple announced the AppStore in 2008 and we started to dig deeper into the specs and SDK, we realizied this was the perfect platform for us: a device that you can carry with you anywhere you go, a store that is open for all and an excellent hardware to build your apps upon.

Comet Racer, one of our favorite creations from Donut Games

Touch Arcade: What exactly is your role within Donut Games? Could you tell us about some examples of your contributions to some of the company's games?

Daniel Zandelin: My role differs from one game to another, but my main areas of involvement are programming, sounds and last minute tweaking. The creation of a Donut game typically follows this flow: Ola, the concept master mind, brings up a new idea for a game, decides a theme to go with, and creates a mock-up of the basic artwork needed to get started. A programmer picks up the game and makes it playable, and we evaluate the result to see which elements are in place and what can be improved.

Once the basics are in, the level designers start working on the levels, and may eventually request more features from the programmer. In the last phase, I start working on the music and sounds. Once they're in, it's time for the final tweaking, which may or may not include additional visual effects, an extra mini game, and other last minute adjustments to make the game feel more solid. Simply put, Ola starts off the games, I finish them, and the whole Donut team is involved in the in-between.

Touch Arcade: What's the weirdest thing that has ever happened to you during your time with Donut Games?

Daniel Zandelin: This happens occasionally: When I'm sitting in a public place and a stranger next to me picks up an iPhone and after a few seconds I realize they just launched a Donut game. It's a weird feeling!

Rat On A Scooter XL, one of Donut Game's biggest sellers

Touch Arcade: If you had an unlimited budget to create an iPhone game, what sort of game would you make?

Daniel Zandelin: Back in the '90s, me and my brother started working on a really whacky point-and-click game for the Amiga in which players controlled a crazy kid with long greasy hair called Matthew. I don't remember all of the details of the story that we came up with for the game, but Matthew owned a tiny, aggressive poodle and had a secret band in his cellar together with his best friend who owned a shabby old Hammond organ. It would play like a “Get item A to unlock item B, use item B to find item C” sort of game, but instead of logical puzzles it would involve things like flushing yourself down the toilet to find certain items. I'm not sure everyone would appreciate a game like that for the iPhone, but if money was no issue it sure would be fun to bring this old concept to reality.

Touch Arcade: What is something that you'd personally like to do in a future game release?

Daniel Zandelin: I know that this may sound dull, but I'd like to continue with what we're currently doing. We have great fun creating these games, our model works really well for us and our fans seem to enjoy what we're doing.

Thanks Daniel. Check out Donut Games' catalog on the App Store. Daniel is username DonutGames on our forums.

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The latter half of 2009 saw a barrage of top-down dual-stick shooters emerge on the AppStore, though scarce few proved memorable or substantial. It is fortunate then that Guerilla Bob [AppStore] departs from the trend, providing both finely tuned action gameplay and all the bells and whistles expected of a polished title.

Guerilla Bob's bloody adventure begins with a forgettable story designed only to set the scene for the gun-toting action which follows. Fortunately, that action never lets up, periodically dispersing weapon upgrades and varied enemies in which to unleash them as you progress through the game's 7 missions. All up, these can be breezed through in well under an hour on easy mode, whilst the hard difficult may throw up the occasional challenge to lengthen that time as enemies fire more rapidly and in greater numbers. Though this may seem short, Guerilla Bob does a great job in keeping the linear gameplay fresh, unleashing enemies on you in a myriad of ways; be it from behind fortifications, on the banks of a river as you sail past, or mano a mano on a tight-rope bridge to name just a few.

From the onset Guerilla Bob's action feels graciously familiar, borrowing heavily from tried and true mechanics of past successes such as Minigore whilst wrapping the formula in a gorgeous middle eastern setting. In fact, it appears that sharing the same publisher has allowed a collaboration of sorts with the Minigore developers; a certain well-known protagonist featuring heavily in the loose Guerilla Bob storyline. More importantly however, the developers have ensured that Guerilla Bob handles just right, with the responsive thumb-sticks proving a boon in the enemy-laden Survival mode.

Where Guerilla Bob stands on its own two feet is in its terrific presentation. The middle eastern theme has been beautifully crafted, to the extent that you can make out various garments hanging from clothes lines as you pass underneath. Enemies are treated with the same careful brush and are introduced in a retro freeze frame as they are encountered to show off their detail. There is no problem at all telling the pot-wearing grunt from the explosive barrel-wielding suicide bombers. As each enemy requires a different strategy to counter, being able to tell them apart at a glance is a godsend. The presentation is rounded by Bob's amusing banter, his frequently corny but gruff commentary another throwback to Minigore. The rest of the sound is a mixed bag, with gun fire occasionally sounding more like popcorn. Fortunately the explosion and fire effects are spot on and the persistent jungle beat never overpowers the action.

If one had to nitpick, it's that perhaps the game is a little too short, relying squarely on its Survival Mode which is unlocked upon completion of the game to meter out replayability. And whilst the diversified levels are appreciated (particularly the night mission!); re-use of the same art assets throughout really leaves you pining for a fresh setting by the game's end, as the desert does start to feel monotonous. Fortunately, Survival Mode is challenging and frantic, and can very quickly amount to the bread and butter of the gameplay for those more competitively inclined.

It's worth noting too that Guerilla Bob is the second game to feature Chillingo's very own Crystal SDK to provide many of the same features that we are accustomed to from the existing OpenFeint, Plus+ and AGON platforms. It appears to do the job just as competently and is integrated seamlessly with the game which is nice.

Guerilla Bob does a great job raising the bar for how a top-down dual-stick shooter should be packaged. It is both eye-catching and sassy in its presentation whilst still presenting a fun, non-stop desert rampage. Complaints about its length only accentuate how drawn into the gameplay one actually gets, as by the end of it you are already looking forward to a hopeful sequel.

Be sure to check out the launch trailer above and post your own impressions to our Guerilla Bob discussion thread, where people have been going crazy over the game since its release.

App Store Link: Guerilla Bob, $2.99

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