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Following the port of their 1993 arcade shooter RayForce [$11.99] to the App Store, Taito announced over the weekend that they’ll be bringing another shooter, Darius Burst: Second Prologue, to iOS in the future, according to Andriasang.

Darius Burst was originally a Sony PSP game released in late 2009, and was an official new entry in the fabled Darius series of shmups. An arcade version came a year later called Darius Burst Another Chronicle, and it was especially noteworthy due to its insanely wide screen and cabinet. Sadly, neither game was released outside of Japan.

It’s unknown whether the iOS version of Darius Burst is based off of either of the previous versions of the game, but my guess would be that it is an enhanced remake of the original that will have its own special iOS specific features. That’s just wishful speculation on my part, however.

Famitsu’s mobile gaming site originally broke this news and also managed to nab the first screens of Darius Burst: Second Prologue which you see here, but unfortunately there are no other details on the game – like pricing or release date – at this time. After the somewhat controversial launch price for what was a fairly standard port of RayForce, it will also be interesting to see what price Darius Burst clocks in at. Just as soon as we have more news on Darius Burst: Second Prologue, we’ll let you know.

[Via Andriasang]

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The wait for Grand Theft Auto 3 on iOS and Android is almost over. On its blog a few minutes ago, Rockstar revealed that the 10 Year Anniversary Edition port of the game-changing open-world title will hit the App Store and Android Marketplace on December 15th at an agreeable price point of $4.99. A new trailer giving you another taste of what’s to come is expected to release next week, but we’ve got some new screens right now to hold you over.

Oh! And in other related-and-cool news, GTA 3 will support more than just iPad 2, iPhone 4S, or a beefy Android device at launch. Single core phones and devices are now game. Here’s an updated list of what will be supported at launch:

• Apple iOS Devices: iPad 1 & 2, iPhone 4 & 4S, iPod touch 4th Generation
• Android Phones: HTC Rezound, LG Optimus 2x, Motorola Atrix 4G, Motorola Droid X2, Motorola Photon 4G, Samsung Galaxy R, T-Mobile G2x
• Android Tablets: Acer Iconia, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Dell Streak 7, LG Optimus Pad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1, Sony Tablet S, Toshiba Thrive

[Thanks, @WakeBoardMan10!]

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Any pinball fan reading this post can be no stranger to Gameprom and their quality iOS pinball collections, Pinball HD and War Pinball, and related, standalone tables. Last summer, the studio partnered with Sony Music Entertainment to add a little rock and roll to the pinball equation in the form of Slayer Pinball Rocks HD [App Store], a fast and furious Slayer-themed table. Gameprom has recently rekindled the Sony relationship to release AC/DC Pinball Rocks HD [App Store], a standalone table that makes you want to scream out, “Angus!”

The first thing you’ll notice about AC/DC Pinball Rocks is that it’s a pretty ornate table, over the top in a fashion that, I think, well fits the band. Arrayed about the table are various bits of AC/DC stage memorabilia, including the Rock ‘N Roll Train, Hell’s Bell, the For Those About To Rock cannon, and the Highway to Hell, itself. As you work the table, AC/DC tracks, including “Thunderstruck,” “Highway to Hell,” and “You Shook Me All Night Long”, play along with the action as pyrotechnics blast sparks across your screen.

As far as the table itself, it’s quite a different experience from the fast-paced Slayer Pinbal. AC/DC Pinball Rocks features slower-paced ball action than the other rock title and notably lacks the two main bumpers typically found above a table’s central set of paddles, leaving the center of the table pretty much wide open. This may seem to be the formula for a bland game of pinball at first, but after playing the game for a short while I realized I was able to be rather more strategic and precise on this table than most others. It’s possible, on the AC/DC table, to aim for targets as distant as the far corners, thanks to the ball pacing and the open central area. That’s really not something you can do on a typical table and makes for a non-typical game experience. What’s more, the sides of the table are nicely busy, with elevators, lightning bumpers, and the mission-lending TNT bundle.

The main reason that the central area of the table is left open is the mini game that takes place there. There are three mini games in all, in fact. On the right side of the screen is a guitar mini-game featuring a small ball pin with paddles, while on the left is a mini-game involving the aforementioned stage cannon. The central area mini-game raises a barrier and challenges you to score in the lower portion of the table, ultimately in a mission to open the Trap Door to Hell.

AC/DC Pinball Rocks features both single- and dual-player modes and offers a variety of camera angles, just like Gameprom’s other pinball titles that came before.

AC/DC Pinball Rocks HD is a fun table that definitely feels like Gameprom pinball. I won’t call it my favorite of their offerings, but it’s certainly worth its space on the iOS devices of any pinball fan out there.

Da Vinci Pinball Update

Another bit of news from Gameprom is a video posted a few weeks back that contains (among other previews) a brief walk-through of the incredible-looking upcoming Da Vinci Pinball table that we previewed back in August.

The Da Vinci table is expected to arrive as a DLC item for the studio’s Pinball HD collection. It will be made available soon for both iOS and Mac OS X, and is one we’re very anxious to get our hands on. Stay tuned for a close look.

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Mobile analytics firm Flurry today reports on the continuing shift in portable gaming from dedicated devices to smartphones and other multipurpose devices. According to results compiled by Flurry from NPD market research and Flurry’s own mobile app data, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android mobile operating systems will account for 58% of portable gaming revenue in the United States for 2011, an almost exact flip-flop from 2010 when dedicated device leaders Nintendo and Sony held 57% of the market.

The most striking trend is that iOS and Android games have tripled their market share from roughly 20% in 2009 to nearly 60% in just two years. Simultaneously, Nintendo, the once dominant player, has been crushed down to owning about one-third of market in 2011, from having controlled more than two-thirds in 2009. Combined, iOS and Android game revenue delivered $500 million, $800 million and $1.9 billion over 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively.

Flurry’s data for 2011 is based on estimates for the final two months of the year, but suggests that the rapid growth in gaming on smartphone platforms is showing no signs of slowing. The market dynamics of free or low-cost games sometimes supplemented by in-app purchases and played on multi-function devices versus dedicated gaming devices with relatively high-cost game titles are clearly playing out in favor of iOS and Android. The result has been a surging gaming market increasingly attracting casual gamers willing to spend a few dollars to play on their phones, while established players have seen not only their shares but also their revenue declining each year.

Nintendo has been resisting increasing pressure to bring its games to the iPhone and other platforms, sticking by its long-standing tradition of making its games exclusive to its own hardware. Flurry suggests that the rapidly-shifting landscape of portable gaming may soon bring Nintendo face-to-face with a “Nokia-like” decision whether to jump over to smartphone platforms or watch its business erode away.

[Originally Posted on MacRumors]

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We’ve been keeping a close watch on the PS Vita since its announcement and as we’ve followed up with it, we’ve become more and more convinced that it’ll be the one near-future portable device that’ll compete with Apple in a meaningful way in the games space. Yesterday’s press conference in Japan went a long way in solidifying this thought, as the handheld is poised to launch with a lot of big-name IPs and tech that should draw popular attention.

To be clear, Sony had nothing of substance to say about PS Vita’s launch outside of Japan at the event. It also didn’t get into game release dates. But it did share some news on games: Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Street Fighter X Tekken, Final Fantasy X HD, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, Zone of the Enders HD Collection, Lumines, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and several other releases are all slated to hit the PS Vita at some point down the line. In Japan, the device will launch on December 17 with a total of 26 games, most of which will presumably be big-ticket titles that won't ever be available on the App Store.

LUMINES!

I think it’s fair to speculate that when the device hits elsewhere in 2012, the rest of the world will experience a similar launch line-up and the promise of ridiculous launch window support. Over 100 games are being developed for the device in Japan, Sony said at the event. And let's not forget about the "apps" — Sony showed off the browser, multi-tasking, a photo viewer, and several less notables at the event. We've already said in the past that its non-game support is looking strong and, wouldn't-you-know-it, pretty phone-like.

A listing of what’s inside the PS Vita is now available at Destructoid. It’ll boast a ton of RAM and a 4-core A9 CPU, which is pretty hot. On the minus side, it’s only going to be able to sustain a maximum battery life of five hours of play before you need to plug it into a wall and re-charge for around three hours.

I guess it’s no surprise to see publishers like Capcom, Square Enix, Konami, and Tecmo Koei latch onto new technology, but it’ll be interesting to see if the big name properties each of these players — and several other notable western developers — are bringing to the Vita will be enough to push the platform into a legitimate position of strong competition with iOS. Apple is killing it in this space, so it’ll take a big push in both digital and retail for Sony to get people to jump over and carry around this bulky-butt thing. From this TGS event, it seems like Sony is willing to at least try for a mad dash at your wallet.

[Via Destructoid, Giant Bomb, 1UP]

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In this week’s podcast, we get into another discussion about the handheld vs mobile space in which I declare that handhelds like the Nintendo 3DS and the forthcoming PS Vita still have a shot to fill a niche that mobile devices can’t. I’m of the mind that these devices’ big budget games and, generally speaking, their more fleshed out and engrossing experiences are a unique attraction that should draw new audiences and those of us with iDevices that want a bit more.

As terrifying as it is, Sony and I are on the same wavelength on this. Despite the fact that the PS Vita will draw on a lot of the extra functionality that makes handheld gaming so much more attractive with a phone, Sony believes that its retail products will provide the extra oomph to battle purely mobile platforms and their games’ comparatively lower-budget and lower dev time experiences.

Speaking with GameSpot, Sony’s John Koller said that Sony views mobile and the handheld gamers as two demographics, but he also reckons that mobile people who want the larger, bigger budget experiences will flock to handhelds — the PS Vita in particular.

"When you look at the type of consumer that's playing cell phone games currently, it's someone that enjoys smaller 'kill time' gaming and has not gravitated to the larger, richer, deeper experiences that true handheld gaming provides,” he said.

"We've certainly seen that on the PSP, and I know Nintendo has probably commented on it for their products, but as we go toward the PS Vita, I can tell you that as we started looking at that product and the market opportunity several years ago, we saw a real strong demographic for those deeper, richer, console-type experiences. We had them on PSP, but we've taken them to a new level on PS Vita with the entirety of new ways to play."

Our take has always been, via Sony messaging and Vita functionality, that Sony is aware that it’s competing against phones. It strikes us as weird that Koller is talking about two separate demographics. Regardless, the point Koller makes is a cogent one: as of right now, we don’t have a Half-Minute Hero or a God of War or a Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. You still have to grab a handheld for these kinds of experiences.

The jury is still out, though, on if people actually want to lug around something as big as a Vita or splurge on the tech when they could just grab a console, which will have even bigger and often more satisfying games.

[Via Gamasutra, Gamespot]

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While Nintendo hilariously won’t admit that its struggling Nintendo 3DS is competing against the mobile market in addition to the traditional handheld one, Sony made it clear this afternoon that phones are the PS Vita’s biggest and stiffest competition. How? By confirming tons of support that is typically reserved for phones. Twitter, Skype, Foursquare, Facebook, and Internet browsing will be available as tack-on apps on the PS Vita at launch. Also, the publisher is planning to put every single game that comes to the Wi-Fi and 3G-enabled platform up for download.

This news comes on the heels of news that Sony was loaning PS Vita dev kits to indie devs, which for us at least, indicates that its serious about courting the same kinds of developers that flourish on the App Store.

Provided pricing stays at sane levels, PSN on the Vita seems like it has the potential to be a really interesting platform in the future. I mean, imagine downloading an Uncharted game for the same price as, say, a Final Fantasy Tactics [$15.99]. That would be competitive, which is a word that we never use when discussing Nintendo’s troubled e-Shop.

But, to be clear, that’s just tinfoil speculation —- our collective, TIME-award winning guts are pretty convinced that even the downloads of retail, package games will continue to sit at retail, package prices. To be fair, though, PSN is definitely the most flexible of the three big platforms, so anything is possible.

We’ll keep our eyes on the $250 PS Vita as its 2012 launch creeps ever closer. The gamer side of me really wants it to succeed, but man, it’s going to one heck of a climb to the top — if it's even possible for it to get there anymore.

[Via 1UP]

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While some traditional publishers are resisting the trends towards lower-cost software in the handheld gaming space, others are actively working to figure out how to make these sorts of experiences work on their existing platforms. While not a shining beacon of success, the PSP Minis campaign does demonstrate a good faith effort on the part of Sony to cater to the direction that portable gaming seems to be heading. A few growing pains are part and parcel of adapting to a changing market, and there have been a few notable early wins scattered through the program.

One of the largest of these successes has been Frima Games’ A Space Shooter for Two Bucks, which recently reported a healthy figure of 150,000 downloads over PSN. Given the type of game they made, and its popularity on PSP, it’s no surprise that the developers worked to port the title over to the iPhone. Making its debut on iOS as A Space Shooter For Free [Free/HD], this game retains all the good elements from its PSP origin and joins a catalog of solid shmups available on the platform.

A Space Shooter For Free is the story of P. Jefferson, an optimistic and nerdy kid who is relentlessly tortured by bullies at school. Much like our own Brad Nicholson, Jefferson turns to obsessive weightlifting and unjustified xenophobia as a means of dealing with his repressed rage issues. Equal parts bravado and libido, he’s essentially a mash-up of Zap Brannigan and Duke Nukem.

However, unlike the Duke, this universe does not celebrate his misogyny or misbehaviors, making the character much more tolerable. The story and dialogue are snappily done in comic-book panel style, and Jefferson’s pathetic attempts to “court” the older woman who runs the upgrade store were just cheesy enough to keep me coming back to see if the idiot could pull it off.

Let me start off the gameplay discussion by stating that this game is no Cave title; if you’re looking to have your socks blown off by god-tier bullet hell action, this is not the one for you. That being said, Frima blends a cornucopia of strong elements into ASSFF that give the game tons of depth and replay value.

In standard vertical-scrolling space shooter fashion, enemies of varying types will converge on your ship from all directions. Memorizing their attack patterns and behaviors will be the key to your success, as will scooping up the power-ups that destroyed baddies leave on the screen. The usual suspects are all here: shields, missiles, and main gun bumps give your ship a temporary boost in fighting power. Some missions will be against standard waves of aliens, and some will feature boss characters to defeat. Clearing a boss stage will provide your ship with one of five special weapons that is persistent throughout the rest of the game.

Speaking of persistent, along with your temporary power-ups, you’ll be collecting scrap/currency that you can use in-between missions to purchase permanent upgrades to your ship. There’s a great deal of variety here, and the desire to grind out enough scratch to get the next upgrade kept me motivated to pew-pew bravely on. Adding spread to your main cannon, magnets to pull scrap in for you, devices to increase the power or reduce the energy cost of special weapons, and items that maximize the efficiency of temporary power-ups are all options.

Difficulty between stages can vary wildly, and so if you play solely in the campaign mode you’ll find yourself needing to grind in order to upgrade enough to tackle later sectors. This is the perfect time to take a break and check out the survival mode. It’s your standard wave-after-wave affair, but the high-score push is a draw, and Frima smartly allows any currency you earn in survival mode to carry back over into the campaign.

ASSFF falls into the same control traps that many iPhone shmups do. The touch controls feels right and auto-fire helps the cause, but especially when the difficulty begins to mount you’ll be covering vital parts of the action with your finger. The position of special weapons also make them difficult to activate without leaving your ship unprotected in a sea of murderous plasma bolts while you trigger them.

The game (as you’d rightly expect by the title) is free to download, and there’s more than enough content before the pay wall to help you make up your mind. If you find yourself sucked in like I did, a reasonable $.99 IAP will unlock the rest of the campaign content. Additional IAPs are available for those who want all the ship upgrades from the get-go. A Space Shooter For Free does a lot of different things, and juggles them very well. For the quality and quantity of shooter on display here, the value proposition is dynamite. For an initial price of free, I'd definitely encourage downloading and checking out this title.

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My gut says the chances aren’t great, but Braid developer Jonathan Blow’s next game, The Witness, might end up on the iPad or iPhone. Blow just wrapped up a few press demonstrations for the estimated 2 million dollar downloadable and gave the media some things to chew on about the platforms of its forthcoming 2012 launch.

Right now, the game is slated for release on PC and “one console,” Blow said to Gamasutra. He added, “others later.” The fact that he hasn’t nailed down another platform is telling; I’m guessing he’s looking for a Microsoft or Sony to give him an exclusive, but Blow also also isn’t betting the farm on this.

Before speaking to the platforms, Blow told Gamasutra that there wasn’t a need to sign a contract with any publisher. "If the goal is to make that $2 million, not only is that kind of a safe target, but because the game's 3D and whatnot, I'm pretty sure we could make that back just off Steam and the iPad safely. Like, it's not even a gamble to say that," he said in the interview.

From what little I’ve seen and heard of The Witness so far, it doesn’t seem like a touch-based version would do the title any sort of injustice. It’s a 3D puzzle game with, from what I understand, no action or otherwise trying elements. Different people are walking away with different takes on the game, but almost everyone is in agreement that The Witness is an inspired take on games like Myst or Riven. It boasts a similar open-world and some degree of non-linearity. The Blow twist is its clear logic, progression, and puzzles.

But the question if it will indeed come to the iPad or other iOS devices is going to remain open for some time. I’m guessing that someone will swoop in, grab an exclusive, and that’ll be all she wrote for a year or so. We’ll see… in 2013.

[Via Gamasutra, Giant Bomb, and Joystiq]

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Well, it seemed like this day would never come, but here we are. After being announced at last year’s E3, and missing several intended release windows, Square Enix’s highly tactical role-playing game Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions [$15.99] is now available for download for your iPhone or iPod touch.

For some backstory, the original Final Fantasy Tactics first launched on the PlayStation back in 1998 to critical acclaim. It marked the first time the Final Fantasy series branched out from its more traditional RPG style and ventured into the realm of highly tactical combat with an engaging storyline and RPG-like elements.

In 2007, the game was rereleased for the Sony PSP as Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, and contained a number of improvements. These included new storyline cutscenes, graphical improvements, new characters and classes, local multiplayer, and more. Unfortunately, with all these new enhancements, some negative issues rose up as well, most notoriously a slowdown bug that made combat flow at a snail's pace even compared to the nearly 10 year old original. For a game where you're engaging in combat a whole lot, this was an unfortunate problem.

The iOS version of Final Fantasy Tactics is a port of the PSP version, and although it loses the local multiplayer mode, the slowdown problem has been greatly improved. The problem isn't totally eradicated, but it's at least much more tolerable now. Other iOS-specific enhancements include a completely native touch interface for navigating menus and combat and an autosave feature that allows for the types of interruptions that you get when gaming on a mobile platform like the iPhone. Some of the artwork has even been redrawn for this version, as well, though the graphics overall are still retro and pixelated, especially some of the in-game text.

The pricing for Final Fantasy Tactics has been a hot topic ever since it was announced. It’s certainly on the high end of the price tiers of the App Store, but in terms of gaming bang for your buck, it’s nearly incomparable to anything else available. There are easily over 100 hours of gameplay time here, so if you like your tactical strategy games to last a while then you’re in luck. An iPad native version is planned for release in about a month’s time, so if you figure you’ll be playing on your iPad mostly then it might be worth waiting around for that version.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is an absolute classic, and it’s great to see a title of this caliber in the App Store. Some may not be down with the price, and if you’ve played the game extensively in the past it might be hard to justify buying the game again now. Of course, if you’re fanatical about this game like so many gamers are, then price isn’t even a question and chances are you’ve downloaded the game already.

You can check out further impressions of the game in our forums, and whether you’re a longtime fan or just now checking out the game for the first time, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is a fantastic tactical RPG experience that works incredibly well on the iOS platform.

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