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In this week’s episode of TAS we discuss WWDC and The Bearded Ones’ adventures at the San Francisco-based event. We also gab about Super Goblin War Machine, Red Ball 3, and the next sensation to sweep the world, Techno Kitten Adventure. As if that wasn’t enough, we also cover some of the more profound stories from the front page.

If you’re into us — and, really, who isn’t at this point — you can grab us on the iTunes as well as the Zune Marketplace. We’re also into streaming and you can do that just below via this little link thing:

iTunes Link: The TouchArcade Show
Zune Marketplace: TouchArcade.com Podcasts
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-004.mp3, 51.3MB

A couple of notes this week before the official show notes. At the top of the show, we ask that you all rate us on iTunes and shoot us written reviews. If you haven’t done that yet, I forgive you and allow you this second chance to do so. Also, a bunch of audio interviews with some people you know are coming down the pipe. We’ll bust these out separately to listen at your leisure. Hope you enjoy them as much as we will.

Now for the REAL notes:

Games

• Super Goblin War Machine [Free]
• Red Ball 3 [$1.99]
• Techno Kitten Adventure [Free]

Music for this episode was provided by the super talented Jim Guthrie. The song is "Audio Pepsi" off the album A Thousand Songs. You can buy the entire album or stream all the songs at his Web site. Guthrie is also responsible for the Sword & Sworcery [$4.99] soundtrack. Cool stuff.

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If you were having issues downloading the latest episodes of our podcast, here's some good news: Our iTunes feed is now working. It’s finally pumping out hot pod content just as the gods intended. It's also available on Zune. You’re welcome, ears.

We were having some brief technical difficulties which prevented the feed from being updated, but everything is good to go now. You can now download the second and the third episode of the TouchArcade Show via the iTunes music store. Both are free, so there's not much reason not to.

While I have you, if you could do us solid, I’d love for you to rate us on iTunes. Ideally, I’d love to see a ton of five star “you guys are the greatest, I want to stroke Jared's beard” reviews… but I would understand if you opted to be somewhat sober about the whole thing. Either way, your reviews will help establish the podcast on the store and give us even more listeners and POWER.

As always, we’re easy to reach. If you’d like to blast us a question through the Internet, hit us up at podcast@toucharcade.com. You can also hit us up via the Twitters and the Facebooks, too, if you’re into the whole social media thing.

Oh — and if you’ve got any feedback, let ‘er rip in the comments below.

iTunes Link: The TouchArcade Show
Zune Marketplace Link: TouchArcade.com Podcasts

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In this week’s episode of The TouchArcade Show, we discuss my favorite topic: me. We also take the time to jaw about a bunch of delightful new games and other topics ranging from the use of Discover card in courthouses to serious stuff like the pointlessness of geo-centric MMO games in the US and Gameloft’s Unreal Engine announcement.

Give us a listen just below with your favorite streaming-capable device, or hey, click the subscribe button on our podcast on iTunes. Provided plans move forward, we’ll be on the Zune Marketplace soon, too, so get ready people.

Now, for the show notes and a special message to our first-rate podcast responders:

GAMES

• Cargo Bridge [99¢ / Lite]
• MecaPix
• Monster Hunter: Dynamic Hunting
• Shadow Cities
• Tiny Tower
• Velocispider
• X-Men

DISCUSSION

• 'March of Heroes' To Be Gameloft's First Unreal Game
• We Spend Some Time With 'Shadow Cities' And Think It Has Some Promise
• E3 And WWDC '11 Predictions [Psst, we'll be at both!]

SPECIAL NOTE: Big thanks to all of you who sent us an e-mail or a tweet this week. If you'd like to get in touch with us and, possibly, get name-dropped on the air hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or at our podcast e-mail, podcast@toucharcade.com.

iTunes Link: The TouchArcade Show

Music credit: 'Castlevania 2010,' a remix by Benjamin Briggs.

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If Tetris went out, got trashed, hooked up with an old-school shooter like Space Invaders and then spit out a video game love child, the offspring would resemble MecaPix [$.99 / Lite]. It’s a slick combination of two genres that seem like they’d mix no better than oil and water, but what Robotalism managed to make is a fun, sharp pairing that strokes the shooter and the puzzle itch with the same scratcher. I just wish it wasn’t tuned for us non-mutant folks.

Think of MecaPix as Tetris with guns, but also in reverse. In Tetris, the object of the game is to stack together a continually descending assortment of blocks in order to create a line. In MecaPix, the object is to create and shoot your own blocks upwards towards falling blocks. When a successful collision is happens, the falling blocks disappear into the ether. If you miss a block or eighteen, these rogues blocks steal a pip from your overall health bar.

The bottom area of the screen is where all the magic happens — the block creation, the firing, and at the very bottom, the pain you could potentially suffer from letting a block through your defenses. Because this area is relatively small, block anticipation is a key strategic element, as well as a good amount of precision.

Conservation has its place, too. You can’t fire willy-nilly because there’s a bar for that as well, which recharges slowly as you play.

After a few levels, you get a real sense of the push and pull and the amount of design resources that went into the enemy blocks. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill descending puzzle squares, but rather Space Invaders-like baddies. Some blocks, including clusters, stagger from right to left, while still others can shoot blocks or come equipped with armor.

It bears noting that each level in MecaPix adds another layer to the base enemy design in the same kind of satisfying manner in which the best shooters provide change of pace foes. You'll see a lot of different stuff that you'll have to kill in satisfying ways.

Perhaps the most interesting component to the action are the power-ups, which you don’t receive directly. Instead, the game’s “bombs,” and horizontal lasers and other items are embedded inside enemy block formations. Precision, then, is required to set these off for massive damage, and the game reinforces this by presenting crazy situations in which you have to nail these special blocks in order to set off a conga line of reactions.

That’s where the puzzle part of the game factors in the most, and for what it’s worth, it does feel rewarding, but as a result of the frantic pacing, you'll never feel like Sherlock Holmes . The depth is there, it's just often guarded by momentum.

The visceral thrill of collapsing large block monsters can sometimes quickly turn from merriment to frustration. MecaPix relies on astoundingly fast reaction times, but its worse sin is that it also forces a large amount of rote memorization. It’s rare when you can interpret what a new enemy is going to do, how fast its going to go, and then do something about it before you see it. The speed is stupid and the game takes for granted that you know what’s coming next.

When you are clicking with the game, however, and aware of the pitfalls, there is a lot to like about MecaPix. It mixes up the action better than most titles on store shelves and it does offer a different style of play that can be as engrossing as it is entertaining. It also offers a decent bevy of content: each of the three themed stages have around ten levels and there’s an endurance mode to have a go at. Oh, and if you’re having the same kind of troubles I had, you can turn on a baby  mode that has a serious amount of give. Still, though, some of the levels just don't feel balanced correctly.

MecaPix has earned a place among my rotation of phone games, at least. It can be hard, and leans a bit too much on the side of memorization, but it’s sharp and entertaining combination of two equally cool games.

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We’re back! In this week's episode, The Bearded One, Jared Nelson, talks up Bumpy Road, Touchgrind BMX, and Mos Speedrun. Eli Hodapp discusses cat games, and I deliver some details about the Infinity Blade update and the third episode of Back to the Future. We also delve into the i3D thing, as well the Minecraft-coming-to-Android story that made the rounds before closing out the hour.

You can grab the podcast on iTunes now if you like, or you can download the raw file or stream the new podcast just below via the handy-dandy link. I encourage you to go ahead and subscribe to us if you're going to do the former. We'll be spitting out pods all over the place from that feed. Starting now, you'll get TouchArcade Show every Friday and fun interviews and other content as well.

In a nutshell, The TouchArcade Show, is an offbeat joint about iOS video games and the staff of this web site. I want to give you more insight into who we are and how that informs our writing. But, I also want to give you something fun to listen to if you’re into new iOS releases, hot iOS scoops, and the occasional phallus, or angry boss joke.

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes or Direct Download (MP3, 38MB)

Overall, there’s a lot of fun discussion, but we were missing a key component: you. If you’d like to give us some feedback — whether it’s a question, a comment, a terrible pun, or whatever — throw us an e-mail at podcast@toucharcade.com. You can also reach us via the Twitter and the Facebook, and if that doesn’t float your boat, you can also reach us in the comments of this post OR via our phone line. The number is +1-951-922-5582 or 951-9-CALL-TA.

The phone line, actually, is something fun we'd like to focus on in the future. If you're too lazy to write an e-mail, send us a call and we'll play it on the show and then respond to your comment or question. I stress, though, that you need to be using good equipment if you want to be featured in future episodes. We can't just throw up any old .mp3 from someone's jank handset.

So, yeah, feel free tell us what you think, what you’d like us to talk about in the next episode, or give us a question. We welcome it all. Also, enjoy!

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We’re back! In this week's episode, The Bearded One, Jared Nelson, talks up Bumpy Road, Touchgrind BMX, and Mos Speedrun. Eli Hodapp discusses cat games, and I deliver some details about the Infinity Blade update and the third episode of Back to the Future. We also delve into the i3D thing, as well the Minecraft-coming-to-Android story that made the rounds before closing out the hour.

You can grab the podcast on iTunes now if you like, or you can download the raw file or stream the new podcast just below via the handy-dandy link. I encourage you to go ahead and subscribe to us if you're going to do the former. We'll be spitting out pods all over the place from that feed. Starting now, you'll get TouchArcade Show every Friday and fun interviews and other content as well.

In a nutshell, The TouchArcade Show, is an offbeat joint about iOS video games and the staff of this web site. I want to give you more insight into who we are and how that informs our writing. But, I also want to give you something fun to listen to if you’re into new iOS releases, hot iOS scoops, and the occasional phallus, or angry boss joke.

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes or Direct Download (MP3, 38MB)

Overall, there’s a lot of fun discussion, but we were missing a key component: you. If you’d like to give us some feedback — whether it’s a question, a comment, a terrible pun, or whatever — throw us an e-mail at podcast@toucharcade.com. You can also reach us via the Twitter and the Facebook, and if that doesn’t float your boat, you can also reach us in the comments of this post OR via our phone line. The number is +1-951-922-5582 or 951-9-CALL-TA.

The phone line, actually, is something fun we'd like to focus on in the future. If you're too lazy to write an e-mail, send us a call and we'll play it on the show and then respond to your comment or question. I stress, though, that you need to be using good equipment if you want to be featured in future episodes. We can't just throw up any old .mp3 from someone's jank handset.

So, yeah, feel free tell us what you think, what you’d like us to talk about in the next episode, or give us a question. We welcome it all. Also, enjoy!

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It’s been awhile since you’ve heard our dulcet tones. April 2010 marks the last time we’ve blasted out a podcast for mass earhole consumption. But, I’m not writing this post to lament this little fact. Nah; actually, I'm revved to announce that this long period of unbearable Internet radio silence is over — we’re back with a new pod', a new name, and a fresh cast to entertain you. Or tickle you. Or something.

You can grab the podcast on iTunes now (or as soon as iTunes updates our podcast feed, anyway) if you like, or you can download the raw file or stream the new podcast just below via the handy-dandy link. I encourage you to go ahead and subscribe to us if you're going to do the former. We'll be spitting out pods all over the place from that feed. You'll get TouchArcade Show every Friday and fun interviews and other content as well.

In a nutshell, The TouchArcade Show is an offbeat podcast about iOS video games and the staff of this lovely web site. I want to give you more insight into who we are and how that informs our writing. I also want to give you something fun to listen to if you’re into new iOS releases, hot iOS scoops, and the occasional phallus, or angry boss joke.

This week’s episode, by the way, has a lot of content about fresh releases. The Bearded One, Jared Nelson, talks up Bumpy Road, Touchgrind BMX, and Mos Speedrun. Eli talks about some cat games, and I deliver some details about the new Infinity Blade update and the third episode of Back to the Future. We also delve into the i3D thing, as well the Minecraft-coming-to-Android story that made the rounds before closing out the hour.

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes or Direct Download (MP3, 38MB)

Overall, there’s a lot of fun discussion, but we were missing a key component: you. If you’d to give us some feedback — whether it’s a question, a comment, a terrible pun, or whatever — throw us an e-mail at podcast@toucharcade.com. You can also reach us via the Twitter and the Facebook, and if that doesn’t float your boat, you can also reach us in the comments of this post OR via our phone line. The number is +1-951-922-5582 or 951-9-CALL-TA.

The phone line, actually, is something fun we'd like to focus on in the future. If you're too lazy to write an e-mail, send us a call and we'll play it on the show and then respond to your comment or question. I stress, though, that you need to be using good equipment if you want to be featured in future episodes. We can't just throw up any old .mp3 from someone's jank handset.

So, yeah, feel free tell us what you think, what you’d like us to talk about in the next episode, or give us a question. We welcome it all. Also, enjoy!

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Swedish indie developer Eric Svedang has recently released a new game named 'Tri Tri Triobelisk' [99¢] for the iPad. I've been following Erik's work for a while, so was totally interested in checking it out. Any discussion of Tri Tri Triobelisk really begins with his earlier game, Shot Shot Shoot [$1.99], so let's examine that first.

In 2010, Eric released Shot Shot Shoot! for the iPad. It's one of those games you may not have heard of, however Frank Lantz (the designer of Drop7 [$4.99]), is quoted as describing it as "the first truly great game for the iPad. Essential."

Erik describes his game as a "Digital board-game" for the iPad; it could also be easily described as a top-down shooter. Two players sit facing each other, on the same iPad and each player has five squares on their side of the board. The goal is to destroy your opponents five squares before they destroy yours. Tapping on one of your squares fires a shot directly towards your opponent, but if you hold your finger down, you can optionally redirect that shot while it's traveling, allowing your bullet to swerve around other bullets or to change targets. This is best illustrated by watching a gameplay video:

Shot Shot Shoot is a game of strategy. Some players fire strategically, picking their shots, while others prefer to play offensively, mashing the buttons to overwhelm the opposition with a swarm of shots. If you fire like crazy, you'll end up defenseless, as you have a limited supply of bullets which take a while to regenerate. Alternatively, you can shoot at grey squares in the middle of the screen to collect bullets, but your opponent is seeking these too. Another strategic element is that the more shots you have active on the screen, the slower they all move. This means a single shot can travel faster and often zips across the screen to save the day. Many frantic and exciting games are won by a millisecond.

This month, Erik released Tri Tri Triobelisk which is promoted as a faster and more extreme remix of Shot Shot Shoot. Check out the trailer compared to the previous Shot Shot Shoot video:

The unusual title is named after electronic artist Triobelisk, who composed the energetic dance soundtracks. The minimalistic square graphics of Shot Shot Shoot are replaced with a space backdrop and triangles replace the squares, with shots now leaving different trails behind them. The game modes, basic gameplay and controls remain unaltered from Shot Shot currently, however Erik revealed in the thread on our forums that he's currently developing power-ups as a future addition to Tri Tri, which I can't wait to see.

While I'm a fan of both games, it's unusual to have two games with the same basic gameplay, from the same developer. People with Shot Shot already may be hesitant to buy the new game as well and would probably have preferred that game to be extended too via an update of sorts. Having played both games, I appreciate each for different reasons. Shot Shot has simple and clean graphics.  Tri Tri has more energy and more music and may have more widespread appeal.

If you're not sure which game to try, I recommend Tri Tri Triobelisk. The "introductory price" for Tri Tri is currently cheaper than Shot Shot and has potential to be updated. Erik plans to keep Shot Shot as the "minimalistic gentleman's game" with Tri Tri being the "crazy over the top version". If you specifically love artistic minimalistic games, get Shot Shot, otherwise Tri Tri Triobelisk seems to be the way to go.

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With Chaos Rings Ω barely even two days old, Square Enix has released a teaser trailer for a sequel entitled Chaos Rings II. We weren't that impressed by the latest Chaos Rings offering in our review, as it felt a little too much like an expansion of the original Chaos Rings than something that is new or different enough to be its own game. But, again, if you loved Chaos Rings, and just are looking for more of that, chances are you'll also dig Chaos Rings Ω. It wouldn't really surprise me if this was also the case with Chaos Rings II.

The above teaser is all we know about the Chaos Rings sequel right now. Since the trailer doesn't show much gameplay and (as of this writing) is in entirely un-subtitled japanese… We don't know much. WIth Chaos Rings Ω's planned cycle of updates that run all the way through December this year, my crystal ball is telling me that Chaos Rings II is going to be a first quarter 2012 title, or maybe even a holiday release.

We'll just have to wait and see as more information slowly dribbles out of Squeenix. I just hope they do something a little different with Chaos Rings II.

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Let's get this out of the way, Square Enix's Chaos Rings Ω [$11.99 / HD] is identical to the original Chaos Rings in more ways than one. In fact, its differences are so few, it's hard to differentiate the two and considering Chaos Rings Ω follows the original by a full year, that's going to be a bit disappointing to fans of the first game looking for something new.

By the nature of the narrative in the first game, there is little in the way of expanding the Battle Royale style storyline, which pits you in a fight to the death against a random collection of couples abducted to an arena for the sake of proving their battle-worthiness. Even though this is billed as a prequel, it's still not the "first" time this the tournament has gone down and it's clearly not the last.

Where the first game told the story from several different viewpoints, Chaos Rings Ω decides instead to tell the main story of Vieg (who you'll recognize from the first game, perhaps a bit younger looking). This might be a bit jarring to fans of the multiple viewpoints of the first game, but it does allow Chaos Rings Ω to tell a slightly more cohesive story.

The setting is the exact same and that goes for the dungeons as well. They're varied in layout, but considering the first games dungeon designs were essentially randomly put together screens, that's not really saying much. Since there are different characters, the narrative is tweaked slightly, including a ridiculous mother/child plot involving a not-at-all-pregnant-looking woman who happens to be your wife. Dialogue is on par with the first as well, which is to say, it reads like it's something closer to fan fiction. Because of that, there are plenty of inadvertent jokes — for instance, during a cut scene where your wife is giving birth, an ill-timed achievement called "Pelvic Pummeler" will pop up in relation to a boss fight you just completed.

But if you liked the style and story of the first game, you'll enjoy this one too. Without spoiling things, you'll seen connections between the two games and get a few explanations of how the Ark Arena works and where certain situations and characters from the first game came from.

Combat, movement, the menus; everything else is the same as the first. That includes the ability to turn off random enemy encounters or alternately, to force one into happening. The puzzles are back this time too, but you can skip them if you fail three times. Combat works on the same two-person tactic as the first, which offers entry level RPG fans a clear and simple system to go with and it's mixed with enough complexity that you can take it to some extremes to deal hefty damage, but the game doesn't really challenge you to do so as often as it could. There is also a ludicrously over-done tutorial system at the beginning of the game, which features a tutorial for how to use the "options" menu for no apparent reason.

The same goes for the graphics, which are, to be frank, identical to the first, oftentimes seemingly taking assets directly from the original and changing their color. While Chaos Rings had a bit of a shock-and-awe factor going for it, Chaos Rings Ω doesn't. The weirdly pixelated static backgrounds and poorly textured character designs look significantly dated now. It shouldn't really matter, but as a whole, it looks like they weren't trying too hard.

There are a flurry of post-release updates planned, including increased level caps and bosses (which only makes sense after you finish the game), but based on their descriptions alone, they don't really seem that interesting unless you're an absolute die-hard fan. If nothing else, it's nice to see Square Enix is coming around to the App Store update model, at least a little bit.

By the end of it all, Chaos Rings Ω is solely for diehard fans of Chaos Rings and with the first game currently on sale, you'll be better of starting there if you're just a curious passerby. It's not bad by any means, but it doesn't even pretend to offer anything different or new. More is more — so if that's all you're asking for, you'll be happy with the way the story fills in the gaps of the first, but if you didn't like the first or wanted new battle systems or combat, you'll be disappointed.

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