TouchArcade.ru

Whoa, hey, stop the presses even though nobody reads newspapers or magazines or uses paper anymore! Adult Swim Digital, the publishing wing of Adult Swim, has just announced a much broader original content initiative that'll see the release of several App Store exclusive games in 2011 and 2012. In 2011 specifically, we'll see a total of five originals from Adult Swim. Its first original, Monsters Ate My Condo [$.99], is on the 'Store right now, actually.

We're pretty sure we don't need to remind you, but just in case you're not hip with Adult Swim, this is the publisher responsible for sharing Robot Unicorn Attack [$.99 / HD] and other delectables like the flash-tastic Cream Wolf, with the world.

Monsters Ate My Condo is a fast-flowing, almost Jenga-esque puzzle game developed by PikPok, the New Zealand-based studio who handles the Flick Kick franchise. In the stupidly vibrant Monsters, you match up colored floors in towering condos in order to feed monsters. If you suck, the tower falls.

One of the coolest things about it is its look, which riffs on Japanese anime, pop-culture, and monster flicks. You can grab the game right now because it's good, but just so you know, we'll have a proper review-y write-up shortly.

The second game in this initiative has been revealed, too. Adult Swim is getting together with the studio that brought us Wispin [$1.99 / HD], Grumpyface Studios, for Bring Me Sandwiches. Slated to hit a little later this month, this is another title revolving around feeding a monstrosity. Specifically, you’ll be tasked with making sandwiches out of whatever an alien wants, including people and junk.

Overall, we’re totally stoked about Adult Swim’s push for original content. As much as we’ve loved the flash game ports in the past, it’ll be refreshing to see the publisher’s creativity and moneybags dropped into games catered specifically for iOS. Adult Swim is stoked, too.

This afternoon you’re in for a treat if you’re a fan of our weekly podcast. Adult Swim producer and all-around awesome dude Chris Johnston joined Eli and I for a regular episode. At the top, we have a good discussion revolving around Monsters and this initiative. Also, we do the regular podcast thing and because we’re all so pro, it turned out pretty well.

[source]

Gameloft made a splash back in February when they announced that they were hopping on the Unreal Engine bandwagon. This summer it was revealed that March of Heroes would be their first Unreal-based game… And it'd be playable at E3. Naturally, we had our greasy hands all over it at E3, and we even took home some gameplay video:

This information comes courtesy of the Gameloft twitter account, mere moments ago:

With that out of the way, maybe it's the custom designed tin foil hat I'm wearing right now, but something seems a little fishy about this announcement. First off, Gameloft's Twitter is notoriously meticulous when it comes to capitalizing things, even to the point of capitalizing "GALAXY" in "Samsung GALAXY," using all the proper periods in "N.O.V.A." instead of just typing "NOVA" like the rest of the world, and more. Secondly, the link they're linking to is just their generic Facebook page which contains no information on the matter.

So is this a prank, hoax, publicity stunt, or a little of the three? Who knows. I was looking forward to Gameloft throwing their hat into the proverbial Unreal Engine ring, so this is a bit of a bummer if it's actually true.

Update: Well, it turns out my tinfoil hat was reading tea leaves again, something it really loves to do. Gameloft's Facebook was just updated with this snippet:

Hi everyone, we know we have a big community of FPS fans here… so we are very sorry to announce that we will not be releasing March of Heroes.

Our developers will be focusing on developing various awesome games in the months to come and working on making them even better. Fans of March of Heroes should definitely look forward to the powerful Modern Combat 3. We are however, not cancelling our work on the Unreal Engine! We are expecting to release these games starting 2012.

So, I suppose, now is the time for rampant speculation as to why it was cancelled instead of just released as-is. The version I saw at E3 seemed very complete.

[source]

I've long been a fan of Jeff Minter's unique take on game design, and his iOS releases are in my list of best games to be found in the App Store. His titles all drip definite old school appeal, and so I was extremely pleased to see his recent tweet indicating that he has worked iCade support into all of the iOS titles where it makes sense.

Jeff has posted a lengthy video demonstrating iCade gameplay in his imminent upcoming title GoatUp, as well as Minotuar Rescue [App Store] and Minotron: 2112 [App Store].

All titles mentioned should be getting an update soon that includes the demonstrated iCade support and GoatUp should arrive any day now. We'll be bringing an in-depth look at the latest title when it lands.

[source]

Back in May, we were quite taken with the crazy trailer for Techno Kitten Adventure [Free], mostly due to it featuring a large man in a horrible cat suit. Techno Kitten Adventure was released last year as an Xbox Live Indie Game, and has a pretty dedicated following. Developer Elite Gudz was in the process of revamping the entire game with shiny new graphics and playable kittens, as well as bringing it on over to the iOS platform.

A couple of weeks later, Techno Kitten Adventure did launch in the App Store, and got a solid stamp of approval from yours truly during our podcast that following week. In fact, that was the first inklings of the now world famous Jared’s Kitty Korner portion of our podcast, which makes Techno Kitten Adventure somewhat historically significant.

Then about a month after that, an update was released for Techno Kitten Adventure that added the internet’s most famous feline the Nyan Cat as a playable character. Sadly, the powers that be who control everything Nyan Cat related didn’t take too kindly to this addition to the game, and shortly thereafter Nyan Cat was removed and replaced with a parody cat that flies backwards and barfs a stream of rainbows. That’s a pretty fair trade in my book, to be honest.

Now another brand new update for Techno Kitten Adventure has landed and it adds in another one of the internet’s favorite obsessions: bacon. Or less specifically, meat in general. The new Meat Pack comes completely free and offers a brand new song, a new extremely meat themed level, and 3 new playable cats made from various types of meat. It’s a lot of meat to be sure, but I know for a fact that’s just how Brad Nicholson likes it.

Also, the entire gist of Techno Kitten Adventure is to test your ability to play a cave flyer game with as many obnoxious visual distractions as humanly possible constantly flying in your face. The new meat level takes this to beyond the extreme. Not only is there crazy meat stuffs flying all over the screen at all times, but the entire screen itself is prone to zooming, shaking, and even flipping horizontally so you’re all of a sudden moving in the opposite direction. Basically, if you’re prone to nausea or vomiting, the meat level might test your will.

When it comes down to the actual gameplay, Techno Kitten Adventure is about as basic as a cave flyer can be. Jetpack Joyride [99¢] this is not. But, when you factor in the absolutely bizarre and elating sights and sounds, it’s a hard game not to enjoy. Techno Kitten Adventure is my immediate go to game when I know I need a smile or I want to get an annoying dance song stuck in my head. Also, kittens. Who doesn’t love kittens, am I right?

Since the game is initially a free score limited version with the ability to upgrade from within the app, the best way to see if Techno Kitten Adventure is the right game for you is just to download it and see, or stop by our forums for more player impressions.

[source]

On this week’s bonus edition of The TouchArcade Show, Eli and I spit some mad game at Retro Dreamer’s Gavin Bowman. At the top of the interview we really dig into his studio’s latest game, Velocispider [$.99 / Free], but we also take the time to discuss Bowman’s past, what Retro Dreamer is all about, the iCade, and the free to play model.

If you’d like to download the show, go ahead and do so via the link at the bottom. Heck, you can even stream it from there, too. If you’d prefer to get these episodes the second we can upload them, go ahead and subscribe to us on iTunes and the Zune. That’s what all the cool kids do. Like, the really cool kids.

iTunes Link: The TouchArcade Show
Zune Marketplace: TouchArcade.com Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-Bonus-011.mp3, 19MB

Of course, we’ll be back in your earholes later this week with another normal episode of TAS. Fill free to shoot us a line: podcast@toucharcade.com.

Oh also, that radical new album art up there? That's courtesy of Mountain Sheep's Timo Vihola who totally went out of his way to whip it up for us. If you haven't yet, check out his games: Minigore [99¢ / HD] and Death Rally [99¢] – Two titles you should totally have on your phone, and if you don't, you should really fix that.

[source]

Word games are some of the earliest and most venerated titles on the App Store, and still developers continue to find ways to refine and revitalize the genre. The popularity of Words With Friends and the resurgence of updated standards like Wurdle demonstrate clearly that there’s life in the old girl yet. Genre mash-ups are another energizer; from PopCap’s Bookworm Adventures on PC to the upcoming Word Fighter on iOS, sprinkling in just a few new letters can make the difference between snore and adore.

In the case of Quarrel Deluxe [$4.99/Lite], the twist comes in the form of strategic gameplay. A fresh and fun take on the Scrabble formula, the game sports bright visuals, intuitive mechanics, and a crunchy outer layer of macro objectives that gives the sweet casual core longevity and depth. Think of it as an adorable war of the words.

At its most fundamental, Quarrel Deluxe is more or less a hybrid of Scrabble and Risk. The goal of each match is to claim all the territories on the map from your opponents. After you choose a faction to represent your soldiers (robots, aliens, ninjas, highlanders, etc.), the computer will divvy up the board’s zones between you and the AI players and randomize who gets the first move.

The first phase of each player’s turn is the attack phase. You can select a territory to attack from and then one of your enemy’s to invade. The number of troops you invade with then determines how the ensuing word battle plays out.

Both sides in a territory skirmish are given the same 8 letter tiles, which represent a mixed up anagram. Just like Scrabble, each letter tile has a point value attached to it, but since both sides have the same tiles, the maximum point limit (achieved by spelling the whole 8-letter anagram) is the same for both teams. This is where the strategery comes in to the wordsmithing.

You can put one tile into play for every soldier you have in the fight. If you only have four soldiers to work with, you won’t be able to play the whole anagram. Instead, you’ll have to find the most valuable combination of four tiles from the eight you’re given. If you’re outnumbered, then even the highest possible total for your soldiers can be defeated by the AI just by playing STARS when you play STAR.

Thankfully, the game simulates human error and will occasionally flub one even when it has the advantage, which gives you incentive to play your best even when the odds are against you. You will regularly experience the thrill of a come from behind victory, which is one of the best feelings you can have in a word game.

Time can be a factor, so coming up with words quickly is ideal. If both you and your opponent achieve the same point total, then the player who submits their word first is declared the victor. The AI does seem to have a major advantage here, as I don’t think I’ve once submitted a winning word before my opponent had buzzed in. Some game modes offer unlimited time to think about your words, while others will put you on the spot and give you a countdown timer.

Minor quibbles about timing aside, the word battle mechanics are solid and extremely entertaining. However, it’s the metagame of deciding what territories to invade and when, along with how you distribute reinforcements when your attack phase is over, that makes the game truly stand out from the crowd for me.

Blitzkrieg a wide swath of the map, and your enemy can just sweep through your poorly defended annexations when their turn comes up. Turtle up in your territories for too long and you’ll quickly find yourself outnumbered; reinforcements are doled out on the basis of how many territories you control. While the maps are nowhere near as large and complex as the Risk board, there are plenty of opportunities to engage in wily play like capturing choke points that can be easily reinforced and defended.

Before I continue, I think it’s pertinent to bring up something about myself. I am primarily a single-player gamer. I have railed long and frequently about the mistakes that developers make in awkwardly forcing multi-player gameplay into titles that just don’t need it when they could just focus on improving the single player experience instead.

With that disclaimer behind us, this game really would shine with a multiplayer component. The strategic and word mechanics make this title an ideal staging ground for PvP, and its absence is a gigantic missed opportunity for Quarrel Deluxe. It would have pushed the game into killer app territory.

Don’t get me wrong, the lack of multi-player does not take the shine off the overall package here. It is a smartly produced and full experience as it currently exists, and the value proposition is assuredly there. Pick up the lite version as a demo at the very least, and you’ll likely be swayed into a full purchase of the deluxe package as I was. Daily challenges keep the game fresh, Twitter integration lets you brag to your followers about how gr8 ur speeling iz, and the bright presentation makes Quarrel Deluxe a game with wide appeal that you’ll want to keep coming back to.

[source]

Last week Crescent Moon Games announced on their Twitter that they would be publishing an upcoming game called Last Knight, developed by Toco Games. Attached to that announcement tweet was a promo image that didn’t show actual in-game graphics, but did hint at the cartoony art style in the game and provided several interesting tidbits of information.

First, the game is described as an “endless 3D jousting” game, although more accurately it’s a third-person endless running game with a jousting theme. As explained by Josh from Crescent Moon, you’ll travel down a path in various environments and encounter evil knights and other types of enemies as you collect gems along the trail. The second bit of information we know about Last Knight is that it’s being built using the Unreal Engine, and it’s looking mighty sharp as you can see for yourself in the first screenshots of the game (click to enlarge):

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the promo image claims that Last Knight will include ragdoll horse physics. Again, that's ragdoll horse physics. Long have I waited to finally see a game which will accurately portray a horse flopping around the physics environment of a game, and Last Knight promises to fulfill that wish for me. So far the game isn’t scheduled for release more specifically than “this Fall”, but we’ll keep our eyes open for any more pertinent information on Last Knight and in the meantime you can discuss the game in our forums.

[source]

We've recently been given an exclusive heads-up on two interesting looking upcoming titles from Digital Concepts, who brought us the early iOS pick-up RPG Loot Master [iPhone] as well as the space age tower defense title Starfall [iPhone, iPad].

The first bit of news Digital Concepts' Douglass Beck shared with us should be of interest to all the Minecraft junkies out there. Doug is working on a game that started out as something of a "pet project," but is now evolving nicely and should make it to both App Stores (Mac first, then iOS) sometime down the road. The as-yet-unnamed title is a single- and multi-player Minecraft-like game that is already quite functional in its early state of development.

That's about all we can share right now in the way of media and details on the studio's Minecraft-alike, but we'll bring more before the game goes live.

Doug also let us know about another upcoming title from Digital Concepts that fans of his tower defense game Starfall, which has shown to be quite popular with our forum readers, should be pleased to hear. He has been working on a sequel known as Starfall Planetside that is an all-new version of the game, featuring more structures, more towers, more enemies, all-new levels, a bigger and better soundtrack, more unlocks and, as he describes it, "more of what made Starfall great." The game is nearing completion and we'll share a closer look when the game lands in the App Store.

And, while Doug has unfortunately not (yet) listed among his titles headed to the App Store the conversion of a certain Windows CE mobile game he released in the early '00s, I intent to do my best to get it on the list. The title I speak of is a single- and multi-player cave flyer called Rocket Elite Gold (see video), which was the first game I tagged back in 2008 as a must-port for iOS and my favorite mobile game of all time (played on an original Compaq iPaq). I've been personally pestering him to get it over to iOS, and I think Doug gave me the details on these other two titles just to get me out of his hair… Maybe you should pester him, too: @Codables

[source]

We've recently been given an exclusive heads-up on two interesting looking upcoming titles from Digital Concepts, who brought us the early iOS pick-up RPG Loot Master [iPhone] as well as the space age tower defense title Starfall [iPhone, iPad].

The first bit of news Digital Concepts' Douglass Beck shared with us should be of interest to all the Minecraft junkies out there. Doug is working on a game that started out as something of a "pet project," but is now evolving nicely and should make it to both App Stores (Mac first, then iOS) sometime down the road. The as-yet-unnamed title is a single- and multi-player Minecraft-like game that is already quite functional in its early state of development.

That's about all we can share right now in the way of media and details on the studio's Minecraft-alike, but we'll bring more before the game goes live.

Doug also let us know about another upcoming title from Digital Concepts that fans of his tower defense game Starfall, which has shown to be quite popular with our forum readers, should be pleased to hear. He has been working on a sequel known as Starfall Planetside that is an all-new version of the game, featuring more structures, more towers, more enemies, all-new levels, a bigger and better soundtrack, more unlocks and, as he describes it, "more of what made Starfall great." The game is nearing completion and we'll share a closer look when the game lands in the App Store.

And, while Doug has unfortunately not (yet) listed among his titles headed to the App Store the conversion of a certain Windows CE mobile game he released in the early '00s, I intent to do my best to get it on the list. The title I speak of is a single- and multi-player cave flyer called Rocket Elite Gold (see video), which was the first game I tagged back in 2008 as a must-port for iOS and my favorite mobile game of all time (played on an original Compaq iPaq). I've been personally pestering him to get it over to iOS, and I think Doug gave me the details on these other two titles just to get me out of his hair… Maybe you should pester him, too: @Codables

[source]

Both Vlambeer and Halfbot have been teasing up a storm on Twitter about their upcoming iOS title, leaving those of us who are both Vlambeer and Halfbot fans anxiously awaiting what could be coming. Well, the curtain has been pulled away today to reveal Super Crate Box, a totally free Mac and PC game coming to the App Store. It'll even support the iCade.

Check out the trailer:

If this is the first time you've heard of Super Crate Box, seriously, give it a download for your computer. The game itself has won tons of awards, and basically swept the free game category last year along with getting nominated for Excellence in Design in the Independent Games Festival. If all goes as planned, Super Crate Box will be available sometime next month.

[source]