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It's easy to get the gist of Chair Entertainment's Infinity Blade by watching a sizzle reel or by reading the various impressions pieces on the web. It's a medieval action RPG that pits you against various titanic foes in pitched battles that'll require you to approximate sword slashes and parries with swipes and gestures. But what you won't get from these mediums are specifics.

This is why I contacted Chair for an interview about IB. The game looks so great, looks so promising, that I just had to know more about it. The man I spoke with, Chair creative director and lead designer on IB Donald Mustard, filled me in.

It's More Of An Action Game
Think of the RPG aspects of Infinity Blade as a strategic compliment. The action part of the game, which has you reacting to attacks from large and small foes, and then dispensing your own punishment composes the core of the game.

When we sat down to look at the device and we had an opportunity to make a game for it we kinda had this idea kicking around in our heads for awhile about how could we make a really cool sword-fighting game that actually felt like you were sword fighting as opposed to mashing buttons. We thought that the touch screen on these devices would be the perfect place to do something like this.

Right down to its core, we thought it'd be really fun to have a game where I could have a big, nasty enemy on the screen that's coming at me with a sword — a sword that could be coming from any angle at any time. And because I have a touch screen, I could swipe my finger exactly where that sword is coming at me and parry it away and knock that guy's blade back and then swipe at the guy.

As for those RPG elements, they come from how you customize your character with items like swords, shields, and armor found in the environment. Every sword and shield has EXP attached to it — as you use the item, the EXP drains into you and into your overall EXP pool. You'll also master the item once it is drained. When you level up, you'll gain skill points that you can then apply to your character, so draining an item is something you want to do. Unless, of course, this happens:

You'll find yourself with a mastered sword that's pretty cool, but… let's say you have an ice sword that you've mastered and you're coming up to an enemy that's weak to ice. You've got a fire sword equipped currently that you're gaining EXP from. You're like, 'Well, do I really want to re-equip my ice sword that I'm not going to get EXP from in this fight? I really want to use it on this guy because he's guarding a treasure. I know can beat him easier that way.'

I should note that you can also use magic rings to cast spells. You'll have to draw the symbol of the spell on the screen. These can level up too and become stronger.

You're A Knight In His Version Of Gannondorf's Fortress
Interestingly, IB kicks off where most games end. You're an aging knight at his end goal ready to square off against the God-King and his last remaining Titans. It's an interesting twist that we'll learn more about as we play the game.

It's Not On Rails
There's a lot of speculation about IB being on-rails, as in the game will do the walking for you. That phrase has stigma attached to it, despite the fact that several games have managed to be great, guided experiences. IB is not an on-rails title, but it does plainly point out where you need to go via "nodes" in the world. To me, it sounds like Myst with some actual guidance.

In IB, you'll be able to move your character in the game world with a simple click on a destination, which is probably why it's commonly thought to be an on-rails game. The point of this streamlined method of control, though, had more to do with ease of play as opposed to a specific point of level design at first.

We really wanted to come up with a way to navigate the castle that was different than games I've played on my iOS device. We're not huge fans of games that try to emulate what a controller would do on the touch screen. We're way bigger fans of games that use the touch screen in a unique way that's more suited for that device. We tried with everything we did in Infinity Blade to make it a game that you can be play with one finger. That was our mantra.

When it came to navigation we settled on more… we call it cinematic click navigation. So, basically, I can use my finger to look around the environment by just holding down on the screen as I swipe back and forth to move the camera. And then I can click on certain points in the environment, kind of more like Myst or some adventure game, and then my character will cinematically move towards that location. While that's happening, I could be picking up gold or see other nodes to go in different ways.

The Multiplayer Won't Just Be Knight On Knight

Post release, Chair plans to release an update that will add competitive multiplayer to the game via Game Center. This component won't just be knight on knight action and furious swipe fests. Chair will try to put you in the shoes of some of the monstrosities in game to make things different.

We've got some cool ideas, how we could make it different than what you'd expect, to make it fun. One of the things that will be key to that is not just having it be 'my knight fights your knight.' But having it be more like, 'How can we have multiplayer that is a knight versus the boss?' We want to give people the opportunity to play as the big, 15-to-20-ft. tall titan. How do we make that work in multiplayer and have that be fun and engaging and balanced?

Epic Citadel Was The Show-Off App, IB Is The Game
Epic Citadel [free], which was the first App to use Epic's Unreal 3 Engine, was a commercial. IB will be the first Unreal 3-powered game. I want to make sure you're aware of that distinction because it's very clear that Chair is really behind IB and working as hard as it can to make a functional, iOS-specific and friendly title.

I think there's room for lots of different kinds of games on every console. Our personal taste is that we tend to gravitate more towards games on any console that are designed more specific to that console. So, if I'm making Shadow Complex on the Xbox 360, I'm going to do everything I can take advantage of what the Xbox 360 does well, whether that's the way it renders graphics or the way its controller is layed out. I'm going to utilize every tool on that device to make it cool.

The same with a touch screen device. There's a lot of things you can do with a touch screen that I can't do with a traditional joystick. And we tried to focus the game design to really take advantage of swipes and clicks and different things you can do that are cool as opposed to try to shoehorn in a traditional control scheme. I think ultimately that makes for a more seamless, more unique experience.

Infinity Blade is due out this holiday for the iPhone 4, iPod Touch, and the iPad. Updates will, as Mustard said, follow soon after its release.

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We've been kind of going crazy with Infinity Blade news lately, but it's hard to not get excited for the first real game to come to the iOS platform that utilizes Unreal Engine 3 technology. Sure, Epic Citadel [Free] is an excellent display of the power of the platform, but it's little more than a tech demo. MTV Multiplayer also had some time with Chair creative director Donald Mustard and they were able to get even more details regarding just what we can expect of the game.

Mustard confirms that the castle in Infinity Blade is in fact different from the one found in Epic Citadel, and went on to discuss the sword fighting nature of the game:

Mustard's goal with "Infinity Blade is to "make a real sword fighting game. A game where it's not just mashing buttons or pressing A to unleash an attack." On the iPhone and iPad, Mustard and his team found an ideal platform for the concept. "It'd be perfect to use this touch screen to where, basically, I swipe on the screen, and I've got this dude who swipes with me. We can actually make a sword fighting game where, if an attack is coming in at a funky angle, I can swipe my sword into it and parry the attack away."

He then goes on to describe Infinity Blade as "a blend between 'Karateka,' 'Dragon's Lair,' 'Punch-Out,' with a whole bunch of other 'Chair-ness' thrown into it." We'll be able to explore the castle for loot in between battles, and while we knew there was going to be free post-launch updates, I don't think anyone expected the amount that they're planning which Donald Mustard is describing as "like a constant stream of free content," citing games like Pocket God and Doodle Jump as examples of how well updating works.

If you're as excited as we are about Infinity Blade, be sure to read the full interview and if you haven't already, take a look at the trailer we posted earlier today.

[via MTV Multiplayer]

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Chair released a brief trailer for Infinity Blade this morning. Formerly known as Project Sword, Infinity Blade was initially unveiled at the September keynote. Recently, all kinds of details have been pouring out, and they even announced that this Unreal Engine-powered game will be available for the holidays.

Check out the trailer:

It will be interesting to see how the game actually plays, and how deep the RPG elements go. From the looks of the trailer, Infinity Blade is an entirely swipe controlled fighting game that allows you to upgrade the gear your character is equipped with. I really can't wait to see this game running on the Retina Display.

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If you were excited after yesterday's story about Infinity Blade (previously known as Project Sword), wait until you get a load of this. Eurogamer tracked down Donald Mustard, creative director of Chair Entertainment which is the Epic Games subsidiary responsible for Infinity Blade development. Here's what someone who has spent months working with the Unreal Engine thinks about the potential of Infinity Blade and the Unreal Engine on iOS devices:

"I didn't take it that seriously until we started making this game," he explained. "Now I'm like, 'Oh my goodness, this is literally going to be the best looking handheld game ever made'. It's way beyond what a DS or PSP could do.

"I think it's going to be an interesting future, especially if in two years we can really run Gears of War on an iPhone."

Now, that two year figure assumes we'll see incremental hardware upgrades like we have so far, and later he goes on to clarify that we'll at least see games like this within five years. This raises other potential issues though, such as are gamers going to be interested in playing a full game experience like Gears of War on a handheld touch screen device? Will it be commercially viable for developers to invest their time in to building games of this caliber if App Store price points remain the same? What does this mean for Nintendo and other handheld device manufacturers? (For instance, Joystiq recently reported the 3DS was below the minimum requirements for the Unreal Engine.)

Regardless of what actually happens, I think we can all agree that this is an incredible time to be a gamer– Especially with an iOS device in your pocket.

[via Eurogamer]

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We've been following Infinity Blade (Previously known as Project Sword) for quite a while now. We first saw it at the September keynote where Epic Games revealed that they'd be bringing the Unreal Engine-powered fighter to the iOS platform. Almost immediately following, Epic Citadel [Free] was released. This free universal tech demo was by far the most impressive display of the graphical capabilities we've seen of iOS devices yet. Our community seems to agree, so much so that it almost seems to be a TouchArcade meme to proclaim that something should be more like Epic Citadel.

Today Epic revealed even more details on what Infinity Blade is going to be all about. A press release blasted out earlier reveals the following gameplay details:

Taking handheld gaming to new heights, the graphically intense “Infinity Blade” features adrenaline-fueled sword battles and epic boss fights set in the realm of a fully 3D castle. The game’s robust single-player mode features an intuitive combat interface and simple touch controls which enable hardcore and casual gamers alike to engage in fun, furious battles. As play progresses, players gain experience, build stats and earn more powerful items to prepare their knight for the final encounter with the game’s nemesis, the God-King.

Updates are going to be released for free, and it sounds like one of those updates will include the Game Center-powered multiplayer that we heard about at the keynote. Pricing and the official release date are both still pending.

We're following Infinity Blade closely and will provide any additional details we receive.

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Ever since Apple eased up their App Store approval guidelines, all kinds of crazy things have been getting released like the fabled GV Mobile+ [$2.99] and other apps that have been stuck in approval purgatory for months (or even years). Some emulators slipped through the cracks either by appeasing Apple's wishes such as Commodore 64 [$4.99] and others that were inexplicably approved, then immediately pulled like Nescaline. Late last night iDOS [99¢] was released. Based on DOSbox, an open source DOS emulator, iDOS is a universal app that has PC keyboard support, mouse support, multiple screen modes, and more.

Forum member Menneisyys posted the following two screenshots of iDOS running Spellcasting 101 both on his iPad and on his 4th generation iPod touch (Yes, it even runs at Retina Display resolution.):

iPad left, iPod touch right. Click for full size.

Currently we've got a fairly active thread on our forums with people trying various games running in the emulator and there's another thread on the DOSPAD forums with even more compatibility testing going on. We're going to have our own retro fetishist Blake Patterson take a closer look at iDOS very soon, so if you've got any questions or want to see any specific games tested that aren't mentioned in the threads I linked, drop a comment and we'll try to include it in our followup post.

In the meantime, if you're even remotely interested in emulating old DOS games, this is 99¢ you need to spend. While iDOS technically seems to comply with all the new approval guidelines, it's hard to say whether or not this was an accidental approval or if iDOS truly does have the blessing of Apple. In any case, I'd download it now in the interest of being safe rather than sorry if the powers that be change their mind.

UPDATE: Just for an idea of exactly how deep the iDOS rabbit hole goes, and what the emulator is actually capable of: After blasting this link out to everyone I know, my friend Sam successfully installed Windows 3.0 and is currently playing Windows Solitaire on his iPad:

This is unreal. The capabilities of this emulator is insane.

Update 2: Mark just posted the following video in our comments of him running Space Quest:

Update 3: It seems that Sierra adventure games work great in the emulator, here's a screenshot of Freddy Pharkas – Frontier Pharmacist sent to us by Fish of Four Player Coop.

Update 4: Assuming your monocle hasn't blown completely off your face yet, forum member Audioteknika just got Warcraft II running:

Update 5: Aaaaannnd just like that it's gone.

Update 6: Even though it may seem like the fun is over, if you're a jailbreaker you can download this same emulator for free. It's called DOSPAD and here's how to get it. Also, just for fun, one last screenshot of The 7th Guest running from a CDROM disc image, complete with music:

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Ever since Apple eased up their App Store approval guidelines, all kinds of crazy things have been getting released like the fabled GV Mobile+ [$2.99] and other apps that have been stuck in approval purgatory for months (or even years). Some emulators slipped through the cracks either by appeasing Apple's wishes such as Commodore 64 [$4.99] and others that were inexplicably approved, then immediately pulled like Nescaline. Late last night iDOS [99¢] was released. Based on DOSbox, an open source DOS emulator, iDOS is a universal app that has PC keyboard support, mouse support, multiple screen modes, and more.

Forum member Menneisyys posted the following two screenshots of iDOS running Spellcasting 101 both on his iPad and on his 4th generation iPod touch (Yes, it even runs at Retina Display resolution.):

iPad left, iPod touch right. Click for full size.

Currently we've got a fairly active thread on our forums with people trying various games running in the emulator and there's another thread on the DOSPAD forums with even more compatibility testing going on. We're going to have our own retro fetishist Blake Patterson take a closer look at iDOS very soon, so if you've got any questions or want to see any specific games tested that aren't mentioned in the threads I linked, drop a comment and we'll try to include it in our followup post.

In the meantime, if you're even remotely interested in emulating old DOS games, this is 99¢ you need to spend. While iDOS technically seems to comply with all the new approval guidelines, it's hard to say whether or not this was an accidental approval or if iDOS truly does have the blessing of Apple. In any case, I'd download it now in the interest of being safe rather than sorry if the powers that be change their mind.

UPDATE: Just for an idea of exactly how deep the iDOS rabbit hole goes, and what the emulator is actually capable of: After blasting this link out to everyone I know, my friend Sam successfully installed Windows 3.0 and is currently playing Windows Solitaire on his iPad:

This is unreal. The capabilities of this emulator is insane.

Update 2: Mark just posted the following video in our comments of him running Space Quest:

[source]

I'll fully admit when I first caught wind of Bug Heroes, I was a little skeptical because it certainly wasn't the first time a developer posted about a dual stick shooter with a fantastic (and somewhat unrealistic) sounding feature list in our upcoming games forum. With this recent gameplay trailer, I'm a believer in Bug Heroes, and really can't wait to try it. Foursaken Media, developer of N.Y. Zombies [99¢ / Lite], has experience in building fast-paced iPhone games with tons of enemies on screen at once and it looks like that know-how is going to shine in a big way in Bug Heroes.

The basic premise of the game involves playing one of three unique bug heroes, each with their own play style. From there, you search for food to add to your food stash which you must defend from endless waves of invading insects. As you play you will unlock additional abilities and equipment for your bug heroes and turrets to equip on your food stash. To mix things up further, side quests are thrown in that you'll optionally be able to complete while you try to survive. You can also switch to any of the bug heroes at any of their time to utilize each of their strengths to your advantage.

Check out the trailer:

Bug Heroes is coming packed with an experience point and stat system, and over 25 different abilities and pieces of equipment to aid in your survival. In addition, there are over 25 varied enemies to deal with, 7 turrets to defend your stash, and two different game modes– each with their own online leaderboard. Bug Heroes is still in development, and is approaching beta testing. The developers have been incredibly active in our forums, so if you have any questions or feedback for them, be sure to stop by the thread.

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TUAW's Mike Schramm tracked down Epic Games Vice President Mark Rein and asked some questions on Epic Citadel [Free] and other things to do with the iOS platform. The whole interview is worth reading, but what really struck me is that the iPhone 3GS, not the iPhone 4, was what originally interested Epic Games in porting their engine to the platform:

Epic Citadel is most popular on the iPhone 4, but Rein actually says it was the iPhone 3GS that really sold Epic on the power of gaming. "The iPhone 3GS is a very powerful device," he told me, "and it was really the first mobile phone that broke over the line of something we could actually run Unreal Engine 3 on without making significant compromises." Of course, Epic Citadel is just a demo for the game code-named Project Sword, a full RPG title that Epic is releasing soon. And while I did ask, Rein didn't offer up a price or date yet.

Also of note is that Rein hinted that Project Sword, the Unreal Engine powered game unveiled at Apple's September keynote address would be more expensive than your typical iPhone game, even citing higher-priced premium titles that have succeeded on the platform.

If you haven't yet, now is a great opportunity to give Epic Citadel a try. The things the Unreal Engine is capable are able to do on iPhone hardware is absolutely breathtaking and will completely blow you away.

Now, to get back to waiting for more Project Sword details…

[via TUAW]

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In the wake of how much fun I've been having with MovieCat!, I've been on the hunt for other trivia games to add to my arenal. It was at this point that I stumbled across Go Native! [99¢], which offers an oddly amusing untraditional take on trivia. In Go Native! you play the role of a native trying to, well, fit in with the natives. Fitting in involves answering an onslaught of questions, but instead of needing to answer questions correctly, you're trying to guess the answer that the majority of other players picked.

This involves a silly thought process that forces you to decide whether the players you're playing with are going to answer questions seriously or just pick whatever the silliest response is to the question asked. You can play with up to 30 players at once, and questions range from multiple choice, simple yes/no, or even filling in the blank where you're able to type whatever answer you'd like.

The goal of answering questions correctly is to advance from island to island, collect coconuts, and eventually meet up with the legendary Princess Mango. Different islands have different risks associated to them such as islands with quicksand and questions that need to be answered quickly. There's also an island where instead of answering the most popular answer, you need to choose the least popular as well as islands that cause you to lose all your coconuts with a wrong answer among others.

It's a cool premise for a game, and I like the idea of playing in a pool of 30 players online racing to the finish in a crazy popularity-based trivia contest. Unfortunately, there's no one to play with yet. I've only ever seen a few players online, and when I originally thought the game I was in was filling up with active players, I was incredibly disappointed to just see the player list filled with generic bot names.

The developers of Go Native! seem to have fallen in to a similar situation that quite a few games dependent on online players have found themselves in. In order for the game to be fun, there needs to be a large number of people playing online, but without a large number of players playing online, the game isn't captivating enough to play against bots waiting for other people to show up.

If Go Native! takes off and you can actually participate in 30 player games without issue, I could see it being a really great time. Unfortunately, with so few active players, all that Go Native! seems to have is a whole heap of unrealized potential.

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