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After watching this video, you will know just as much as we do regarding Gameloft's latest title. It is a cool video though, so if you've got 44 seconds to spare, be sure to mash the play button below:

Some educated guesses we can make on this: There's no doubt that Gameloft's schtick is cloning games, this clearly is a fantasy-based game, but without any real gameplay shown it's hard to say what type of fantasy-based game this will be. It looks like a third person action oriented RPG judging by what we can see, and I'm thinking the App Store badly needs something similar to a Zelda game. People on our forums agree.

I'm not going to lie, I'd totally play Gameloft's take on Zelda like nobody's business. We're going to be following this one closely.

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Friend of TouchArcade and IGN Wireless writer Levi Buchanan recently published an awesome interview with Gameloft CEO Michel Guillemot. Chances are that you’ve already seen a couple of the quotes floating around on the Internet, as they're irresistible to bloggers. Guillemot, surprisingly, doesn’t address topics of conversation with the usual stoneface, marketing-conjured replies we’ve become accustomed to when listening to corporate types.

Here are some notables from the convo and I think you'll get what I mean as you pour through:

• On the subject of Gameloft ripping off games on other platforms and then spitting out its own version on the App Store, Guillemot said, “The video game industry has always played around a limited number of themes. There is maybe one new idea a year.” He also re-iterated that Gameloft simply recreates games that handheld gamers simply would never see without the developer.

• On the subject of the recent rash 99 cent sales and specifically EA’s house-clearing one that drove tons of its apps to the top of the charts, Guillemot argued that the move was damaging. "There is a high uncertainty for the future anytime somebody can steal the market at Christmas," he said, adding that sales similar to EA’s hurts indies and activates that “race to the bottom” we hear so much about.

• And on the subject of distribution, Guillemot talked briefly about Gameloft’s plans to put their apps on TVs. "Playing on a TV without a box is weird today, not in ten years,” he said. Gameloft is in a unique position to actually put its games on whatever, and it's certainly clawing to do that.

Check out the full interview for your needed dose of context — it’s pretty important, especially in regards to the Gameloft copycatting issue that always seems to raise the collective gamer choler. You’re not angry right now, right? Please calm down!

[via IGN Wireless]

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We've been following this confusing development for a few days now which originally started on our forums where an increasing number of developers are receiving notice that they're violating Lima Sky's trademark on the word "Doodle" by having various titles on the App Store with "Doodle" in their names. Lima Sky is responsible for the wildly popular jumping game Doodle Jump [99¢], and its success also likely spurred the (now incredibly cliche) barrage of similarly styled doodle games. Bryan Duke of Acceleroto posted a fantastic synopsis from a developer's perspective of what has been happening.

In a nutshell, Lima Sky has just barely enough legal ammo to lean on Apple to get similar games removed. From there, Apple sends out a letter to the developer of the game in question, and they have five days to respond or else their game gets yanked off the App Store. 148 Apps recently confirmed Lima Sky's intentions by receiving a form response back from their legal team explaining that they are in fact claiming a trademark on the word "doodle" and are looking to have any games with "doodle" in the title changed (or removed, from the looks of it).

Where things get interesting is that while Doodle Jump is a ton of fun, calling it an "original" game couldn't be more of a stretch. Its gameplay is based on PapiJump [Free], and developers have been releasing video games with a hand-drawn styled "doodle" art for years before Doodle Jump. It wasn't the first game with "doodle" in its title either, as Adrian Cummings of Mobile Amusements pointed out on our forums, they originally released Doodle Bug in 1992, and plan on bringing it to the App Store.

We're as tired of "doodle" games as everyone else, but any way you slice it this is a very depressing move from Lima Sky. We had Igor of Lima Sky on our podcast, and frankly, his tale of how his company began with him and his brothers making video games for fun was incredibly heartwarming. Having them turn on fellow indie developers a year later exercising trademarks which seem shaky at best is incredibly disappointing.

For more information on all this legal drama, and to follow along with developers under the legal hammer of Lima Sky as they deal with it on their end, stop by the thread on our forums.

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I was surprised to find out at yesterday's Capcom event that the company is readying another game from the Resident Evil series for iOS, but I was even more surprised to learn that it will be a multiplayer-focused game with online play through Game Center. It's called Resident Evil Mercenaries Vs., and it's based on the Mercenary mode that is found in several other Resident Evil games. I was able to play around with a work-in-progress version of the title, and although the technical performance seemed pretty lacking the foundation of the game was a lot of fun, and could prove to be an entertaining alternative to first-person shooters when you are in the mood for some online fragging.

Resident Evil Vs. will feature 4 player online play, either in teams of 2 or free-for-all. Besides shooting at each other, all 4 players will also have to deal with the constant threat of zombie attacks as there are a number of them roaming the map at any time. Killing zombies or your human opponents will earn you points, and the player with the highest score at the end of the timed round is the winner. Dying will reset your score to zero, but various first-aid items can be picked up and used to help prevent that. Also, if you're getting whooped pretty hard you'll be able to summon an AI helper to battle with you, like the creepy chainsaw guy with the burlap sack on his head from Resident Evil 4.

The game uses the same control scheme from Resident Evil 4: Platinum [$4.99/Lite/HD], with a virtual control stick for movement and a set of context sensitive buttons for performing everything else, so if you're already familiar with that game you'll be able to jump right into this title. When you're not able to venture online, Resident Evil Vs. will still have things for you to do. If you have an iOS owning buddy nearby who has a copy of the game then there is a local Bluetooth multiplayer mode which supports two human players and two AI players, and functions identically to the online mode. In addition there is a Score Attack mode which is single player with 3 AI controlled opponents, and a Coin Shooter mode which has you hunting down and shooting coins like in Resident Evil 4.

The gameplay in Resident Evil Vs. is surprisingly fun, but some definite drawbacks were apparent in this preview build. Connecting for local multiplayer provided a horribly laggy experience, which may be due to having two Bluetooth devices in such close proximity to one another but even then it didn't instill confidence for the local play. I will be very interested to see how the game performs online using Game Center for matchmaking, as this can easily make or break the experience. On a more positive note, the game ran really smooth when playing a single player game with AI opponents, which was incredibly fun and is what you can see in this video:

Other slightly disappointing aspects to Resident Evil Vs. are the lack of characters and maps. The game will launch with just two playable characters, Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, which isn't much but they do at least have slightly different weapons. More unfortunate is that there will only be one map initially, and although it's a large map with plenty of intricacies it's bound to get old pretty quickly. Capcom is keen on adding more characters and stages down the road, so hopefully the lack of variety gets improved. The important thing though is that there are flashes of brilliance with Resident Evil Vs. It may not be the prettiest or most full-featured game around, but it sure can be a lot of fun.

If performance issues get smoothed out and Game Center matchmaking is solid, this could be a real winner. Our members are currently discussing the game in our forums, and you can look for Resident Evil Mercenaries Vs. to launch sometime in February if all goes well with Apple approval.

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Ever find yourself wishing you could play Tilt to Live [99¢ / Lite / HD] with an actual physical joystick instead of tilting, or better yet, that the game would just play itself? Well, with an Arduino, a few servo motors, a webcam, some machined pieces of metal, and a whole lot of spare time, anything is possible. Shane Wighton of Mechanically Inclined has been hard at work making this a reality.

The original post on the project was on December 20th, where Wighton explained:

There’s this game that I love to play on my phone. You play the game by tilting the phone to steer a space ship around, avoiding enemies, and picking up power-ups to take out the enemies. The game is very difficult – there can be hundreds of enemies on screen at any given time and their movement is often quite chaotic. So the question I’ve been asking myself lately is this – could I get a computer to play the game better than myself? Could I program a computer to detect patterns in the enemies, be strategic, and make the best moves using its superior reaction time and raw processing power? I don’t know but I would love to find out, so I’m going to find out.

Since then, substantial headway has been made resulting in the following video showing the whole contraption being controlled by a joystick:

The next step from here is mounting the webcam, and building the software that actually plays Tilt to Live with the device. I really can't wait to see this game playing robot in action, and have no problem bowing down to our future high scoring robotic overlords. For more details on the project, check out Shane's blog which we're also going to be following along with to see just how much better the Tilt to Live robot is at playing the game than we are.

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When developer CAVE launched their fantastic dual-stick shooter Mushihimesama Bug Panic [$4.99/Lite] back in November, the game came equipped with Game Center for high score and achievement tracking. With popularity of the then relatively new Game Center rising, CAVE fans were quick to wonder if their previous iOS offerings Espgaluda II [$8.99/Lite] and Dodonpachi Resurrection [$8.99/Lite] would see some love in the form of Apple's social network.

Over the weekend CAVE did just that, and has released updates for both Dodonpachi and Espgaluda II with Game Center. It will work in harmony with the existing OpenFeint integration, and any previously earned achievements or high scores will instantly carry over to Game Center, and either network can be accessed easily from within both games.

As cool as having Game Center in two of my favorite shmups is, CAVE has an even more exciting surprise for owners of Dodonpachi Resurrection. Hardcore players of the game probably know about the many hidden elements in the game, such as alternate routes and enemies, which CAVE has previously covered on their blog. Now in this latest update, they have divulged one of the biggest secrets in the game, a hidden boss character named ]-[|/34<#! (Hibachi), which can also be accessed as a playable ship.

Expert players may have already run into Hibachi, as playing through the game taking the alternate 2nd loop route results in facing Hibachi as the true final boss of the game, and defeating him unlocks the ship for play in iPhone mode. Since defeating Hibachi is extremely difficult, CAVE didn't want to limit its availability to hardcore players, and so they have included an alternate method of unlocking the ship by using an old-school style button input at the ship selection screen. Both methods are detailed in this lengthy video from their latest blog post (skip to the 7:00 mark to go straight to the input code, but you'll be missing out on the expert play of "Assistant A"):

If there's one thing I love more than a great game, it's a great game with awesome hidden stuff in it. Dodonpachi Resurrection is one of my most played games, but I am nowhere near the skill level required to unlock Hibachi using the intended method, so I really appreciate having an easier way to do so. It should be noted that unlocking Hibachi by defeating him in the game makes him available forever, but using the input code only unlocks the ship for that session, and the code will need to be put in again each time you start a new game.

If you have yet to pick up either of CAVE's shooters, you can read our review of Dodonpachi Resurrection here and the review for Espgaluda II here, and both games have lite versions to try. If you already own either, grab these latest updates for some Game Center action and be sure to check out the hidden playable ship Hibachi in Dodonpachi Resurrection.

App Store Links:

• Espgaluda II, $8.99
• Espgaluda II Lite, Free
• Dodonpachi Resurrection, $8.99
• Dodonpachi Resurrection Lite, Free

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Strapping my iPad into a faux arcade cabinet is the last thing I want to do with my tablet. Oh, I can get behind PAC-MAN and Space Invader ports, for sure, but the device has become much more than a toy for me over the last year — it’s become a browser, an e-reader, and a respectable game machine capable of offering some compelling modern experiences.

But for those of you who do actually want to relive those coin-op days, know this: Ion and Atari are teaming up to put out the “iCade,” an arcade cabinet for the iPad this Spring ($99).

The cabinet, as you can see from the following Engadget video from CES, features a full-sized joystick and eight arcade-style buttons. The apparatus itself is gleefully decorated in a retro style, though it’s missing the scratches and smoke damage that we’ve started to associate arcade cabinets with.

According to Ion, the iCade “ensures safe loading and unloading of your iPad,” as well as a secure fit. It also positions the iPad at a decent viewing angle for arcade play. The stick and buttons, by the way, will operate via Bluetooth.

The kicker here is that Ion’s business partner, Atari, will be publishing “a huge suite” of classic games to market with the device. In the press release, the only game name-dropped is Asteroids, but I’d imagine that we’ll also see ports of Centipede, Tempest, Missile Command, Crystal Castles, Super Breakout, and Gravitar at the very least. Curiously enough, some of these games have already been released by Atari, but were pulled early last year. We'll have to wait and see how different these re-released games turn out being.

OK, so maybe I do kinda want to strap my iPad into an arcade machine. Anyone with me?

[via Engadget]

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Last week we took a look at the upcoming Mad Skills Motocross from Turborilla and Racer X Online. The game is a 2D side-scrolling motocross game with colorful graphics, a fun physics system, and a lot of content. I've spent the past week with a preview build of the game, and I have to say I've been having a ton of fun with it so far. We've seen our fair share of these motocross games over the years, but Mad Skills Motocross does justice to the genre, and even throws in a couple of new features to set itself apart from the rest.

My favorite part about Mad Skills Motocross is the excellent physics in the game. There are so many subtle nuances with how you're able to lean on your bike when accelerating and taking jumps that it adds a lot of skill and strategy to how you race. It's very organic, and the gameplay just feels right. With a little practice, you'll quickly learn when to lean back to gain speed or tilt in the air to land smoothly into a jump. Also, the ragdoll physics of your rider when you bail can be pretty hilarious, and after taking a spill you'll hear a painful sounding crack as his body flops around the course. It's sadistic, but fun.

Another neat aspect to Mad Skills is the ability to send challenges to friends. The game uses OpenFeint for the standard leaderboard and achievement tracking, but also utilizes the challenge feature where you can send a challenge to a friend from your buddy list after you've completed a track. This feature works really well, and suits this type of game perfectly. The Racer X Online website is a big part of the actual motocross racing community, and as a result of their involvement in Mad Skills Motocross many actual professional racers have preview copies of the game and have been helping out during the development process.

This video shows the challenge feature in action with a real professional racer versus “just some guy”, and shows how the world of video games can level the playing field in competition:

Aside from the physics system in Mad Skills Motocross, there is also an interesting set of special moves you can perform during a race. These must also be mastered if you're looking to maximize your potential for fast lap times in the game. We'll delve more into these intricacies when the full version of Mad Skills Motocross launches as a universal app for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad early next week. Until then you can check out the upcoming thread in our forums for some discussion on the game, or download the desktop version demo to get a taste of the game before the iOS version launches on January 10th.

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Back in October, we posted a preview video of Bug Heroes from Foursaken Media, developers of the popular iOS title N.Y. Zombies [99¢]. The aim of Bug Heroes was to provide a dual-stick shooter combined with elements of tower defense, as well as multiple playable characters who could also level up and upgrade in a somewhat RPG fashion. It sounded like a tall order for an iOS game, possibly too tall, and we were anxious to get our hands on the game to see how it would pan out. Today, Bug Heroes [$1.99] has launched in the App Store, and not only has Foursaken come through with all their promised gameplay variety but they have surprised me with just how remarkably well it all works together.

The bulk of Bug Heroes takes place in the Adventure mode. Here you battle in 4 different environments using a combination of three different characters as you defend a stockpile of food from an onslaught of hungry insect enemies. Money is collected as you defeat enemies which can then be used on various types of upgrades. You can add several different types of turrets to your food pile to protect it while you are away, or you can buy better weaponry to increase the offense of each character. Gameplay involves exploring each environment to collect additional food to add to your stockpile while simultaneously fending off enemies. The game ends when all three characters die or your entire food reserve is depleted.

The three characters in Bug Heroes each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and play quite differently from one another. There's the ant who has average strength and defense but can use an assortment of guns to dispatch enemies from a distance. Then there is a beetle and a spider who have a melee-based offense. The beetle is slow but heavily armored, and can damage a group of enemies in one blow. The spider is quick with powerful attacks, but isn't as well protected. Each of these characters can be changed to on the fly, and it's imperative to recognize which one to use in any given situation in the game.

There are a ton of different enemies in Bug Heroes, both large and small, who will react differently and must be dealt with accordingly. Some will come after your character directly, some will bypass you and go straight for your food pile, and some will sit stationary and use ranged weapons against you, forcing you to go to them. Enemies come in waves, with their strength and numbers increasing with each new one. Your heroes will earn experience as they defeat enemies which allows you to add attribute points to their various skills as they level up.

The combination of switching characters, dealing with the different enemies, upgrading and leveling up, and worrying about your stockpile of food ensures a constant stream of action as you play Bug Heroes. There is a lot going on in the game, but it flows really well and ends up being a lot of fun and not overwhelming. If this wasn't enough, there are also timed quests that will pop up as you play, like collecting coins or killing certain enemy types, that can earn you additional money and experience. Besides the Adventure mode, there is also a more standard survival mode called Coliseum. This mode has you picking just one of the three characters and taking on endless waves of enemies. You still level up, gain money, and can upgrade your weapons, but it's a more straightforward way to play Bug Heroes and feels different enough that it could almost be its own separate game.

Visually, the game looks fantastic, with dynamic lighting effects and a day/night cycle that changes the ambience as you play. The character designs in particular are really well done, and your heroes and the many different enemies all have a lot of personality. The nice graphics do bring up my only gripe with Bug Heroes though, which is that the game has a tendency to stutter at times when there is lots of action onscreen at once. The game is optimized for all devices, and you can choose to tone down the graphical effects in the options, but it still will occasionally hang even if you do.

There is just so much going on in Bug Heroes, it's amazing that it all blends so incredibly well. What I like the most is that Foursaken has put a lot of different gameplay elements into the game, but there is a wide range of personalization in how you choose to use them, allowing you to play the game the way that suits you the best. Bug Heroes reminds me a lot of Cave's Mushihimesama Bug Panic [$4.99/Lite] in that it adds a ton of skill and strategy to the dual-stick shooter formula, instead of the typical mindless killing, and it's going to be really hard to ever find a way to enjoy a typical dual-stick shooter again. Bug Heroes is receiving a lot of positive impressions from players in our forums, and Foursaken is actively addressing feedback and suggestions. If you have any interest in the various genres present in Bug Heroes, or you just like a solid action game, then it's definitely recommended to give Bug Heroes a look.

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