posted February 10th, 2012 6:00 PM EST by Brad Nicholson in Podcast
This week on The TouchArcade Show, the crew powers through mini-discussions about KoRn and mysterious sodas with pumas emblazoned on the can to bring you the latest, hottest, and best in iOS news and commentary. At the top, we dig into Pizza vs. Skeletons for the final time, discuss Hero Academy's sign-up system, and crack into games like Ragdoll Blaster 3 and Dodonpachi Blissful Death.
Later, in our news section, we sound off on several juicy topics including the release and subsequent broken-ness of Battlefield 3: Aftershock and Double Fine's Kickstarter.
If you'd like to listen in, go ahead and do so via the links below. Additionally, you could subscribe to us on iTunes and Zune and get our episodes the second they hit the Internet for your consumption. All the cool kids do it.
We're fans of huge numbers, if you didn't know. Last week, actually, we shared news of Jetpack Joyride's latest downloads. Since going free, the title has wrangled in around 13 million consumers. That's a lot, right? Check this, though: Imangi's Temple Run [Free] just hit 36 million downloads. That's more downloads than there are people in Canada, or uh, roughly 35.9 million more blocks than my Church of Brad has in our Minecraft server.
Temple Run ended up going free late in its cycle, too, and has enjoyed the spotlight of being the App Store's number one game thanks to the constant support that it receives. It was also pseudo-cloned, but Apple fixed that issue fairly fast as we all expected it would.
Anyway, if you're not one of these 36 million people, you should probably give Temple Run a look. To quote our review:
Corners are something you see a lot of in Temple Run. The game eschews the more traditional one-button jumping control of most runners for a swiping method that still allows for one-handed play . You can swipe up to jump, down to slide, and left or right to turn.
This control setup is risky -- it's much easier to mess up a swipe than a tap -- but it works. Though the world is randomly generated, the addition of twists, turns and crossroads makes it feel more organic, like more of an adventure.
We didn’t have a lot of arcades in my hometown while I was growing up. Even worse, the few that did exist specialized in video games and air hockey, with nary a pinball machine in sight. Still, whenever I managed to get my hands on a one, it was always such a dazzling experience of light, sound and skill. Perhaps that’s why I can’t stop playing Pinball Arcade [$0.99 / Free], the inaugural iOS title from FarSight Studios. FarSight’s ability to create near-perfect replications of actual pinball machines leads to a game that is not only full of incredibly deep pinball machines, but also captures that feeling of fun and excitement in an iOS game.
As its name implies, Pinball Arcade features classic arcade machines from various eras with the simple goal of mastering each one to get the highest scores possible. Each table also includes 'Goals' (read: achievements) that can be solved which lead to more complicated objectives. The entry price includes one machine (‘Tales of the Arabian Nights’) with three more available for purchase within the game via IAP. Tables range from somewhat simple layouts with interesting twists (‘Black Hole’) to lengthy epics chock full of interactive items and objectives (‘Ripley’s Believe It Or Not’). Unlike most games with IAP, you can actually try each table before you buy, providing an opportunity for actual research before you even consider purchasing another table.
I’m impressed with how much effort Pinball Arcade seems to puts into recreating each machine. The visuals, sounds, and effects all feel authentic and add to the presentation, although there is some minor blurriness while playing on an iPad 2. The physics, while occasionally unforgiving, seem to offer a good balance between realism and challenge. What I admire the most, however, is how much Pinball Arcade offers in terms of knowledge for each table.
When you select a table, you’re given a brief history, the option to view an actual flyer (some are pretty low-res) and a comprehensive instruction manual detailing every single objective you can do in a table. The game really wants you to learn, live, and master each table –a concept that I can get behind. Of course, the game works well for the casual player that just wants to play a quick game, but I feel some of the charm is lost experiencing this game in that fashion.
Most importantly, Pinball Arcade simply hits the mark on gameplay and the feeling of actually playing a pinball machine. Whether you’re balancing a multi-ball run, trying to execute a combo or objective, or finally unlocking the ‘end game’ big score objects, all the experiences just feel real, something that doesn’t happen very often to me while playing an iOS game. Even better, since each table has its own personality and can take a long time to master, there’s tons of depth for replayability. I was also impressed with the variety of table selection, although I wasn’t the biggest fan of ‘Black Hole’ (too simple and gimmicky for my tastes).
While Pinball Arcade nails nearly every facet of a great pinball game, I did have some issues with its leaderboard integration. The game exclusively uses Facebook to track high scores, which seems rather cumbersome in my experience. This is further evidenced by the fact that even simple acts like checking the leaderboards seem clunky and slow to update (that and I haven’t yet seen one of my scores upload). I understand that lots of folks use Facebook (and it appears that route was pursued for cross-platform leaderboard support), but simple Game Center support feels like a prerequisite in this day and age. IAP is another aspect that just seems confusing; why the game asks me for both my Facebook login and .mac account when trying to download purchases on another device is beyond me. The whole structure feels mismanaged, which is surprising consider the quality of the rest of the game.
There’s also a potential minor problem in regards to approachability. The large amount of information and instructions for each table is certainly wondrous for enthusiasts, but it may be a bit intimidating for the casual pinball player. While I thought the IAP price points were fair, I imagine some would balk at having to pay ten dollars to fully unlock all four tables. There’s also the fact that these tables are complicated and actually require some effort to learn and truly enjoy.  I’m sure casual players could simply pick up the base game and play free versions of the other tables, but as mentioned before I feel like a lot of the magic would be lost on them.
However, I feel that some of the concerns above are nitpicky at best. In addition, folks on our forums have stated that the developers plan on integrating Game Center soon, alleviating my most pressing worry. Regardless, Pinball Arcade is simply one of the best pinball games I’ve ever played, and should be put at the top of the class with other iOS pinball elites. Each table is digital masterpiece onto itself and should make pinball enthusiasts very happy. Furthermore, with the promise of many more tables in the queue (most likely as IAP), this game should keep you entertained for many balls to come.
End Night [$2.99] puts you in control of one of two survivors of an undead apocalypse. Not zombies, quite, but something horrifying. It's a dark, claustrophobic game with a few roguelike elements. With limited ammo, health packs and sanity, you must head out into the abandoned town, breaking into houses, collecting samples of the infection and hoping to turn them into a serum that will let you rebuild the world of the living.
The view is top-down, with the camera pulled in just a little too close for comfort. The controls are slightly awkward - a left stick for walking, and buttons on the right for firing (not aiming—you can't miss), inventory and interaction. You can't interact while you're moving. The music is ambient, and can't be disabled, sounds are sparse. It's clunky, not ideal, except that it serves to create a sense of unease. You can't see or hear the creatures until they burst out of the dark toward you. You can't grab a health pack without stopping and fending off the horde.
You start out armed with your choice of a pistol, shotgun or axe. The axe doesn't rely on limited resources, but using it means standing toe to toe with the creatures. The shotgun is accurate and deadly, but its ammo is very hard to come by. The pistol has range and (sort of) plentiful ammo, but isn't accurate enough to kill most creatures until they're right up close. Still, I always take the pistol. You can't risk ending up unarmed, and you can always find the others around town.
Death is permanent. If you get yourself killed, your mission is over and you must start again from the beginning. You earn points for everything you find, every creature you kill, every step in your quest that you complete. You can use those points to improve your stats, making your next life just a little easier.
Resources are very limited, and some are placed randomly: there will not always be a health pack in this medicine cabinet, or food in that fridge. The randomness, you'll come to learn, is fairly limited - a disappointment, in my opinion. If you risk breaking into the police station, you'll always find ammo and armor. If you make it to the grocer, there will always be food. One neighbor is always deeply religious. Another, thankfully, is fond of coffee. Buildings, sample locations and certain resources are shown on the readily-available map.
You'll thank your deceased neighbors for hoarding, because every resource is precious. Ammo and health are obvious, but you also need to worry about your emotional state. Killing monsters that were once townspeople makes you remorseful (though try as I might, I never did die of remorse), something you can cure with bibles or booze. Those things make you tired, so you'll need to find coffee. And should you get too spattered with the gore of creatures you've killed, you'll need to wash. Every home has a bathtub, though you won't always like what you'll find in them.
End Night stands out for being truly chilling. As a shooter it's somewhat clunky, visually it's dark and repetitive. But there's a feeling of dread that accompanies the tight view, the sudden sounds. The things you find in some of the homes will haunt you. It's amazing how distant a house across the street feels when the undead are on your trail. While there's no real story to speak of, the creators channeled some of the creepier elements of I am Legend to great effect. You'll wonder whether you're in the right even as you mow down creature after creature. Play in the dark if you can—if nothing else, it will make it much easier to see what's going on.
Where End Night fails is in providing a reason to keep playing. The pretense toward randomness is promising, but once you've improved your stats and put together your final cure there's really not much call to replay the game. You do unlock a more difficult Nightmare mode when you finish, but there's nothing novel about the game by that point. Perhaps Game Center integration could improve this if it were added, but this is probably a one-and-done sort of game.
Still, for that one play through (and every failed attempt that leads up to it), the game is impressive. It does the wide genre of undead apocolypse games proud. And I'm all for compact experiences, especially emotionally evocative ones. Kicking through your neighbors' doors, scavenging while the forces of undeath run at you, this is tense fun for the one or two hours it lasts. If that's enough for you, then dive into the gore, ready to run. If you make it out alive, I'm sure our discussion thread would love to hear from you.
The weekend is finally almost here, and before you settle in to listen to our podcast later today (you DO all listen to our podcast, right?) I thought it might be nice to roundup some of the significant sales that are currently going on so you can spend your couple of days of leisure time buried in some iOS games. Unless you work on the weekends, in which case it's even more important to load up on some games to survive your laborious obligations.
These are the ones that stuck out to me, but of course there's always more sales and freebies to check out at AppShopper.com or on the free AppShopper app. For instance, EA is having one of their frequent sales on a bunch of games in their library. As always, sales can end just as quickly as they begin, so it's usually best to move quickly and make sure the prices are still in effect if you choose to buy.
Last month Namco Bandai treated us to an excellent iOS port of the original SoulCalibur [$14.99]. It was based off of the superior Dreamcast version (or more accurately, the high resolution XBLA remake) rather than the arcade version, and came equipped with just about everything that made it a classic back then, barring a couple of significant things.
First was the baffling lack of any sort of multiplayer, as well as a few missing modes that had been in previous versions. The second big thing was the frame rate. See, one of the things that was so memorable about SoulCalibur on the Dreamcast was just how crazy smooth everything moved. The frame rate rocked a solid 60fps, and it elevated the visuals way beyond anything that was on current consoles, and rivaled much of what was popular in arcades at the time.
Bacon. Cat videos. Zombies. There are some things in popular culture that just don’t get enough attention. Luckily for us, however, the undead are getting a second life thanks to Zxh Games’ Shoot Many Zombies [Free].
Shoot Many Zombies is pretty much exactly like it sounds. In this side-scrolling shooter, you shoot zombies. A lot of zombies. It’s mindless, attractive zombie-killing mayhem, at a perfect pace: not too fast a pace to be frustrating, not so slow that you’ll try to strategize your way through it.
posted February 9th, 2012 1:38 PM EST by Jared Nelson in News
Halfbrick Studios has announced that their sublime endless flying adventure, Jetpack Joyride [Free], which stars the toughest food-named protagonist that I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, has passed the 13 million download mark since going free-to-play this past December. Combined with the downloads from the time it launched as a paid app in late August, this pushes the total downloads to well past the 14 million mark.
It's possible that Team Meat is just trolling us at this point, but it seems like it is genuinely married to the idea of bringing an actual game to mobile. In its latest burst of tweets, the two man outfit announced that it's working on some kind of Super Meat Boy "prototype" set for release across "touch devices."
Before you get too excited about the whole Super Meat Boy connection, do take note that this isn't a port. "It will be a re-envisioning of Super Meat Boy remade from scratch for touch," the studio said, and it won't use any art or "gameplay" from the title.
So, I have a confession to make. I was prepared to dislike Baseball Superstars 2012 [Free]. You can blame Homerun Battle 2 [$4.99/Lite] for that one, as it had left me deeply distrustful of freemium sports games. Nonetheless, driven by Air Penguin [99¢/Lite] inspired optimism and the extravagant amount of praise that had been lavished over the franchise, I ended up downloading it anyway.
I'm glad I did. Though not what you would call 'your must-have game in the event of a zombie apocalypse', Baseball Superstars 2012 is still kinda awesome. Depending on how much you like your baseball, it might even be extremely awesome. There's a part of me that wants to be the cranky curmudgeon and witheringly observe that Baseball Superstars 2012 is, while a competent product, just a souped-up version of the one from the previous years, but I can't. The rest of me is too busy cultivating my digitized athletes.
The fans have answered, too. In under ten hours the project has received well over half a million dollars in backing. And with over 30 more days to go still, you almost have to assume that Double Fine will be forced to use dollar bills as toilet paper to rid itself of all the extra cash it's going to receive.
posted February 9th, 2012 10:45 AM EST by Jared Nelson in News
Yesterday, Gameloft announced the release of a standalone app for their online gaming network Gameloft Live for Android devices, with the app scheduled to hit the iOS App Store in the near future. In case you're unaware, Gameloft Live is a service baked into all of Gameloft's games that allows for persistent tracking of achievements and leaderboards, as well as a friend list and social features, across their library of titles.
While I prefer Game Center nowadays as it's the Apple standard, I've always felt that Gameloft Live provided one of the strongest 3rd party social gaming networks. Perhaps true to Gameloft's form, Gameloft Live reminded me a lot of the Xbox Live service on consoles. The standalone app will allow you to access Gameloft Live from outside of a game, and looks to offer a lot of new features. You can meet up with friends in the app and chat, check out each other's gaming progress, and of course play games together. Check out some screens below from the Android version.
Last month Taito announced that they were bringing a port of Dariusburst – a recent entry in the classic Darius series of shooters that was released in arcades and on PSP in Japan – to iOS. While it's a bit of a straggler behind the normal round of new weekly releases, Dariusburst SP [$10.99] is now available on the App Store.
Originally Dariusburst was a PSP game, and featured the familiar horizontal shooting and brutal difficulty that the Darius series was famous for, but with beautiful 3D visuals. It was then released in arcades about a year later as Dariusburst Another Chronicle, and came with additional features not found in the PSP game as well as a crazy double wide screen.
posted February 9th, 2012 7:38 AM EST by Eli Hodapp in News
We've been covering the existence of ngmoco since the very beginning in mid-2008, back before they dropped the extra colon from their logo even. A month later, we were on top of their initial round of funding, and with the launch of nglabs and other amazing future promises, quite a few people (myself included) thought ngmoco was going to become the unquestionable king of iOS game development.
It's been a long four years since then, and while we once knew ngmoco for releasing absolutely classic must-have games like Rolando [99¢], Rolando 2 [99¢], and Star Defense [99¢], they switched gears to championing the free to play game market in a major way in late 2009. We were blown away when it was announced that Eliminate [Free] was going to be free, and We Rule [Free] was equally popular around here as ngmoco made a splash on the App Store with one of the first available free to play Farmville-like building games.
There's a reason MMORPG players use the term "trash" to describe the stuff that leads up to raid bosses: it's missing all the great rewards, and it's almost always lame. It's junk, in other words, junk that pads the time between the good parts. Red Zebra Games clearly knows the score, because Raid Leader [99¢] skips right past the trash to bring us nothing but the good stuff—intense, white-knuckled battles.
As we pointed out in our preview, the big picture will look familiar to Battleheart [$2.99] fans. But it's the little details that get this recovering World of Warcraft addict's heart a-fluttering. There was a time when damage number spam, health bars and massively telegraphed attacks were my bread and butter, and boy do they come out in force here.
This week on The TouchArcade Show, the crew powers through mini-discussions about KoRn and mysterious sodas with pumas emblazoned on the can to bring you the latest, hottest, and best in iOS news and commentary. At the top, we dig into Pizza vs. Skeletons for the final time, discuss Hero Academy's sign-up system, and crack into games like Ragdoll Blaster 3 and Dodonpachi Blissful Death.
We're fans of huge numbers, if you didn't know. Last week, actually, we shared news of Jetpack Joyride's latest downloads. Since going free, 
We didn’t have a lot of arcades in my hometown while I was growing up. Even worse, the few that did exist specialized in video games and air hockey, with nary a pinball machine in sight. Still, whenever I managed to get my hands on a one, it was always such a dazzling experience of light, sound and skill. Perhaps that’s why I can’t stop playing Pinball Arcade [$
Last month Namco Bandai treated us to 
It's possible that 
We've been covering the existence of ngmoco 
