Apple appears to be making slow and steady improvements to the App Store experience. Overnight, Apple added a new feature to the App Store customer reviews that separates user reviews based on version number. This means that steady improvements to applications will reward the developers with progressively better review scores.
In the past, poor early reviews could have dragged down the average score for some time to come. Now, we don't want this to encourage pre-mature releases, but it does offer more incentive for developers to keep improving their product.
Chillingo announced today that they have submitted a major iDracula [App Store] update to the App Store that is almost triple the size of the original game.
Features of the update, listed by Chillingo:
4 new monsters
2 new maps
Perk system updated, new perks added
2 game modes: Super Survival, Wave Attack
New powerups - Haste, Rage, Time Stop, Bomb (only available in Super Survival mode)
Earn money and buy reinforcement in Wave attack mode
Rush mode updated - you can choose a weapon now.
Added 2 new options for better weapon switching
2 new weapons - one (Blade Ripper) only accessible in Rush mode, other (Flamethrower) is everywhere.
Shots of the updated game in action can be seen in the company's iDracula promotional poster, which players can enter to win in an A2 sized print on fomex board. Registering involves sending out a tweet and signing up for Chillingo's VIP newsletter. A winner will be chosen at random seven days after the update goes live in the App Store. See the registration site for more details.
The screenshot portion of the poster is shown below.
Readers should take note, when this major update goes live iDracula will jump in price to $2.99. So get it while you can at its current price of $0.99.
Late last week we posted a batch of new Metal Gear Solid Touch screenshots put out by Konami in their leadup to the game's launch later this month. Today the company has released another group of photos from the upcoming game.
In Metal Gear Solid Touch, players join forces with Old Snake as he battles the money-driven mercenaries of Private Military Companies (PMCs), Haven Troopers, Gekko, and the beautiful yet terrifying bosses of the B&B Corps. This commercial warfare adventure follows Old Snake across the Middle East, South America, Eastern Europe, and Shadow Moses as he depletes his enemies’ stamina with various short-range and long-range weapons
The gallery is shown below (click thumbnails for a closer look).
IUGO has organized an indie iPhone developer gathering at GDC. The details are as follows:
iPhone Developer's Union
Thursday, March 26, 2009
8pm
Marriott Lobby Bar on Main Floor
55 Fourth St
San Francisco, CA 94103
Indie iPhone Developers and Media Welcome!
A great chance to meet other devs in the iPhone community.
Announce news, share stories, give hugs, have fun!
Ezone let us know about their upcoming space shooter for the iPhone and iPod Touch called Galactic Gunner. They describe as a "genre breaking cinematic action adventure game" with real-time 3D graphics and effects.
Details are scarce, but they did provide this impressive looking video. They assured us that everything in the video is in-game action in real-time 3D and not just pre-rendered cut-scene videos.
Ezone reports this game is approaching beta shortly and we've asked for more details.
We frequently get a lot of interesting smaller tidbits here at TouchArcade, but not big enough to necessarily warrant their own news posts. So here's a collection of these items of interest:
Topple 2 - Ngmoco has posted screenshots of their upcoming sequel to Topple.
Trivial Pursuit - EA's Craig Law revealed that Trivial Pursuit is coming to the iPhone.
Real Racing - Firemint posted a new video back in February demonstrating the YouTube integration with their upcoming Real Racing iPhone game. Players can upload replays of their races directly to YouTube. Previous coverage
Rasta Monkey - Nitako posted a gameplay video which demonstrates how Rasta Monkey is controlled. Previous coverage
Car Jack Streets - Tag Games has posted a teaser video giving some storyline background about their upcoming game. Previous coverage
Gameloft's take on The Oregon Trail [App Store] has finally arrived in the App Store this morning. We previewed this classic game back in February and found that despite the modern touches, it remains loyal to its original gameplay:
Some readers fond of the original expressed concern that Gameloft’s iPhone offering might be simply an Oregon Trail-themed string of mini games. This is not the case. The Oregon Trail for the iPhone is, at its core, the original game given a makeover as well as a series of tweaks and enhancements that help bring the title forward 30 years for today’s mobile gamer.
Gameloft streamlined the initial setup for the expedition and added more events along the trail to keep the game interesting.
The official release description offers the following features:
All of the decision-making and problem-solving fun of the original game, plus additional parameters to take the Oregon Trail experience even further than you've played before.
8 skill-based mini-games, including 2 accelerometer-based challenges: hunting, fishing, river crossing, rafting, wagon repairing, telegraph, berry picking, and gold panning.
Random events (disease, bandits, hitchhikers, etc.) faced by real pioneers increases the challenge.
Side-missions add more excitement to your journey, affecting your westward trek.
Prepare for your departure: Select the members of your party, choose your departure date and purchase supplies.
Gameloft provides an official trailer which shows the variety of events in the game:
Our own HD video of the game shows the early gameplay:
X-Plane developers Laminar Research have released an interesting new flight simulator app into the App Store. Called Sully's Flight [App Store], the simulator takes you through the actual flight and crash landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on January 15th, 2009. That flight was disabled shortly after takeoff by a mid-air bird collision which resulted in both engines failing. Captain Chesley Sullenberger successfully crash landed the plane into the Hudson River with no loss of lives. He has widely been considered a hero for this feat.
Sully's Flight places you in the cockpit of that exact flight and challenges you to successfully land the same plane under the same conditions.
Based on the popular flight-sim X-Plane, 'Sully's Flight' starts you on runway 4 at LaGuardia in an Airbus A-320, at similar time, weather, and weight conditions to that fateful flight. YOU will fly the plane yourself, following hoops plotted in the sky showing Captain Sullenberger's approximate ACTUAL flight-path...
X-Plane is a popular physics-based flight simulator for many platforms including the iPhone. This single-scenario simulation is available for $0.99.
Fans of physics platformers may be interested to hear that Chillingo has published a new game called Space Bikers [App Store]which was developed by Mobirate.
Space Bikers is a 3D Platform Bike Simulation game in an enlarged world!
Your Space Biker has crash landed on Earth and it’s your job to help get them back home to space! Guide your miniature character through various obstacles and puzzles to collect the parts for your damaged Spaceship.
Space Bikers uses an advanced physics engine just like in hit game Bike or Die 2 to maneuver your bike through the detailed levels you encounter, all with a country style music tracks to ride to! Watch the story unfold - will your Space Biker make it home?
The game is being offered for only $0.99 as an introductory price with the normal price of $2.99. This gameplay video shows how the game works. The point of each level is to collect the designated number of parts to repair your spaceship.
The game appears to come with 3 bikers and 5 levels each as well as a number of mini-games. More bikers and levels are planned as a future update.
Eliss is a finalist in this year's Independent Games Festival mobile division, up for the Innovation in Mobile Game Design award--and it's no wonder. Simply stated, Eliss perfectly demonstrates what iPhone gaming can be. It's a highly challenging game that's near impossible to put down and it could not exist on any other platform.
As the author describes it,
Your job is to keep up harmony in an odd universe made of blendable planets. Touch-control multiple planets at once, join them together into giant orbs or split them up into countless dwarf planets, and match their size with the squeesars. Wipe off the stardust, resist to the attraction of the vortex and other space phenomena, and slow down the passage of time. Each of the 20 levels will require creative ways and strategies in using your fingers. Warm up your hands, you’re up for some serious finger gymnastics in the bizarro galaxy.
As soon as the app launches, Thirion sets the stage for challenge in a world of simplicity. "Pure" is a word that springs to mind. The sparse vector text start menu puts little between app launch and gameplay. And these past weeks I've appreciate that, given how often I've been tapping that little pink and white icon.
The universe that Eliss presents is a place of entropy. The game challenges the player--in mind and body--to apply order to this universe. Into this dark void spring planets of varying size and color. Like colored planets can be combined to make a larger planet (pinch) or pulled apart to create smaller planets (spread). The goal of the game is to eliminate the planets by dragging them into the "squeezars" (think black...err...multicolored holes) of matching size and color that blink in and out of the universe. After a set number of planets have been eliminated it's on to the next level. And the most important thing to remember? Don't let planets of different colors touch! Failure to heed that warning will result in a rapid drain of energy levels and a chance to see the Game Over screen.
Making the task harder are the space vortexes that draw planets towards them (and one another) as well as a red giant star that meanders its way in and out of the playfield, draining energy on contact with any planet. Happily, all is not set against the player in this universe. When a planet is dragged into a squeezar, as it goes supernova and blinks out of existence, stardust briefly dances about the screen and can be swiped to recover lost energy. A powerup that slows down time for a period, as well as one that restores energy, cross the playfield periodically, as well.
I've been playing the final release of Eliss since its launch and a pre-releaese beta for weeks before that in connection with the IGF awards competition, and the longer I play it the more impressed I am with just how perfect this game is for the iPhone platform. There's no game in the App Store that uses multitouch so fully. I've found myself laying my iPhone flat on a table and struggling to keep the planets away from each other and that cursed, wandering red giant with as many as five fingers on the screen at once. (Twister for the mind, perhaps?) Show me that on a DS or a PSP! That kind of gameplay is truly a new experience.
With its simple, basic graphics and dreamy, playful soundtrack, Eliss puts its unique gameplay at front and center. It requires serious concentration (as well as finger dexterity) and, as a result, draws the player in much deeper than the typical puzzle game. If you've got 10 fingers and a mind that multitasks, Eliss is not to be missed.
Eliss is a unique puzzle game that makes extensive use of the iPhone's multitouch screen and is extremely hard to put down. This game could exist for no other platform and is not to be missed.
MTV Multiplayer blog reports that Gameloft will be releasing a tie-in game for the upcoming movie Terminator Salvation. The game is due for release on May 22nd, the same day as the movie's opening.
No details about gameplay are provided yet for this title, though Gameloft's CEO Michel Guillemot reports they are shooting for a high quality title that is well integrated with the movie:
We wanted to really push the graphics to the limit on this game because of the intensity and power of the action scenes in the film. We worked closely with Halcyon to make sure that the game complemented the film in a way which not only was true to the storyline, but also brought an added value for the player when they bought the game.
MTV asks about the general skepticism surrounding licensed movie games, to which Guillemot points out that their record with licensed titles has been solid with good reviews and high production values.
The 2009 Game Developer's Conference kicks off on March 23rd 2009 in San Francisco, CA. Both editors of TouchArcade will be present at GDC to provide ongoing coverage and reporting on iPhone and iPod Touch news from the conference.
As strange as it seems, this is only the first year that the iPhone has been a true gaming platform at the GDC. The iTunes App Store is less than one year old with the first Apps deployed in July 2008. And what an amazing 8 months its been. Neil Young's GDC Mobile keynote presentation seems to say it all: "Why the iPhone just changed everything".
The most exciting innovation of the last year, iPhone has not only changed the possibilities for mobile gaming but is proving to emerge as a gaming device as compelling as existing dedicated handheld game devices. With far reaching impacts on publishing, distribution & development the iPhone has merged the best of mobile with traditional games and then added new media economics for good measure.
Both Blake and I would love to meet up with any iPhone developers to talk about your games or upcoming releases.
A few developers active in our forums have started organizing a meetup on one of the evenings. Please feel free to join that discussion or email us at tips@toucharcade.com to coordinate a meeting.
Folks can follow Blake and Arnold's movements at GDC via twitter: @arnoldkim, @blakespot.
Danielle Cassley let us know that they are looking for beta testers for the next version of Aurora Feint: The Beginning. The free game was one of the first that we ever looked at here at TouchArcade.
The most recent version of the free game, however, was recently pulled from the App Store due to some outstanding bugs and issues. They're working on a newer version but are interested in getting a larger pool of Aurora Feint: The Beginning players to provide testing and feedback.
To qualify as a tester, you need to have played Aurora Feint: The Beginning but not played Aurora Feint II: The Beginning or Aurora Feint II: The Arena.
So, if you want to help shape the future of the app, email danielle@aurorafeint.com with the subject "Beta Aurora Feint Beginning".
Participants will be entered into a drawing for (1) $50 and (2) $25 iTunes gift cards.
Five independent developers have banded together to release five previously separate iPhone games into a single discounted bundle. 5 Fingers Bundle [App Store] offers the following titles for $4.99:
Chopper ($2.99) - pilot a helicopter to complete missions while combating enemies
Sneezies ($1.99) - chain reaction game to pop as many bubbles as you can
Up There ($1.99) - beautiful game where you try to keep the balloon moving up.
Burnball ($1.99) - Qix-like game in which you must partition off 75% of the board
We've covered each of these games at some point in the past and as an overall package, it's certainly worth $4.99. They all offer a well polished gaming experience.
Unleash your imagination in Opal's Quest, a medieval fantasy RPG, and explore the Faerhen Earths in search of your worst enemy, the cruel troll Mephisto.
Visit many towns and villages, and travel through deep forests, forgotten ruins and hidden dungeons. During your journey, you will have to battle fearsome creatures, avoid deadly traps and resolve many riddles, but fortunately you will meet friendly and weird characters ready to help you in your quest.
How better to take a break from the trials of DIY and the labyrinthine halls of HomeBase this Easter than to gather together your sword, bow and potions, and head off into the world of Faerhen Earths in search of your arch enemy, the troll Mephisto?
This colourful-looking game promises many hours of exploratory action through villages, forests, mines and dungeons, with a host of helpful folk to meet en route. You'll be grateful for their assistance too, as, in addition to the usual fearsome array of monsters to battle (including orcs, chelobs and dwarf shadows) and problems to solve (look out for switches, traps and secret passages), you'll have to contend with real time weather!
Features listed by the developer:
Explore many interior and exterior places, from towns and villages to forests, ruins, mines and dungeons.
Resolve many riddles, and use your mind as well as your sword.
Drink mimic potions to take your enemies appearance and fool them.
Battle fearsome monsters, like Dwarf Shadows, Chelobs, Orcs, and many more.
Use your environment, switches and mechanisms to enable or disable traps, open doors and find secret passages. Use them, but use them judiciously.
Level up your equipment in shops: buy powerful swords, tough armours, bows, magical scrolls and potions.
Meet many friendly and funny characters who will guide you through your quest.
Beware of poison, fire and ice threats. They can affect your enemies, but you too.
Fight Mephisto and save your beloved Celenha!
Opal's Quest is controlled with an onscreen directional pad and various other touch controls. The graphics are colorful but pixellated, a translation from the lower resolution mobile handsets. And while the menus feature an audio track, the game itself is silent, unfortunately.
Opal's Quest is available for a limited time introductory price of $0.99 (the standard price will be $2.99).
The developer provides a gameplay video of the mobile handset version.
Digital media designer 
As soon as the app launches, Thirion sets the stage for challenge in a world of simplicity. "Pure" is a word that springs to mind. The sparse vector text start menu puts little between app launch and gameplay. And these past weeks I've appreciate that, given how often I've been tapping that little pink and white icon.
Making the task harder are the space vortexes that draw planets towards them (and one another) as well as a red giant star that meanders its way in and out of the playfield, draining energy on contact with any planet. Happily, all is not set against the player in this universe. When a planet is dragged into a squeezar, as it goes supernova and blinks out of existence, stardust briefly dances about the screen and can be swiped to recover lost energy. A powerup that slows down time for a period, as well as one that restores energy, cross the playfield periodically, as well.
The 
Mobile developer Corélane has just released an iPhone version of their 
