In mid-March, Konami released Metal Gear Solid Touch [App Store] for the iPhone and iPod touch. A departure from the style of the famed Playstation franchise, Metal Gear Solid Touch is a tap-shooter with impressive graphics but short-lived gameplay. We advised back in March that, for anyone other than fans of the franchise, the $7.99 asking price is hard to justify.
Well, now you can decide for yourselves.
Konami has just released Metal Gear Solid Touch Lite [link] through the App Store. This free download presents the opening story as well as three Middle Eastern stage (the full game features 20) to give those on the fence a feel for the play experience. If Metal Gear Solid Touch seems remotely interesting to you, the lite version is probably worth a download.
While at the iPhone Developers Union party at GDC 2009 I had a lengthy and pleasant conversation with Steph Thirion, author of the highly innovative, multitouch puzzle game Eliss. During the conversation, Steph conveyed to me his concern about the game's difficulty. He was hearing that, while some people were moving from level to level just fine, others were having extreme difficulty getting past the first few levels. It was a situation that was concerning him. An update would soon help the situation out, he told me.
Today, Steph's update, Eliss v1.1 [link], went live in the App Store and the price dropped a dollar to $2.99.
Details of the v1.1 update:
Sectors increase from 20 to 25. Difficulty curve is now gentler, and learning pacing has been improved. (Please go to www.toucheliss.com/update1 for more details.)
Suns entering the game can be spotted earlier.
The special ending sector is now directly accessible (after unlock).
Various interface improvements, including a new how-to page.
Added compatibility with iPhone OS 2.2.
Steph made a blog post that goes into detail regarding his concerns about the game's difficulty. (If you're a fan of the game, it's worth a read.)
If you have tried Eliss, you know it’s challenging. It’s fast and precise, and you need to put a good deal of concentration into it. I wanted to make a game that you’d feel proud of progressing into. So when reviews and comments started popping over the internet, the challenge was a frequent topic. And while some people appreciated it, others seemed really bothered by it. But that didn’t worry me too much. I thought that it had to do with multitouch still being very new to players, and also with the fact that we’re kind of getting used to be babysitted through games, and Eliss doesn’t do that. So I thought people had rushed into their own conclusions without really trying. But then I saw that some folks were putting my head for a price on internet. And I got some hate mails. And I was asked some funny questions like: “Did you actually finish your game?”
...
Anyway, the problem with the original version of Eliss, was that it roughly showed the basics, and then it took the clueless players on a chopper and parachuted them right into the heart of the action. I wanted to avoid babysitting players through the game, and it resulted in the other extreme. Players needed a better training.
Eliss was nominated for the Innovation in Game Design award at the IGF Mobile 2009 game competition. We took a look at the title back in March and found it to be, difficulty aside, a perfect game for the iPhone platform. It's certainly one of my personal favorites. We feel it's a game worth a spot in every iPhone gamer's library, and this update should certainly broaden its appeal.
Not to make this the Friday of Upcoming iPhone Games...but Digital Chocolate has posted a video of their upcoming iPhone title California Gold Rush. While details, at present, are scant, it looks something loosely like a cross between Boulder Dash and Oregon Trail.
Have a look:
California Gold Rush is set to hit the App Store at the end of Q2 this year. No word on price, as yet.
Secret Exit'sFrand recently released some screenshots from an upcoming update to Zen Bound [App Store] which will feature a new tree of objects to wrap (including a very familiar character on the right).
The new tree is called "Nostalgia" and will feature a number of new objects:
The tree itself is divided into four thematic groups: Childhood, Old Days (1920s or so), 50s Sci-Fi and Retro Gaming. Each group contains objects that we hope will at least somehow resonate with the player. Like with the other Trees, the objects are not directly named, but instead the level names are loose associations to the iconic properties they represent (the level with a wooden toy airplane has been named "Freedom", for example).
Zen Bound is a meditative game involving wrapping objects of wood and stone with rope. It has an appeal that's hard to describe and won IGF Mobile's "Best iPhone game" award.
Silicon Valley start-up Booyah announced yesterday that they raised $4.5 million is Series A financing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) iFund. The so-called iFund is a $100 million venture capital fund that was established to specifically seed iPhone developers. Notably, iPhone game developer Ngmoco was amongst the first to receive this funding.
Booya was founded by Keith Lee, Brian Morrisroe and Sam Christiansen who have had previously successful careers at Blizzard Entertainment, Activision and Insomniac Games.
“We were immediately compelled by the promise of Booyah and the background of the founders,” said Matt Murphy, partner, KPCB. “The iFund was created to help build the most promising and innovative businesses that utilize the discrete capabilities of the iPhone and iPod touch. Booyah is a terrific example.”
Booyah's first product has not yet been publicly disclosed but is described as an "innovative and compelling entertainment product" which is said to combine "the immersive experiences that draw consumers to massively multi-player online games, the interconnectedness of social media, and the power of the iPhone and iPod touch."
Based on the available information, it doesn't sound quite like a "game", but given the pedigree of the founding partners, it seems something to keep an eye on.
Chillingo isn't one to sit idly by and watch the grass grow around the App Store. The mobile game studio has a number of titles in development and has recently posted details and video of several not far from release.
Return to Mysterious Island
The upcoming iPhone port of mobile title Return to Mysterious Island, developed by Tetraedge, is expected to take the cake as the largest game in the App Store. Weighing in at 300MB, it features an onscreen interaction model somewhat reminiscent of Myst III: Exile.
The Return To Mysterious Island game is based on a strong-willed young woman, Mina, who is on a sailing voyage across the globe. Trapped in a tremendous storm, this young woman is marooned on a wild and supposedly deserted island. While exploring the unfamiliar places she discovers artifacts, living spaces and technologies that were left behind by the people who had traveled there before her.
The game, inspired by the Jules Verne novel, features a full 3D environment, 15 hours of gameplay, and a variety of minigames and mysteries. Return to Mysterious Island is expected any day, now. (Tetraedge is also at work porting Syberia, which is expected to hit the App Store in June.)
Zooloretto
Upcoming Zooloretto, developed by SpinBottle Games, won Australian game of the year in 2007. It places the player in a colorful, cartoony zoo setting and challenges them to use small, large, wild, and exotic animals and their young to try and attact as many visitors as possible to the zoo. The game involves strategy and planning, as there's only room for so many animals in the zoo.
Up to four players at a time can play on a single device.
Features:
Use the touchscreen to drag and drop animals and vending stalls into your zoo
Drag the ”roller blind" from the top to gain an overview of your zoo and the zoos of the other players
Unlock new player characters and future add-ons in the integrated shop
3D-view for zoos, animals und vending stalls
Animations and sounds of the animals makes you feel like you are in a zoo
Learn exciting details about all animals from the game in the encyclopedia
Play against the computer or up to 4 other players (Pass 'n Play)
"...a true Rolando killer with a 3D twist"
In a story just posted by Pocket Gamer, director Chris Byatte of Chillingo uses strong words in referencing an unnamed, upcoming title that will utilize iPhone OS 3.0's microtransactions and will see a simultaneous iPhone and WiiWare release.
"We have several titles in the works that will use iPhone 3.0 in-app purchasing, including several multiplayer games where you'll be able to purchase new characters and equipment. Plus we have a simultaneous release lined up for WiiWare and iPhone - a true Rolando killer with a 3D twist - it will include the ability to purchase new worlds. We also have several multiplayer games in the pipeline that will make full use of the excellent push notification 3.0 technology"
We'll see soon enough if the game stands up to Byatte's description. Stay tuned...
UK-based mobile development studio CobraMobile, who brought us Low Grav Racer and Mouse About, has provided details and screens of its upcoming action title Bombs Away for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Bombs Away is a totally unique top down arcade styled bombing game based in the Pacific Ocean of 1943. You play Bombs Away as a young bomber pilot protecting your fleet and searching out key enemy land and sea targets to destroy!!! Bombs Away will immediately transport you into the thick of the action with the games multiple missions providing a huge variety of gameplay.
The game provides, according to CobraMobile:
Brand new game IP
Brilliant entertainment
Action packed missions
Immersive audio and 3D spacial sound
The sheer satisfaction of just blowing stuff up
See the game in action in the following video, posted by the developer.
Bombs Away will make its App Store debut (at an as-yet unspecified price) sometime this month, when we'll take a closer look at what seems a rather polished title. Stay tuned.
Adept Games' Trixel [App Store] is a seemingly simple logic game that involves flipping tiles on a board to match a tile pattern. That, however, is not what makes this game stand out.
What makes Trixel different is its blend of twists, obstacles and power ups that gives this game its edge in this genre. Trixel has a terrific soundtrack by a band called Prison Diet and the layout and graphics which are elegant yet functional.
A local scoreboard is included that tracks your progress in terms of stages completed, medals awarded, number of moves, and time spent.
The game offers two modes: "Puzzles" and "Race the Clock". In Puzzles mode, you have a limited number of moves to match a tile pattern. There are 3 levels of difficulty: easy, medium and hard with a total of 100 puzzles. Easy is unlocked by default, and you will need to complete all the puzzles in this setting before you can access the Medium and Hard levels. Even in the Easy mode, Trixel can be quite challenging.
In mid-March, Konami released Metal Gear Solid Touch [App Store] for the iPhone and iPod touch. A departure from the style of the famed Playstation franchise, Metal Gear Solid Touch is a tap-shooter with impressive graphics but short-lived gameplay. We advised back in March that, for anyone other than fans of the franchise, the $7.99 asking price is hard to justify.
While at the 
Steph made 
The upcoming iPhone port of mobile title 
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