E3: Handheld Games Shows Off 'Batting 1000' and 'Lock 'n Load'
posted by arn on June 5th, 2009 3:44 AM EDT in E3 Expo 2009, Upcoming GamesBesides Marble Madness, Handheld Games also showed us a couple of their own titles coming the App Store.
The first title is called Batting 1000 and is a bit of a cross of baseball and bowling. True to its title, the game is primarily a batting tournament where you try to do you best across 10 rounds of play. The game is well rendered in 3D akin to Handheld Games' Touch Sports Tennis. Controls are simple and involve swiping upward at the right time to connect with the pitch. The direction of the swipe will affect the direction of the baseball. Handheld Games CEO Thomas Fessler walks us through the game:
[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]
The second game is called Lock 'n Load and is a survival shooter in which you are defending your bunker. The game is still at least a month away so several of the details remain in flux. Multiple weapons, power-ups and extras are planned, as well as the eventual possibility of different "skins" or themes.
I know this is pretty lame, but after getting burnt on the Touchsports Tennis update, I have a grudge against HHG. But if they DO put out quality games, then I'll have no choice but to submit.
Batter 1000, though, does not look like a high quality game. Sure, it's got great animations and stuff, but the gameplay is way too simple and Wii-like. The only reason it works on the Wii is that it's intuitive with the motion controller. This is just sliding your finger up a bar, and the most i'd ever pay for this game is 59p.
Yeah they don't look great. The PSP had such a good showing at E3, it sort of made the iPhone look like a gimmick for games.
It's really going to take the real devs from the big studios to take the iPhone to another level.
$#$%!! I thought it was the Ngage´s old game (you know lock n´ load, and lock n´ load 2) with multiplayer and all that stuff but thats just my broken dream.
@Phreakuency
Dont forget that the iDevices (well the AppStore) has been out since July 11 last year while the PsP's been out for more than 4 years. In 11 months we already had PsP-quality games that we'd never tought possible on a phone: Need for Speed Underground, Real Racing (coming in a few days), Supercross 2XL, Zenonia, Tiger Woods, Heroes of Sparta. Just imagine with the new iPhone hardware coming next July, the number of developers working on games and the price point (vs Psp or DS games). The iPhone can really compete with the mobile gaming market. I am not an heater (got both DS and PSP) but try to do a call, receive an email, SMS, organize your budget or agenda on a DS or PSP….
I like the style of L & Load's graphics, but I'd suggest adding an anti-aircraft gun in the bunker also. I always enjoyed manning one of those in the Battlefield pc game.
Good luck!
(also this looks like 99cents would be a good price-point)
I am sorry, but that "baseball" game doesn't look good at all. I would rather have a curling or shuffleboard game if you are just going to slide your finger up the screen.
re: Batting 1000.
This will be released prior to their full game "Touchsport baseball 2010", and will be offered at a low price point. Owners of Batting 1000 will then be able to upgrade at a discount to the full Touchsport Baseball game when it is released post OS3.0