That's right, my retro-loving brethren, Bounty Bob has tunneled his way into the App Store thanks to Magmic's release of Miner 2049er [free] for the iPhone and iPad (universal).
For those unfamiliar, the original Miner 2049er is a platform game that was highly popular in the early '80s home computer scene. (See Owen Linzmayer's February 1983 Creative Computingreview.) Released in 1982 by Bill Hogue through Big Five Software, the game puts you in the shoes of Bounty Bob on a mission to search through Nuclear Ned's abandoned uranium mines in search for the elusive Yukon Yohan. The treacherous mines, fraught with ladders, chutes and hydraulic scaffolds -- not to mention the radioactive creatures that roam the levels -- must be cleared by walking over every section of the platforms. There are 10 levels in all, which was quite a few, for its day. Miner 2049er was the inspiration for Matthew Smith's Manic Miner.
Bumpy Road [$2.99] developer Simogo is peeling a corner of the curtain off its next big thing. In a new teaser trailer released this morning, viewers are shown the briefest of glimpses at an array of whimsical characters, clocks, and other items clad in crimson and plastered against a black background. In the text of the video, Simogo teases that this unnamed project will have rhythm, puzzle, and stealth elements.
On our interview podcast, Simogo's Simon Flesser mentioned this game, but he was careful with the few details he shared. Regardless, we came away from the whole of the conversation believing that the studio was primed for another App Store success. Simogo gets what makes an iPad and iPhone unique in the video games space, it understands simplicity, and it obviously has a ton of talent to spare. We're pretty stoked for this -- whatever it turns out to be.
My guess? We're looking at game where you'll use music to guide an avatar sneakily through some sort of construct. Like, Metal Gear Solid Meets Rock Band. Or maybe this is actually Simogo's take on Waterworld 2 and I totally convinced Simon to make the game happen.
One of the many features that set Twitter ablaze with the announcement of iOS 5 back at WWDC was AirPlay mirroring. AirPlay had already been around for a while, and in its initial form allowed iOS devices to steam video to an Apple TV or audio to an Airport Express. Mirroring, as the name implies, mirrors the current display of your device on whatever video display you've got your Apple TV plugged into. Crafty developers have even figured out how to output a different image than the one that's being displayed on your iOS device, which is really cool in action.
Initially, AirPlay mirroring required an iPad 2 and when it was first unveiled it was never very clear if or when other iOS would have the same capabilities-- Especially since Apple has made it abundantly clear that they still consider the Apple TV a "hobby" of theirs. Well, with the release of the iPhone 4S, which also comes packed with AirPlay mirroring support, it seems reasonable to assume that all future iOS devices will have the capability.
Unfortunately, without some killer software utilizing the functionality, it sort of seems like a gimmick-- At least, so far. The selection of games that embrace the mirroring functionality in interesting ways are remarkably sparse. So far the best of the bunch seems to be Chopper 2 [99¢]:
As cool as AirPlay is, its main drawback for gaming seems to be a ever-so-slight but totally perceptible lag. Piloting the helicopter in the Chopper games seems to be almost intentionally floaty (it is a helicopter, after all). This seems to mask the lag very well, and using the iOS device screen for input is done well.
Comparatively, Real Racing 2 [$4.99 / HD] does much more with the actual iOS device screen, but the previously mentioned slight lag in controls makes just playing the game normally without the Apple TV seem much more fun. The multiplayer mode does feel like the future though:
Aside from the small bit of lag, it works really well, almost surprisingly so. I downloaded the game on my iPad 2, flipped on AirPlay mirroring, and hosted a local game. Seeing the same video output on my iPhone being routed through the iPad 2 and rendered on my TV wirelessly seemed like magic, especially as more iOS devices joined the race.
I'm so incredibly torn on this functionality right now. The potential it has is just incredible, especially in future devices and/or developer optimization of these games reduces the lag between the iOS device and the Apple TV. Once this delay goes from barely noticeable but always there to non-existent, I think it'll be totally easy to get onboard, and an Apple TV might even be required hardware for the dedicated iOS gamer to own. Right now though, I wouldn't encourage anyone to rush out and buy an Apple TV specifically to try out this new Real Racing 2 mode.
That being said, the Apple TV is a really cool device that is well worth the $100 if you've got an HDMI port on your TV and don't already have an Xbox 360, PS3, or even something like a Roku Streaming Player hooked up to it. If you've got an A5-powered iOS device, being able to do some neat things with an incredibly small (right now, anyway) library of games is just icing on the cake. Sure, you can duplicate all this mirroring functionality with the Apple Digital AV Adapter as well, but it's incredibly clunky hanging off the side of your device, and at $40, you might as well just spend another $60 and get all the added functionality of the Apple TV.
Rovio Mobile is setting its phasers to "tease" this week. After the release of a Halloween-themed video suggesting a new bird or something would be coming to Angry Birds Seasons [$.99 / Free / HD], it has released an equally suggestive image of what looks to be a new bird on its Facebook page. "The Angry Birds have a big surprise for you," the photo posting exclaims, somehow. "Can you guess what it is," it asks, just before it also tasks users with sharing the photo with their friends in order to unlock more hints.
Yes, this is the picture. It's really big.
It's not just us who think a new bird is on the way -- the posting is brimming with fans who agree that a new character is coming. But before we jump off speculation cliff with our safe bet, we should note that it's totally possible a new enemy-type or pig could happen, too, in any iteration of the stupid-popular game. Sure, it's unlikely considering the Halloween tease, but hey, crazier things have happened. Like the self-flushing toilet. Who saw that coming? The answer is no-one, I think. Except the dude who invented it. Good dude, I bet. Probably a little messy.
Anyway, one of the Earth's most popular franchises might be receiving a new character. I'm guessing you're already grumbling in the comments column, but as an FYI here: a lot of people really care about this stuff and it's not like Angry Birds is a bad game. It's pretty fun.
There has been a rush to get casual versions of more complex game-types onto the App Store since it launched, and in the case of BlowFish Studios' and Crescent Moon Games' Siegecraft [99¢], the goal seems to have been to create a casual RTS game with Angry Birds-esque physics.
You take control of one of two weapons throughout the campaign, a catapult and a crossbow. To shoot, you need to slide your finger to move and aim the crossbow, or touch and pull back to shoot the catapult. This works considerably better on an iPad than an iPhone since you have more room to pull back and aim. You'll have a set number of tasks to complete throughout the campaign, but most fall in two categories: attack and defend. That said, you'll always essentially be defending, since you can't move your weapons. Even the attack portions mostly just require you to kill off enemies so your soldiers, which you don't control, can get through.
The arcade shoot'em-up Crossfire was released for Xbox in July 2010, followed by Crossfire 2 a few months later. Now Radian Games and their publisher, Chillingo, have released Super Crossfire [99¢ / HD] for our iOS devices. This game plays like a colorful version of the classic 1978 game Space Invaders, with one key difference: When a wall of bullets and lazers rains down on you, leaving you boxed in the corner and about to be destroyed ...your spaceship can flee to safety by warping between the top and bottom of the screen.
But warping to the top of the screen doesn't necessarily ensure your safety, as the aliens can shoot upwards too. Some enemies have shields and can only be hit from one side, which necessitates warping up and down to get a clear shot. By collecting the gems dropped by destroyed aliens, you can charge up segments of your super-fire meter, then briefly shoot anything, even if it's shielded.
There’s just something about word games that make you feel like you’re accomplishing something in your free time. You’re not simply killing time; you’re expanding your very mind. Perhaps this is why games like Text Twist and What’s My Word have gone down in the annals (uh, it's a real word, which you would know if you played more word games, you pervert) of my favorite apps of all time. And just when I had given up hope of finding another worthy addition to that club, Spuzzle, Inc.’sWord vs Word [$.99] has earned its way onto the list. Felicitations all around!
I’m not going to sugarcoat it – this game is going to frustrate you. But if you’re like me/into punishment, you’re going to love it. It’s not only because the words are particularly challenging (finally, another chance to use that SAT dictionary!), but because this is really a logic game disguised as a word game. Words With Friends this ain’t.
Ah piracy. Forget the days of violence, scurvy and the constant threat of hanging. We're talking about the freedom of the high seas, questionable fashion choices and incredibly anachronistic language, savvy? Plunder and the open ocean, that's the pirate's life for me.
Powder Monkeys [$0.99] goes blessedly light on the pirate-speak, but otherwise it's the perfect pirating experience. You can travel the seas, hunt down rivals, capture towns, plunder to your heart's content and dress up your ever-more ludicrous ship. And you can do it all as a, erm, monkey.
FakePup’s Super Bit Dash [$0.99] is an interesting combination of endless running and platforming all wrapped up in a nice retro-bow. Despite its incorporation of level randomization, Super Bit Dash's biggest weakness is the lack of content and variety within its gameplay. However, despite this shortcoming, this casual title still provides an enjoyable experience, assuming you’re a fan of its (increasingly prevalent) retro heritage.
Like a lot of casual games, Super Bit Dash doesn’t offer much of anything in the story department. You play the role of a caped pixelated hero moving through various rooms full of pitfalls and obstacles while collecting coins. Aiding your character is the ability to dash in any direction with a swipe. Each dash burns energy, however, which can only be replenished by collecting the coins that are littered throughout the playing field. You can use your dash ability to break through barriers, fly across chasms, or speed past spikes and other barriers trying to take you out. Since the dash is really the only special power you have (besides a normal jump), coin management becomes imperative as you’ll need to make sure you have enough dash charges for those harder areas.
In this week’s bonus edition of The TouchArcade Show, Eli and I speak with Simogo’s Simon Flesser. You already know Simogo -- it’s the studio behind one of the more artfully designed touch-exclusive games, Bumpy Road [$2.99]. At the top, we drill Flesser about how Simogo operates, what informs its work, and how it got rolling. We also, somehow, end up talking about Dallas, the A-Team, and critical user reviews of Bumpy Road.
As usual, this was a super fun recording. You’ll notice quite a bit more banter than normal for our interview-y type shows, but I think you’ll like the overall product. Speaking of that, actually, you can download this latest podcast via the links below. Additionally, you can subscribe to us on iTunes and Zune Marketplace in order to get all of our content the second they’re uploaded onto the Internet!
Fruit Ninja [$.99 / HD / Lite] developer Halfbrick is expanding, apparently. Gamasutra recently spotted a job listing from the Australian outfit indicating that it’s looking for full-time design, art, and programmer types to start “its exciting new Sydney office” and develop social, mobile, and digital games. Halfbrick proper, which is also home to Phil Larsen’s School For The Marketing Gifted, is located in Brisbane.
Since it’s founding in 2001, Halfbrick has churned out a lot of hits with us. Fruit Ninja is certainly one of those, but we’re also pretty big fans of Monster Dash [$.99], Jetpack Joyride [$.99], and Age of Zombies [$2.99 / Lite]. Soon, it’ll roll out a special version of Fruit Ninja with a Puss in Boots tie-in that we’re pretty sure will rock despite its licensed-ness.
It’s a pretty tumultuous time in the industry in general right now, so it’s refreshing to finally hear about studio growing instead of shuttering. We’ll definitely be keeping our eyes on Halfbrick and its studios’ new projects. Undoubtedly, its going to be busy in the near future.
TechCrunch is reporting that Nintendo's exclusivity with the Professor Layton series is ending and one of the first things developer Level-5 will be doing is releasing a new iOS game called Layton Brothers: Mystery Room. Unfortunately, details further than that are non-existent at this point. We'll just have to wait and see on pricing and availability, as well as how the content of Mystery Room will compare to previous installments in the Layton franchise.
What has me leaning back in my chair and contemplatively puffing my proverbial pipe with this news is the fact that the Professor Layton games are by far the DS's most successful series-- Both critically and commercially. If you follow TouchArcade, you no doubt remember the various pieces we've done on Nintendo such as "Nintendo Facing Investor Pressure to Bring Games to iPhone" analyzing the puzzling future of the gaming giant.
I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that the Professor Layton series brought a bunch of players to the Nintendo DS, and while I'm sure the DS still would have been a successful platform without it, it's definitely not a good sign to see developers anxious to jump off the exclusivity ship with the big N.
One thing that I do quite a bit of for TouchArcade is attend various conferences. We always hit the big ones like E3 in Los Angeles, along with both WWDC and GDC in San Francisco as well as several smaller conventions throughout the year that often don't amount to a lot of coverage-- But where it's still great to meet people and have a presence at them. These events (even the mega-corporate ones like E3) have a vibe about them that's really difficult to describe unless you've been to one.
I think the best way to label the feeling would be "inspirational." You're surrounded by game developers who have all travelled from the farthest corners of the Earth with goals to both promote their existing games, as well as improve their future titles. I've seen amazing things come out of game jams, partnerships spring up over coffee, and game ideas being refined via a form of incredibly open peer review over beer and pizza. The whole process is great, and leaves you feeling lucky that you even had the chance to play your small role in witnessing it.
Attendees of these various get-togethers likely know exactly what I'm talking about, and this is wholly the reason why I always encourage developers to attend conventions whenever possible. Sure, they can often times seem like an unnecessary business expense, but can you really put a price on the value of one piece of random feedback that takes your entire project to a whole new level?
Anyway, not having attended GDC Online since 2009 (It was GDC Austin then) I was beyond stoked to take part in the conference. Not very many developers that I've worked with in the past were going, but that was OK-- the best part about conventions is meeting new people and being absolutely awestruck when they show you what they're working on.
Last week, we told you the (somewhat) surprising news that Rockstar would be bringing the classic Grand Theft Auto III to iOS and Android platforms to celebrate the franchise's 10 year anniversary of entering the world of 3D, and thus changing the open-world sandbox genre forever. At the time, Rockstar noted that the game was only planned for dual-core processor-based devices, due to the strain that running a huge open-world game would have on lesser mobile hardware. On the iOS side of things, that meant that only the iPad 2 and the brand new iPhone 4S would be able to run GTA III thanks to their dual-core A5 chips.
Of course, there are far, far more GTA fans than there are A5 device owners, and there was quite a backlash from gamers with older devices who were understandably upset that they wouldn't be able to get their carjack-on without upgrading their kit. However, over the weekend Rockstar has been showing off GTA III for mobile devices in playable form at the New York Comic-Con, and in fact they have confirmed to Kotaku that the dual-core processor requirement will only be a limitation at first, and that they're planning on having the game be compatible with single-core iOS devices sometime after launch.
Aiko Island [$0.99 / HD] is, at first glance, just another physics puzzler in an endless procession. Is there anything we haven't seen from the vast selection of games where you balance one item while poking away at everything beneath it? Apparently, yes. IceFlame's opus may draw inspiration from sources both within its genre and beyond, but it has more than a few surprises left to share.
If you were to create a "best of" mix for physics puzzlers, it would probably end up looking a lot like Aiko Island. There are elements of most of the big names here. Let's not get hung up on calling it a knock-off of this or that, though. Instead, consider this: if I could play just one game in this genre, I'd seriously consider choosing this one.
the game puts you in the shoes of Bounty Bob on a mission to search through Nuclear Ned's abandoned uranium mines in search for the elusive Yukon Yohan. The treacherous mines, fraught with ladders, chutes and hydraulic scaffolds -- not to mention the radioactive creatures that roam the levels -- must be cleared by walking over every section of the platforms. There are 10 levels in all, which was quite a few, for its day. Miner 2049er was the inspiration for Matthew Smith's Manic Miner.
Rovio Mobile
One thing that I do quite a bit of for TouchArcade is attend various conferences. We always hit the big ones like E3 in Los Angeles, along with both WWDC and GDC in San Francisco as well as several smaller conventions throughout the year that often don't amount to a lot of coverage-- But where it's still great to meet people and have a presence at them. These events (even the mega-corporate ones like E3) have a vibe about them that's really difficult to describe unless you've been to one.
