Contre Jour [$.99 / UHD: now with more. Courtesy a new update, Mokus' beautiful puzzle game boasts a fourth world called "Moonlight" that contains 20 additional stages to play in and a few new mechanics including "moving pulleys and tentacles." Interestingly, Moonlight also features a slightly off-kilter visual style that sets it apart from the rest of the its content. Everything in it looks rendered in negative, as if the art dude(s) at Mokus hit the wrong button on Photoshop or something.
The results are pretty cool. Check out these screens publisher Chillingo blasted us this morning:
Smaller device woes aside, Contre Jour holds up. It's a beautiful game with some really challenging puzzles that'll keep you testing and delaying that endorphin-pumping "a-ha" moment whenever you figure out how to reach the exit of a level.
One of my favorite thing about the iOS world is how many AAA industry veterans are returning to their roots of indie development, potentially bringing decades of experience with them. This is the case with Glenn Corpes, whose 20+ years in video games has had his hands in Populous, Dungeon Keeper, and a ton of other great games. On the App Store, he's released Ground Effect [$2.99] and is hard at work on Topia: Age of Creation.
Anyway, in a recent interview with PocketGamer.biz Glenn explains that even though the iPhone 4S looks identical to the iPhone 4 on the outside, the internals represent an even bigger leap than the one between the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. Corpes calls A4 devices "irritating," as they had tons of potential utilizing shaders, but were ultimately too slow at processing the actual pixels. Things were only made worst by the Retina Display, as App Store customers quickly became disinterested in anything that didn't push all 614,400 pixels.
He explains that some of the cool shaders we've seen in Infinity Blade 2 could be done at a lower resolution, but you just can't release games like that. A5 devices, on the other hand, are powerful enough to use shaders that would have only been useful on PC's and current-generation consoles before. While fully utilizing the 3GS required code rewrites, developers can take advantage of the 4S by simply using better shaders. Even more spare horsepower can be utilized with anti-aliasing, post processing effects, and other things A4 devices weren't capable of.
I imagine just like the 3GS, it'll take some time for developers to actually start taking advantage of all the new capabilities iPhone 4S. I can't wait.
A survey was distributed amongst 1,000 video game industry professionals that are attending the upcoming London Games Festival, respondents were asked to compose their own list of the top five people and hardware in the video game industry and, both Apple and Steve jobs ranked in first amongst both categories:
Products
iPhone: 17%
Wii: 7%
Xbox Live: 3%
PlayStation One: 3%
Steam: 2%
People
Steve Jobs 26%
Gabe Newell 16%
Shigeru Miyamoto 7%
Tim Berners-Lee 4%
Mark Zuckerberg 3%
Curiously enough, amongst all the people who responded, the iPhone was somewhere in 53% of the voters' top fives. Similarly, Steve Jobs made it into 46% of all the top fives. Like most surveys, you can read into them a variety of different ways. If the London Games Conference is like most US video game conferences, it could be nearly taken over by iOS developers, who'd naturally respond the iPhone and Steve Jobs. Alternatively, Steve Jobs is likely still fresh in everyone's memory. Either way, I feel like Shigeru Miyamoto should have gotten way more than 7%.
Yesterday, RedLynx announced via a press release posted in their forums that it had been picked up by French publishing giant Ubisoft. Most gamers came to know RedLynx as the creators of the massively popular and critically acclaimed Trials HD on the Xbox Live Arcade, but the Finnish developer has also trekked into the iOS App Store with Monster Trucks Nitro 1 [99¢] and 2 [$2.99], the unique line-drawing racers DrawRace [$2.99] and DrawRace 2 [99¢/HD], and the new-level-a-day platformer Thousand Heroes [99¢/HD].
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot had this to say about the acquisition of RedLynx:
The team at RedLynx has developed exceptionally strong digital brands that stand out for their high replay value, their long tail sales and their multiplatform positioning. We are delighted to welcome RedLynx to the Ubisoft family. Their expertise in asynchronous online games and physics-based game mechanics provides us with a great opportunity to bring their powerful brands, most notably Trials, to an even broader range of fast-growing digital platforms.
Did you catch that? He states how interested Ubisoft is in bringing RedLynx's powerful brands to fast-growing digital platforms. Hey, the App Store is a fast-growing digital platform! And he specifically mentions Trials, the company's most notorious and beloved brand. Could this mean there is intent to bring a Trials game to the App Store? Motorcycle physics games have been quite a popular genre on iOS already, like the awesome recently released Bike Baron [99¢], among others. But it would be impossible to deny that despite how good some of those similar games are, in my heart I'd really love to be playing the actual Trials HD on my iOS device.
Time will tell if the App Store will finally get its Trials day in the sun or not, but this latest acquisition by Ubisoft makes it seem like there's a strong possibility. A Trials HD successor, Trials Evolution, is set to debut in the coming months, and if it's bound for the App Store in any way then you can be sure we'll let you know.
SpinTrip [99¢] from ClickGamer (Chillingo) is a 2D platform game about a rolling wheel with magical abilities. Your task is to hop inside the wheel, then roll, jump, fly or float it to the end of the level. There's things to collect and enemies to avoid or kill, but it's the wheel and various magical abilities which makes this game interesting and differentiates it from other platformers.
In the introduction, an old woman explains that the nasty gants have stolen five magical shims and 'Tisu must now use his chibwheel to collect chibs and find a shimloon portal to rescue them. ...umm, say what? But don't let the unusual names put you off, because this game is actually really easy to play.
This past August, Firemint brought us its first release since being acquired by Electronic Arts, called Spy Mouse [99¢]. Taking their expertise in the line-drawing genre that the developer almost single-handedly popularized with their premiere iOS offering Flight Control [99¢/Lite/HD] and applying it to a stealth-heavy action/puzzle game, Spy Mouse offered an incredibly enjoyable and straight forward experience that we highlighted in our review.
The task at hand was to direct the game's mousey protagonist Agent Squeak safely through a level, staying out of the path of roaming cats and collecting cheese and powerups along the way. It's a formula that proved quite successful, and most importantly, fun.
Whoa, it's Wednesday and I can't believe it's already November. I guess the upside of the year racing to a close is that we won't have to wait too much longer to see what iOS developers do this holiday season. Total EA domination seems like the safe bet, although the best thing about the App Store is that anything can happen.
Anyway, this week works like every other week. All of these games should be available for download in the US App Store at 11:00 PM Eastern, or potentially much earlier depending on how east you are of the good ol' US of A.
Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave (see what Trendy did there) will be released as a free update to the iOS versions of Dungeon Defenders: First Wave [$2.99] tomorrow, the developer has told us via an e-mail release. According to Trendy, Second Wave addresses "many of the issues" from the first game, including the horrendously cluttered UI and clunky menus that kept us from enjoying its first try at an iOS port of its downloadable game.
In addition to these improvements, Second Wave will see "performance improvements," and a player-versus-player content package called "Arena." If you pop out your eyeglasses, you'll be able to see some of these tweaks and adds in its newly-released trailer.
In case you didn't know, Dungeon Defenders is now available on Xbox Live Arcade and as a PC release on Steam. These versions are particularlygood according to media types, so you might want to consider checking those out if you're into the game's hack-and-slash meets tower defense action.
Working in the iOS industry since the beginning has filled my head with all sorts of factoids that might not immediately seem that useful, but I'd be a beast on Jeopardy, assuming they ever had a "Random Mobile Gaming Trivia" column. One of these many tidbits I've soaked up is that before today there was no "games" category in the South Korean App Store.
Previously, the South Korean government had a very tight approval process that worked similar to a more strict version of the ESRB. Only, while getting rated by the ESRB in the USA is fairly optional, getting government approval was required. This caused a whole lot of friction with Apple, a company who historically hasn't had that great of a record of compromise. Instead of working with the South Korean government, they just shrugged and axed the game category all together.
Some developers skirted this restriction by releasing their games under the "Entertainment" heading, but this was always highly frowned upon by Apple. But, where there's a will there's a way, and these restrictions just caused diehard South Korean iOS gamers to pick up international iTunes gift cards and make their purchases on whatever non-Korean marketplace was the most convenient for them.
Thankfully, pressure from all sides of the mobile gaming market finally lead to the powers that be in South Korean easing up their restriction and finally allowing for games on the App Store. This change should massively benefit iOS developers, as South Korea not only has an incredibly strong gaming culture, but some ridiculously good gamers. (You'll likely know this first hand if you've ever attempted to play a StarCraft game online.) …And now all those people can buy iOS games just as easily as we can.
To celebrate the occasion, South Korean gaming giant Com2uS has reduced the price of all of their games to 99¢. Head on over to their iTunes listing and take a look, due to the global nature of App Store pricing, you don't even need to be South Korean to take advantage of this sale. Also, since it seems like iOS developers are always anxious for any reason to drop their prices of their games, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to keep an eye on the game sales section of AppShopper to snag anything worthwhile as this news spreads and the South Korean App Store sees a flood of new customers.
As if there was any doubt left in your mind that Angry Birds has attained such ridiculous levels of success that describing it as "success" barely feels appropriate anymore, try this on for size: The Angry Birds family of games has now been downloaded over half a billion times. Sure, that figure is worldwide and across all versions, even the free ones, but to put things into perspective consider this: That's about 1.6 Angry Birds downloads for every man, woman, and child in the United States. That's just… incredible.
Rovio released the following video that has some other crazy statistics on Angry Birds:
If for some strange reason you still haven't played an Angry Birds game, you should get on that. I prefer Seasons, but really, they're all great games and available now for basically ever platform imaginable.
It was easy to overlook the issues in the original Zombieville USA. When it hit, the App Store was as foreign and exciting as our new iPhones. Plus, there was no real measuring stick; we just knew it was a fun and cutesy side-scrolling shooter starring the world's favorite bullet-sponges, the undead. Zombieville USA 2 [$.99], on the other hand, has released in a period where we have expectations. Awesomely, Mika Mobile knocks them out of the park by both refining and creating within the confines of the original game.
Tightly-constructed, well-executed, charming, different and entertaining are all words I feel like I can freely use when describing Zombieville 2. For the most part, it's a near perfect iterative entry to the franchise. It artfully hones in on and turns up the volume on the two best parts of the original: the shooting and upgrade models. (more...)
Capcom's 'alright' iPhone and iPod Touch take on Devil May Cry 4 has received an update alongside a price reduction. For a limited time, Devil May Cry 4 Refrain [$.99] is (obviously) $.99 instead of its usual $4.99. The coinciding update adds an unlockable "Devil Trigger" for both of the game's characters. The catch? It's only available after completion.
If you're sitting there wondering what a Devil Trigger is, enjoy this academic breakdown of the mechanic by the dudes who run the unofficial Devil May Cry wiki. They take their jobs very seriously:
"Devil Trigger (often abbreviated as D.T.) is a special technique possessed by demons and half-demons which allows them to release their full power. While in Devil Trigger, the user will assume their true form. In this form, many of the character's attributes are amplified, and the character may have access to upgrades or even additions to their normal abilities like flying or hovering.
When playing on higher difficulties, enemies can enter a Devil Trigger-like state[1] after a certain time limit (which is fixed for each enemy). This causes enemies to strengthen their attributes as well as making them attack more often and more powerful."
We took a good, long look at Refrain earlier this year and it's probably in your interests to check that write-up out before you click "buy." It'll help get your expectations in line, at the very least. Spoiler: Refrain is a competent re-make of the original game, featuring simpler combos and a few core issues due to its mobile nature.
Hold on to your butts: a Jurassic Park park-building tycoon game is coming to mobile at some point in "early" 2012. On the heels of the announcement that Telltale Games' take on the franchise has gone gold, Ludia Inc has revealed plans to release a title that revolves around the IP. According to Gamezebo, players will be tasked with building their own Isla Nublar and discovering new dino DNA to morph into dinosaurs.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to create a game that will allow fans of the film franchise to experience the thrills of managing their very own Jurassic Park,” the company said in a statement. This game won't have a connection with what Telltale is doing with its series later this November to our knowledge, but it is the result of license-holder Universal coming to the table again and striking a deal with a video game developer.
This is from Tap Jurassic, FYI.
Ludia has substantial experience with this social simulation game with dinosaurs thing -- its tap title, Tap Jurassic, released earlier this year and apparently wasn't too bad as far as social games go. We'll be excited to see what this one will be like. Please be good.
New weapons, monsters, and features continue to drip into Capcom's Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting [$4.99]. The latest update, which hit pretty late this October, packs a social media twist. In addition to combat video saving and sharing, players can now tweet their scores and communicate with other users from within the game. Huge!
Late October's update also has a couple of new monsters and weapons. Diablos, Lunastra, Azure Rathalos, and Kirin have joined the ranks of enemies, while the Gunlace and its auto guard skill have joined the weapon list. Another camera tweak has been introduced as well, allowing players to see scenes from above.
The sharing stuff in particular strikes us as a really meaningful addition. Monster Hunter has always been a game about exploitation. Talking with dudes about what you've done is a big part of the meta game, so being able to really get your voice and actions out there is a huge plus.
This always happens! We've been hitting spacebar all morning, but didn't see this next-level move coming. Indie developer Mode 7 has announced plans to bring its deceptively clever simultaneous turn-based strategy game, Frozen Synapse, to the iPad in 2012. It hit the PC and Mac earlier this year to oodles of well deserved media praise.
No worries if you're unfamiliar with the title. It's an isometric, team-versus-team strategy game that plays similarly to an X-COM. It's hook is its simulation mechanic that allows players to see how their tactical moves will fare against each other. The catch is that you're free to change up your moves in-between these phases. All your careful planning and tweaking can nightmarishly go heads up whenever you hit "end turn."
“Despite my lumpen, sausage-like digits, I am particularly excited about Frozen Synapse coming to the iPad,” Mode 7 Joint Managing Director Paul Taylor said in a statement. “I look forward to flicking my little green men around the place with wanton abandon.”
Mode 7 says Frozen Synapse is currently enterting into a beta state on the iPad and final details, including price and firm release, will be announced next year. You can bet your right hand that we'll be going hands-on and speaking with the development team before release, so expect some news in the coming weeks. In the meantime, get comfy with this launch trailer of the computer version of the title.
Contre Jour [$.99 / UHD: now with more. Courtesy a new update, Mokus' beautiful puzzle game boasts a fourth world called "Moonlight" that contains 20 additional stages to play in and a few new mechanics including "moving pulleys and tentacles." Interestingly, Moonlight also features a slightly off-kilter visual style that sets it apart from the rest of the its content. Everything in it looks rendered in negative, as if the art dude(s) at Mokus hit the wrong button on Photoshop or something.
Products
This past August, Firemint brought us its first release since being acquired by Electronic Arts, called Spy Mouse [
Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave (see what Trendy did there) will be released as a free update to the iOS versions of 
It was easy to overlook the issues in the original 
Capcom's 'alright' iPhone and iPod Touch take on Devil May Cry 4 has received an update alongside a price reduction. For a limited time, Devil May Cry 4 Refrain [$.
Hold on to your butts: a Jurassic Park park-building tycoon game is coming to mobile at some point in "early" 2012. On the heels of the announcement that Telltale Games' take on the franchise 
New weapons, monsters, and features continue to drip into Capcom's Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting [$
