The wait for Grand Theft Auto 3 on iOS and Android is almost over. On its blog a few minutes ago, Rockstar revealed that the 10 Year Anniversary Edition port of the game-changing open-world title will hit the App Store and Android Marketplace on December 15th at an agreeable price point of $4.99. A new trailer giving you another taste of what's to come is expected to release next week, but we've got some new screens right now to hold you over.
Halfbrick thinks its latest Jetpack Joyride [$.99] update might be its best update ever, and we kinda have to agree. Catering to its most loyal, the infinite, er, flyer's latest update includes a brand-spanking new mission structure for prestige-level players. Each time a user prestiges from this point forward, they'll earn new badge challenges that will take them "deep into the bowels of understanding everything" the game has to offer. This, in addition to a new forest level, more achievements, new items, and new upgrades, makes for a great argument about it being the best ever in our minds, at least.
And there's more to come, of course. In the update notes, Halfbrick mentions that its already working on the next update, though no details are available at the moment. Not that it needs another, as Jetpack Joyride is one of the most well-rounded, feature-rich games on the App Store right now. Seriously, check it out.
Minecraft: Pocket Edition [$6.99] is cool, yet it lacks almost everything that makes Minecraft on other platforms pop -- you know, crafting and monsters and all of that jazz. Thankfully, and as we all expected given Mojang's rich history of updating the other versions of the game, Pocket Edition is set to receive most of the meaningful game-defining features that its sister games have, either through a series of updates or a big one.
Daniel Kaplan, a business dude over at the studio, laid out an upcoming feature list on Mojang's official blog. As you'll see, the list notes that a crafting system with a specialized interface is coming down the pipes alongside the introduction of animals and enemies and, most probably importantly, a new file system that will support all of this new, really promising stuff.
Kaplan also notes that the studio will continue to optimize Pocket Edition, which is great hear. Speaking of that, actually, a "small bug fix" is coming to iOS specifically in the near future. Neat!
There's nothing that gets me more giddy than when one of my favorite iOS games gets a sweet update that adds some new content and functionality, especially when that game has already been out for a while. It's great to see games getting support far into their lifespan, and over the weekend my giddiness was increased to the max when Pix'n Love Rush [99¢] and its iPad counterpart Pix'n Love Rush DX [$1.99] both received great new updates.
The Pix'n Love Rush games are no strangers to updates. They've been updated three times before with major new features since the original iPhone version release back in June of last year. This latest update adds yet another new gameplay mode and also makes the previously iPad only version Pix'n Love Rush DX into a Universal app, so you can throw that bad boy on your iPhone or iPod touch if you wish. It's kind of a bummer that if you had some nice high scores saved to the iPhone version that they won't transfer over to DX, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make to have one less app taking up space in my iTunes.
As for the new mode, it's called On/Off Rush and is a smart little piece of puzzle platforming. There are two different types of objects to collect, suns and moons. Suns can only be collected during the day, and moons during the night. Touching special switcher walls will turn the level from day to night. Your character moves automatically, so you're tasked with jumping at the right times to collect the proper item depending on if it's day or night.
It's quite clever, and gets increasingly difficult as you progress. Collecting correct items in a row increases a multiplier and adds time to the clock, allowing you to continue on. Accidentally grabbing a moon during daytime (or vice versa) resets the multiplier and adds no time to the clock, and eventually your time will run out. There are two different flavors of On/Off Rush, and Arcade mode where missed items mean less points and a Puzzle mode where every item must be collected through multiple trips through a level, but time is the commodity.
I absolutely love the new On/Off Rush, as I do with just about every other aspect of Pix'n Love Rush, and I'm pretty gassed that the iPad version is now Universal. If you own either version of the game, then get to updating and check out the new modes, and if you don't own Pix'n Love Rush already then check out our previouscoverage as it's a game that really needs to be on your device.
We aren't in the business of posting about plushies since we're an iOS blog and all, but guys, you've got to see what Halfbrick is offering. Earlier this morning, the studio announced a partnership with ToyFoundry and revealed the most adorable plush toy in the history of the universe. Just look at that watermelon. Look at it. If your eyes aren't melting from the onslaught of its cuteness, it's safe to assume that you're broken.
Of course, the watermelon isn't the only fruit of this partnership. In the Fruit Ninja online store, you'll also see the second: a plush sensei. Wise sensei is being sold at $15.99, while the 'melon will eventually hit at $14.99. For those interested in a deal, there is one. A $29.99 combo pack featuring the duo is up for pre-order now.
My new favorite thing on iOS is Rebuild [$2.99]. It's a fantastic strategy game that has the capability of ruining your life like only a Civilization can, but it also has this great touch that makes it exceedingly accessible and much more interactive. Its biggest flaw is the fact that it can only be played on iPad 2. Awesomely, that's going to change pretty soon.
In an e-mail exchange with us, Northway Games confirmed that iPad support is on the way in an update that has already been submitted to Apple. This update will also pack in Game Center support, which presumably will add achievements, too. Explaining why the game wasn't release for both platforms at once, Northway said that its technology simply wasn't playing nice with the original iPad. It is now!
If you're interested on checking this out on smaller iOS devices like the iPhone or iPod Touch, the wait might be a while. Northway is open to the platform, but a port isn't in the works just yet.
Deals! In the coming weeks, we'll presumably be posting about a billion different sales as developers and publishers scramble to capitalize on Christmas fever. We're sure that EA will be involved in more than one of these posts, but it's getting a jump on everyone by offering games on the yuletide cheap right now.
Allow us to introduce you to EA mobile's Daily Deals. It's a promotion that, as its name spoils, offers different iOS and Android games on the cheap every day -- until January, at least. Now, for example, you can save fifty percent on in-app purchases of Fantasy Safari's [Free] currency or download Shift 2 Unleashedfor iPad and iPhonefor $0. That's hip, right? Hit up the Daily Deals web site here to stay in the loop as it hacks at prices of more stuff through the month.
That Infinity Blade 2 [$6.99] fix? It's out. Earlier last week, droves of users with fourth gen iPod Touches and first generation iPads were reporting nasty crash issues with Epic and Chair's stellar follow-up. Epic was quick to say, "Hey, we're going to fix this thing" and it appears as though the duo has with version 1.01., if reports from our message board are a good indication.
Unfortunately, there's still some rare bugs out there that this update hasn't squashed. Some of our readers are still having problems with frame rate and game transitions in a post-patch environment, while others are still reporting a dreadful-sounding save file glitch that consistently resets progress when the game is restarted. We're all pretty confident that, again, Epic and Chair are really interested in hammering out an update for these things in short order, but we're checking in to make sure.
Regardless, if you or a loved one is having any of these issues (or another), feel free to check out the game's message board thread. There's a couple of solutions in there that seem to be working out for those having problems.
UPDATE: Chair shot us this statement about the upcoming update:
"We are working to resolve an issue impacting some users who are running Infinity Blade 2 on iPad 1 and iPod touch 4 devices. We have already released one update to address some of the issues and another is on the way. We will continue working through this until its resolved."
Expect more Fruit Ninja in the future. According to a report in the Illwarra Mercury, Halfbrick's new-fangled studio in Sydney will be behind the helm of "the next evolution of the Fruit Ninja games franchise." As for what that actually means ... well, it seems as though Halfbrick is looking to incorporate the Fruit Ninja brand into something not so Fruit-Ninja-y -- on the surface at least.
Specifically, the Mercury states that this next evolution will have users "launching a series of fruit to knock ninjas off their towers in a 3D world, with each fruit having special powers." The game is due out at some point in 2012. Pricing and all that jazz, as per usual with these super early reveals, haven't been revealed.
Details on the studio's funding, on the other hand, has been let out of the bag. We've contacted Australia's own Phil Larsen for more details.
As I write, I often consider whether or not my take on a game might be biased. For instance, I am clearly going to adore the idea of a game where I get to pilot a flying catmobile that spits screaming mice at grumbly enemies over a real-time war simulation. On that note, Don't Run With a Plasma Sword [$0.99] is clearly the kind of game that I gravitate towards -- its comic-inspired, it features an alien invasion, I'm basically running around with a lightsaber, and its got that modern retro feeling. In other words, I'm already smiling at the prospect. Biased? Maybe just a bit.
That being said, if a game sucks, it doesn't get my stamp of approval no matter how many hallmarks of my tastes it contains. I'm happy to report that Don't Run With a Plasma Sword not only features really cool, kitschy themes and humor, but it's actually a hell of a lot of fun to play as well.
The Humble Indie Bundle and other gigantic collections of PC indie titles are all the rage nowadays for a lot of reasons, but starting now, there's a feel-good App Store equivalent. A collection of twelve developers have come together for "12 Indie Apps For Christmas." It's "slightly different," but the bottom-line is that 25 percent of each individual sale of one of its games, post-Apple cut, will go to Child's Play or Doctors Without Borders throughout the rest of December.
The official rundown is available on the event's web site, so do check that out if you plan to get your humanitarian on. The developers involved are all pretty hip, and the games are pretty bangin', too. Here's a break-down:
The App Store is home to a ton of unique ideas, and we've seen all sorts of games come along that started out one way and evolved into something entirely different due to content updates that are often spurred by feedback from gamers in our forums. It's one of the neat aspects about iOS gaming, and something that sets it apart from most other traditional gaming platforms.
However, Bryan Perfetto, creator of the awesome endless high scoring game Kitty Up [99¢] (the second title this morning that has previously been featured on the Kitty Korner segment of our podcast) is taking the app updating facet of the App Store to the extreme. He has just released Rocket Bits [Free], his latest game that's not really much of a game at all… yet.
The idea behind Rocket Bits is that he's soliciting any and all ideas from users and will try to implement them into the game the best he can. Right now, the game isn't much more than an extremely basic cave flyer with very little to do. You can control the dual thrusters of a tiny rocket by touching either side of the screen, and putt around an expansive randomly generated map, bumping into walls and… that's about it.
But just because there isn't much to do in Rocket Bits doesn't mean it's not off to a pretty good start. The thruster controls feel great, the retro-styled pixel art is quite nice, and the chip tunes in the game are fantastic. Since the game isn't much right now, it's being offered for free, and eventually after some updates have fleshed out the experience then Bryan plans to raise it to "the outrageously expensive price of one dollar."
If the concept of Rocket Bits intrigues you, you can send your game ideas via email to bryan@regularkid.com, on Twitter at @RegularKid, through his website www.regularkid.com, or just blurt them out in iTunes reviews for the game. The plan is to update the game weekly, though that will depend on how difficult the ideas are to implement and Apple's review process. If he uses your idea, you'll get your name forever emblazoned in the game's credits section.
It'll be interesting to see how Rocket Bits shapes up over time, and how well the developer will be able to use the ideas given to him. We'll keep our eye on its progress, and there's no reason not to grab the game for free to check it out and send along some ideas of your own.
Restaurant games on iOS tend to follow a certain template. They're time management titles, all about organizing customers and orders for maximum profits. Sometimes they're freemium, sometimes not, but they all fall in line, and that line is getting a bit stale. They are certainly not about wildly flinging knives at customers to spear ingredients for their meals in midair. And yet here we find ourselves with Mad Chef [$0.99], a frantic, imaginative take on the restaurant gig from Foursaken Media, the folks behind the outstanding Bug Heroes series.
Mad Chef doesn't quite meet the epic scale of Bug Heroes, being both far more casual and far less strategic, but it exhibits the same thoughtful design and attention to detail we've come to expect from Foursaken Media. The game centers around frantic tapping, so you'll have to get behind that mechanic in a big way. Once you do there's a boatload of entertaining content to work through.
In the world of iOS platformers, there are many games that pique my interest and might keep me entertained for a while, but there are few that end up remaining on my device for good. One of the ones that made the cut and has achieved that prestigious status on my iPhone is The Adventures of Timmy: Run Kitty Run [Free] by CB Labs.
We quite enjoyed The Adventures of Timmywhen we reviewed it in October, and later that week it reached the pinnacle that all cat-related games strive to achieve when it was the Kitty Korner game of the week on our podcast.
In BigBot Smash [99¢], the universal game from Ayopa, you get to totally smash up a city using a giant metallic robot. You can demolish entire city blocks building-by-building by walking into, jumping at or shooting the 3D structures. Concurrently, you blast police cars from your antenna, stomp on the puny humans below, escape from tanks and generally create havoc in three different game modes.
The main campaign sends you to over 20 cities / levels (San Francisco Los Angeles, Mexico City, etc) to recover the parts of your robotic love-interest. She was shut-down, dismantled and scattered around the world by the nasty humans. Each level involves searching for and destroying the red buildings which contain her hardware (and the locations change if you replay the current level). You can also smash up other buildings for points, parts and pure destructive pleasure. Meanwhile, the humans try to destroy you.
The wait for Grand Theft Auto 3 on iOS and Android is almost over. On its blog a few minutes ago, Rockstar revealed that the 10 Year Anniversary Edition port of the game-changing open-world title will hit the App Store and Android Marketplace on December 15th at an agreeable price point of $4.99. A new trailer giving you another taste of what's to come is expected to release next week, but we've got some new screens right now to hold you over.
My new favorite thing on iOS is 
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Expect more Fruit Ninja in the future. According to a report in the 
