If there's one thing that PopCap is really good at aside from making impossible to put down games that appeal to hardcore gamers, grandmas, and everyone in between it's having those game smash sales records.
The original Plants vs. Zombies [App Store] release for the PC was PopCap's fastest-selling video game, and per a press release this morning, the iPhone release is performing just as well.
Since its release, there have been over 300,000 units sold on the App Store, making Plants vs. Zombies the highest grossing launch in App Store history. PopCap is no stranger to greatness on the App Store, as Bejeweled 2 was the first paid app to reach 3 million downloads, and they're responsible for three games that have been #1 on the paid app charts as well: Bejeweled 2, Peggle, and obviously Plants vs. Zombies
If this is the first you've heard of Plants vs. Zombies, you absolutely must check out our glowing review:
The 88 Metacritic score of the original Plants vs. Zombies (complete with 100's from multiple sources) just goes to show how great this game is. The iPhone port is absolutely phenomenal, and even though it's lacking a few game modes, there's always hope for them to be implemented in the future either via an update or a DLC add-on. There isn't a lite version, but there is a free Flash demo that I highly recommend trying if this is the first you've heard of Plants vs. Zombies.
Now that Plants vs. Zombies has decimated App Store sales records, hopefully PopCap will throw iPhone gamers a bone and somehow implement the missing game modes found in the PC version. I've still got my fingers crossed at least.
Disney has pulled a proverbial rabbit out of its hat (or hole?) by surprising us with a timely Alice in Wonderland [App Store] puzzle-platformer to tie-in with the upcoming film release.
Our early impressions from playing through the first few levels are definitely positive, with a range of puzzles providing some fresh if challenging gameplay elements. Alice in Wonderland – An Adventure Beyond The Mirror, the game's full title, pits you in the shoes of Alice who finds herself back in Wonderland on another inane adventure. By tapping on Alice you are able to change between four other characters including the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare; each with their own abilities to help Alice navigate through the various puzzles you'll encounter each level. The game's write-up and feature list as provided by Disney is as follows:
Play as Alice and solve a series of puzzles with help from the Mad Hatter, White Rabbit and other memorable characters from the movie. Explore a world filled with whimsical settings, optical illusions, challenging puzzles, and formidable adversaries.
Master unique abilities with the help of Alice's friends:
Freeze time with the White Rabbit
Make objects appear or disappear with the Cheshire Cat
Use the power of Telekinesis with the March Hare
Transform objects from one world to another with the help of the Mad Hatter
Unlock Hidden Objects in Alice's Journal with your GPS, Camera, Photo Library, and by playing the game!
100's of puzzles and challenges to complete
The graphics in Alice in Wonderland are a rich, cell-shaded affair that bring out the child-like madness of Wonderland beautifully. In a way they remind us of the hit multi-platform indie game Braid (most definitely a welcome thing), which is fitting as some of the gameplay elements are very Braid-esque too, with stopping and starting time and objects featuring heavily from the get go.
Our review is still cooking but we'll have it hot out of the oven for you shortly. In the meantime, be sure to check out the Lite version which offers up a brief tutorial level to give you a taste of the gameplay.
Just a couple of days ago we reported that IUGO's Daisy Mae's Alien Buffet game was pulled from the App Store as part of Apple's new policies blocking adult-themed content.
It seems Apple had a change of heart, as the game was quietly reinstated today — without any changes from the original version. We emailed IUGO's Sarah Thomson who says they have gotten no contact from Apple explaining the return of the game. Surprisingly enough, Apple has even featured Daisy Mae in their game section — perhaps as a nod for the mishap.
So, if you kicked yourself for missing out, or are wondering what all the fuss is about, here's your chance.
Ngmoco's acquisition of Freeverse was the big surprise news tonight. The move has generated a lot of questions and concerns regarding the direction of both companies. We have interviews set up with Freeverse's VP Colin Smith tomorrow and Ngmoco's Neil Young tonight.
In the meanwhile, Freeverse Senior Producer Bruce Morrison assured us that they are not making any major changes to their existing games or their much anticipated game Warpgate.
We are not making changes to our current titles (well adding Plus+ awards and leader boards to a lot that need them). The current titles you know about, the stuff about to come out (Zombie Cannon Carnage and Warpgate) are not changing and are going to be the games we promised.
We'll have more news and information to come soon.
With an additional $25 million in funding recently secured, it was revealed mere moments ago that ngmoco acquired Freeverse, the developer/publisher responsible for many different games that have wound up in the top iTunes charts including Skee-Ball, Flick Fishing, and others. Freeverse was originally founded as a Mac shareware company in 1994 but has made a very successful transition to iPhone game development. This new round of funding brings ngmoco's outside investment total to $40.6 million, a staggering amount of money for an iPhone game startup to be fueled by.
With the previous acquisition of Miraphonic, creators of Epic Pet Wars and other Epic Wars games, ngmoco has set their sights on the "freemium" market and have already seen two major successes in both TouchPets and Eliminate. Both games have been installed 9 million times and are played by hundreds of thousands of people every day.
Ngmoco plans on moving Freeverse's games to a similar free-to-play model, then make money off various in-app purchases much like ngmoco's upcoming games We Rule and GodFinger. They plan on releasing around 20 new games this year, and expect Freeverse to produce just as many.
We have an interview scheduled with Freeverse VP Colin Smith first thing tomorrow morning, and plan on getting to the bottom of what (if any) major changes we will see from Freeverse aside from switching to the new payment model. Freeverse was responsible for recent iPhone games Parachute Ninja, Zombie Cannon Carnage, and NBA Hotshot.
As we reported late last month, Touch Arcade had the opportunity to visit Gameloft's Manhattan offices and spend a bit of hands-on time with their upcoming WWII-based first person shooter, Brother in Arms 2: Global Front. Tonight the game landed in the App Store and, after spending a few days with this final build, we have some thoughts to share on Gameloft's latest.
When the first Brothers in Arms title for the iPhone landed in the App Store back in November 2008, it was a highly notable release and almost certainly the most complex 3D game to be released for the platform at the time. It was (and is) a well executed iPhone take on an extremely popular console / PC franchise, wowing most but drawing criticism for a "difficult" control system.
Brothers in Arms 2: Global Front, designed from the ground up specifically for the iPhone, comes to us over a year later. So what has a year brought us in the sequel to such a bold initial platform release? Quite a bit, it turns out.
Brothers in Arms 2, weighing in at over three times the filesize of its predecessor, brings to the iPhone a much larger game experience. This time around it's a first person affair, as opposed to the third-person, over-the-shoulder experience that is the first title. Actually, when in duck-and-cover mode, BIA2 does jump out to third person — and that's something you'll see often, as using crates, walls, and tanks for cover is pretty much par for the course in this title. That is, when you're not sprinting across the battlefield, manning the turret in a jeep or tank, or piloting a "glider" through heavy flack. Yea, it's pretty intense.
BIA2 drops you neatly into WWII as the young American soldier David Wilson on a mission to push back the Germans and Japanese and get the backs of his brothers in arms in the thick of battle. But, before long, an ominous bit of correspondence reveals that his actual brother, Eric, has been killed and was given the medal of honor — but that medal was revoked due to uncertain circumstances. It's Wilson's additional mission to get to the bottom of the mystery and clear his brother's good name. Pretty heavy stuff, really.
The tools of the trade are many. Available weapons include bazookas, fixed machine guns, flame throwers, Thompson submachine guns, and grenades. (The default play mode offers targeting assistance, which I find helpful, but it can be disabled.) There are three different modes of play, in all, to choose from. The default is a mission to mission progression through 13 levels across five different locales: Pacific, Sicily, Normandy, Germany, and North Africa. Any unlocked locale can also be chosen for quick play in Campaign mode. And, finally, local network play is possible by way of either WiFi or Bluetooth connectivity.
The game's control system feels a bit more workable than that of the original iPhone release. This is due, in part, to the various refined methods of multitouch, onscreen controls offered, but also to the fact that, during the year that's gone by since the originals release, we've come to know a great many 3D shooters utilizing dual-stick (and the like) controls. We're just far more used to this iPhone control mechanic than we were back in November 2008. Whatever the precise combination of reasons, you're going to find BIA2 to feel more comfortable than did the original release.
While BIA brought impressive visuals when it made its debut, so too does BIA2, and that's said taking into account the significant raising of the bar that's taken place over the past year. The environment models have indeed grown in complexity, but more impressive are the subtle visual touches that BIA2 brings. Shafts of light through the trees, HDR blooms (there's an options toggle there) — it all comes together to make for a pretty amazing looking game, very "modern console"-like (on my 3GS).
The game features various trophies that are granted based upon particularly savvy battlefield performance, as well as for finding as many "Kilroy was here" tags as possible. Performance is tracked by way of the integrated Gameloft LIVE network.
And, while the game offers excellent action, often at a frantic pace, it does have a few shortcomings. Framerate is generally quite high on the iPhone 3GS, but occasional (loading?) lags do occur, causing brief pauses in the action and studders to the audio at times. As well, in an apparent glitch where I went off the expected story line, I entered a room and wiped out everything alive, exited the room, only to find it once again full of enemies upon revisiting said room — though this was an isolated occurrence.
And, about that room full of soldiers, or soldiers anywhere in the game, really — the enemy AI that commands them is quite basic. If you're re-playing a scenario after having died, the enemy does the exact same thing the second time around, making it quite easy to wipe out the lot. A little more complex / varied AI would certainly add depth to the battle experience.
See Gameloft's recent trailer video for a look at a variety of in-game scenarios.
That I can pick a few nits in the title does not mark Brothers in Arms 2 a game to avoid. On the contrary, it is a highly enjoyable, action-packed shooter that offers some of the most intense battle sequences you'll find on the iPhone, making this latest from Gameloft a gaming experience that's rather hard to pass up.
This update addresses several of the issues that those in our forum thread had with the game upon launch, mainly control-related problems. An expanded d-pad with visual feedback and reduced angles for diagonal movement should help with most of the control problems people were having before, and those who couldn't quite figure out how to do team actions now have a separate control option that they can choose which utilizes two separate buttons for team moves. Various other balancing issues have been addressed, and dying three times in one room with now restore your character with full health–a much needed concession that will help prevent players from getting stuck in an area.
This update seems insignificant since it's only adding bluetooth multiplayer to the game, but in reality it's a pretty huge deal. I asserted that multiplayer was the most crucial thing that Battle Blasters lacked when I reviewed the game shortly after its release, as the only option it offered at the time was a somewhat broken same-device multiplayer feature. Now that bluetooth multiplayer is out (and online multiplayer is still on the way, apparently) a lot of people will likely return to Battle Blasters to finally take on friends who also own the game. I know I will.
We really liked Chop Chop Ninja, so the addition of three new levels, eight new enemies to fight against, and two new powerups in this update will most certainly see us giving the game another go. OpenFeint has been added as well in this update, so fans of the game can look forward to trying to collect all 18 achievements and making a name for themselves on the seven new leaderboards.
Finger Physics has been well-supported with content updates and fixes, and it's good to see this trend continue in this newest update, which adds in 18 new levels. Aside from the two new stages which contain the new levels, a Doodle Jump cross-promotion has been integrated, for those interested. An often-requested retry button is now present after each level is completed, so perfectionists and high-score chasers will now have an easier time grinding for better times.
Driving Range Island (essentially an open-ended survival mode) is now playable, and should provide some entertainment for those who have finished The Horrible Viking's campaign. Also included in this update are new–and much more difficutl–levels. Random shark encounters add a new dimension to Viking's gameplay, so if you've had your fill of Viking-launching the new levels, new modes, and slightly added element of gameplay variety with the addition of the sharks should be enough to convince you to come back for more.
This feels like several updates combined into one. Aside from a large variety of bug fixes, a new "inverted career" allows advanced players to take on races with an increased difficulty level and all weapons and powerups unlocked from the start, and Crystal integration now allow for online leaderboards and achievements. A mini-map now helps track navigation, and shorter loading times (along with the ability to skip arena fights) keep things moving at a fast pace.
A new "underwater" world adds content to Tiki Towers in this update, and magnets have been added as a resource to aid in tower construction. The biggest news for those who love the game is undoubtedly the addition fo pinch-zooming during both building and playback, which will essentially allow for a much higher level of control to see what could be improved in your constructions.
Earlier this month we took a look at IUGO's amusing dual-stick survival shooter Daisy Mae's Alien Buffet. We liked the game, which offers solid shooter action and, unlike most other games of the sort, an impressive ability to interaction with obstacles in the environment. The game has an atmosphere straight out of a B-movie and features an array of ridiculous weapons along with humorous taunts and unlockable outfits for the voluptuous Daisy, each smaller than the next.
It all comes together to make for a fun romp of carnage, but that last seems to have stuck in Apple's craw after recent changes to the company's App Store approval policies. As IUGO informed readers in our forums, Daisy Mae has been pulled from the App Store.
And Daisy Mae isn't the only one to get a tap on the shoulder. A great many adult-themed apps have been pulled from the App Store. One such app is Wobble iBoobs from ChilliFresh, who yesterday received an email from Apple indicating that their popular iPhone app had been pulled.
The App Store continues to evolve, and as such, we are constantly refining our guidelines. Your application, Wobble iBoobs (Premium Uncensored), contains content that we had originally believed to be suitable for distribution. However, we have recently received numerous complaints from our customers about this type of content, and have changed our guidelines appropriately.
We have decided to remove any overtly sexual content from the App Store, which includes your application.
Thank you for your understanding in this matter. If you believe you can make the necessary changes so that Wobble iBoobs (Premium Uncensored) complies with our recent changes, we encourage you to do so and resubmit for review.
Sincerely,
iPhone App Review
And while a shooter with some risque elements would seem to not be in quite the same place as a "boob"-centric app, Daisy Mae seems to have found herself on the far side of Apple's newly-adjusted line.
IUGO intends to rework the game and bring it back to the App Store, but indicates it's unclear just how long that will take.
As noted on MacRumors, the over the air (EDGE, 3G) download size limit for the iPhone App Store has been raised from 10MB to 20MB.
Prior to today, apps larger than 10MB required iPhone users to be connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot for direct downloading onto their device. The reason for the limitation is presumably related to agreements with AT&T to avoid excess data usage. Despite evidence to the contrary, developers have long seen staying under the 10MB size limit as a huge benefit, due to the possibility of "on the go" app purchasing. The actual importance of this cutoff size, however, has been up for debate.
The significance of the cut-off size has likely been diminishing over time as the number of iPod Touch (Wi-Fi only) devices has been growing. The tables could turn around again, however, if the 3G-enabled iPad becomes a big seller.
It will be interesting to see if apps that fall in the 10MB-20MB range get a boost in sales due to this change.
If it weren't obvious by now, ngmoco has completely shifted gears from their former business model of offering "premium" priced games to free to play "freemium" games. Eliminate [Free] and Touch Pets Dogs [Free] were just the start of the pricing trend that will likely permeate the rest of the ngmoco game lineup for the foreseeable future.
A number of things can be attributed to this shift, in a Gamasutra interview with ngmoco VP Alan Yu, he cited 50% to 90% piracy rates, and discussed the increasing difficulty in selling iPhone games at a $9.99 price point as the market drives itself to rock-bottom 99¢ pricing. Free games can't be pirated, and the explosion of Facebook gaming, as well as the success of the various Epic Wars and other similar games on the App Store solidified the validity of the free to play model before Eliminate even launched.
The unfortunate side effect of all this is that Rolando 3 as it originally was envisioned is left as the odd man out, per an IGN interview with Neil Young, founder and CEO of ngmoco. Since ngmoco currently has no plans to release games that aren't free, the Rolando franchise has been sent back to the drawing board until they can figure out a sensible way to deliver a Rolando game as a free to play experience.
Even though there may not be a Rolando 3 anytime soon, I still recommend trying out the existing Rolando games on the App Store if you haven't already. The original Rolando [$2.99 / Free] as well as Rolando 2 [$4.99 / Free] are both absolutely fantastic games, making excellent use of both the touch and tilt controls of the iPhone.
If there's one thing that PopCap is really good at aside from making impossible to put down games that appeal to hardcore gamers, grandmas, and everyone in between it's having those game smash sales records.
With an additional $25 million in funding recently secured, it was revealed mere moments ago that 
If it weren't obvious by now, ngmoco has completely shifted gears from their former business model of offering "premium" priced games to free to play "freemium" games. Eliminate [
