“SimCity for the iPhone may ruin my life (in a good way).” So says MG Seigler of VentureBeat. He had a chance to spend some time with Electronic Arts’ upcoming iPhone version of its hugely popular city-building simulation game.
He liked what he saw.
I got a chance to play a near-complete version of it today; it looks great. Fans of the series will recognize the SimCity 3000 look and feel, but the addition of touch screen controls makes sense for things like zoning (creating a certain type of building zone). Using the multi-touch capabilities of the iPhone to do things like zooming in and out of your city also makes the game a good fit for the device.
Siegler points out that the iPhone demo exhibited loading time issues, but EA indicates they’ll be ironed out by launch.
SimCity for the iPhone is expected to make its App Store debut in December for $9.99.
Earlier today we reported that Gameloft had released a new Guitar Hero-like game called Guitar Rock Tour [App Store].
The game reflects a high quality product as we’ve come to expect from Gameloft and includes 17 real songs including Beat It, In the Shadow, Girlfriend, Message in a Bottle, and Rock You like a Hurricane. All songs can be played on guitar or drums.
The gameplay video shows guitar portion only and tutorials for both sections:
Resolution Interactive released their first iPhone game last week: Clusterball Arcade [App Store].
This game came with high expectations after we’d all seen some impressive preview videos. Clusterball Arcade is an extension of an existing PC game called Clusterball which appears to be a multi-player sport. The iPhone version, however, is a one-man game against the clock and the scoreboard.
You are the pilot of a ship which you must glide over ramps, collect balls and score goals while attempting to complete the course within the allotted time. Despite the sports theme, the iPhone version of the game is more of a checkpoint racer with various obstacles and bonuses available along the way.
Although it only has 10 stages, each stage has a variety of paths (ramps) that can be taken. While some ramps carry higher scoring balls, they also present more difficult paths.
While Clusterball offers small game “tips” while each level loads, there are no real instructions on strategy or explanations of many of obstacles and powerups. If you treat the game like a traditional checkpoint racer, there is little reason to experiment with different paths. And since the game only allows you to start from stage one, there is a large incentive to try to complete each level at all costs.
The inclusion of the global high score list, however, indicates that this is the ultimate goal of gameplay, but with a restart to stage one each time, it may take a lot of trial and error to make dramatic improvements in your score. I, personally, found this goal to be unmotivating, and would have preferred to be able to easily replay more advanced levels individually.
The ship is controlled through the iPhone’s accelerometer and takes some getting used to, but does offer an enjoyable experience once you get the hang of it. (There is no way to calibrate the accelerometer) In general, the gameplay and animation are smooth but the game does suffer from some memory issues (see below) and slowdowns which we hope will be addressed shortly.
This gameplay video shows footage from the release version of the game. The other ship that is seen is a “ghost ship” which shows the historic movements of someone else on the track. The ghost player can from your own personal runs or can be downloaded from someone on the global high score list.
Unfortunately, the biggest problem with this version of Clusterball is the one of stability. Clusterball 1.0 has serious issues with memory usage and will frequently complain of low-memory situations. Fortunately, the CEO of Resolution Interactive has informed us that a patch to address the memory issues is in the approval queue.
While Clusterball Arcade offers a reasonably enjoyable 3d “racing/sports” experience, it currently suffers from memory issues which are said to be addressed shortly. The gameplay is much abbreviated from its PC counterpart and is only a single player game against the scoreboard and the game restarts at stage one with each play.
In a somewhat surprise release, Resolution Interactive has released Clusterball [App Store] to the App Store tonight.
We previously highlighted some impressive footage of the game, but haven’t heard much since August.
Strap yourself down in the hot seat of a high performance aircraft and get ready for a true adrenaline rush. Clusterball(r) Arcade is a fast paced action game played in third person.
In Clusterball Arcade your objective is to collect balls from ramps and score them through ring shaped checkpoints. Success is highly dependent on your skill to avoid obstacles and hazards that come rushing towards you. Grab power ups and time balls to get an extra advantage in order to complete the stages. Play 10 gradually more demanding stages in real life locations such as Monument Valley, Halong Bay and Bering Strait. Flying fast and playing well will set you up nicely for the Final Stage, if you got the balls to reach it that is.
Remember, in Clusterball Arcade time is not on your side.
Originally billed as Clusterball 2, the final version that has appeared into the App Store is Clusterball Arcade. This video still represents the game (though some of the startup screens are different) and will have a full review shortly:
For one day only–today, September 30–Artur Ostapenko’s hidden-object adventure game The Stone of Destiny [App Store] is available through the iTunes App Store for $0.99–that’s one-tenth it’s usual price of $9.99.
If you want to travel to the most beautiful places of the world without leaving your room, then The Stone of Destiny is for you. This fascinating hidden-object game is just made for those who crave for riddles and adventures. Mysterious disappearance of your uncle is only the beginning of a thrilling journey, during which you will explore pyramids, heart of the forest, dark cellar, sea bottom and lots more looking for the objects from the list. Be brave and attentive, and step by step you will reveal the truth about your uncle and solve the riddle of the stone of destiny! More than 25 exciting levels and puzzling minigames together with the rich graphics ensure absorbing gaming experience.
Features, as listed by the developer:
Over 25 beautiful mysterious levels
Unique rune-drawing puzzles
Detective plot
Various puzzling minigames
First hidden-object game for iPhone
Though we’ve not spent much time with this title as yet, it features lavish visuals and unique gameplay. Anyone fond of adventure / mysteries might find this worth a look–especially today.
Real Football (Soccer) 2009 [App Store] is the first football (soccer) game to hit the iPhone and it was certainly worth the wait.
For fans of games such as Pro Evolution and FIFA on the Playstation/PC this games feels slightly towards the FIFA end of the spectrum. That said, even for a fan of Pro Evo (this reviewer included), this game will certainly keep you entertained for a long time.
As we reported earlier today, THQ Wireless Inc has released the iPhone version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed [$9.99, App Store].
The iPhone version of The Force Unleashed is a smaller companion game to the full featured video game that is arriving for gaming consoles such as the PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. The full version of the game offers an impressive physics engine (trailer) with a focus on using The Force.
The mobile version of the game (including the iPhone version), however, is “very different” and uses a much more limited engine which incorporates the use of specialized gestures that correspond to different Force attacks and defenses.
We’ve posted screenshots of the game including the control instructions with our announcement article. The game makes good use of the iPhone’s touch screen to allow you to draw gestures on the screen that correspond to specific attacks or defenses.
The game is played by invoking these gestures at the right time in order to defeat your enemies. Your character, however, moves from scene to scene without your direct control. Over time you do build up an arsenal of additional gestures that can be used at will. Some enemies must be defeated with specific powers, while others can be defeated with any choice.
The game provides a Story mode (with lengthy dialog/transitions), Chapter Mode (to replay Chapters from Story Mode), and Survival (where you play for a high score). This embedded video shows the first Chapter in the story, after the initial training is complete. Following the Chapter (including the Boss fight), you can see the next level of training which introduces new attacks.
The entire Story can be played in one sitting of about 2+ hours. There are 6 Chapters total in the story intertwined with a lengthy plot line. If not for the plot line dialog and transitions, the game could be completed in an even shorter time period.
The actual game play is quite enjoyable and tie-ins to the Star Wars franchise certainly help. Who hasn’t wanted to fling storm troopers into a wall with the flick of a finger? But the actual “puzzles” presented are incredibly simple, making the game just a paint-by-numbers sort of experience.
After you complete the 6 levels, it’s difficult to imagine that you’ll want to play the game again (especially with the un-skippable cut scenes). As a result, I think this game may only be worth it for the die-hard Star Wars fan, and even then with the understanding that your $9.99 will not get you long term replayability.
While die hard Star Wars fans will enjoy the ambiance of this title and even enjoy the actual gameplay despite the limited control options, the short game-play time, limited replay-ability and frustratingly un-skippable cut scenes make it difficult to recommend this title at its $9.99 asking price.
As we recently reported, Laminar Research has released a “mini-version” of its hugely popular, realtime physics-based flight simulator X-Plane 9 for the iPhone [App Store]. We’ve recently logged some flight time with this title and are anxious to share our thoughts.
X-Plane 9 for the iPhone is based on the desktop version of X-Plane 9, which is available for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows. X-Plane sets itself apart from other flight simulators by implementing a concept known as blade element theory. Whereas most flight simulators use predefined look-up tables to reproduce the flight characteristics of various aircraft, in X-Plane aircraft are comprised of hundreds of small sections and flight behavior is modeled in real-time by calculating the lift and drag of each of these individual sections. This allows for the simulation of aircraft–real or fictional–with no available aerodynamic profile data. Thanks to Laminar’s use this approach, there is an active community of users designing their own aircraft with X-Plane’s bundled Airfoil-Maker and Plane-Maker applications.
X-Plane 9 for the iPhone, weighing in at 6.2MB in size, is a significantly scaled down take on the desktop original (which is distributed on six dual-layer DVDs!). While the number of variables that are modeled by the desktop version boggles the mind, the iPhone version brings forward only those details that are core to a fun, more “relaxed” mobile simulation experience. The physics engine, however, remains mostly intact; author Austin Meyer points out, the physics in the iPhone version are actually “about 95%” as good as that of the original.
At startup, X-Plane 9 places the pilot at the top of a runway in Innsbruck, Austria in the default aircraft, the Cirrus Vision, a very light jet. Three other aircraft can be chosen through the app’s options menus: the Cessna 172, the Columbia 400, and the Piaggio Avanti. Other attributes that can be adjusted include: time of day, wind speed and direction, turbulence, cloud type and altitude, visibility, and aircraft weight. Several preset flight scenarios other than the initial runway position are available to choose from, as well as a random flight position feature.
Control is one of the best features of X-Plane 9 for the iPhone. As a flight simulation fan myself, and a long-time user of X-Plane for the Mac, I have purchased several USB flight sticks over the years to enhance the simulation experience. The iPhone, as a controller, has them all beat. Thanks to its accelerometers, the iPhone basically becomes a flight yoke. Tilt forward to dive, pull back to climb, and tilt side-to-side to control ailerons. Flight yokes are expensive “luxury” peripherals that are often part of hardcore flight simulation fans’ desktop setups–and the iPhone basically “has one built in,” in this context.
The simulator presents the pilot with a simple Heads Up Display (HUD) featuring standard compass, altitude, attitude, and speed indicators as well as semi-translucent touchscreen controls for thrust, flap position, brakes, landing gear, and view selectors. X-Plane 9 defaults to the aforementioned cockpit view, but also features three different external views (a standard chase view as well as two more dramatic “fly-by” views). Camera position and zoom in the external views are controlled via dragging and the standard iPhone “pinch / spread” technique. The options menus are also accessed via touchscreen.
X-Plane 9 for the iPhone runs at a very respectable framerate, which is impressive given the amount of real-time flight calculations taking place along with engine audio playback. Occasionally, as with the desktop version, a brief mid-flight pause will be encountered during scenery loading. The textured aircraft models are light-sourced and render well and the mountainous Austrian scenery is clean and looks well defined at any real distance, making for a rather impressive looking 3D flight experience. That said it all looks a bit similar in the scenery department due to the single provided locale. Additional flight locations for a change of scene would be at the top of my “wants” list.
And that list follows, in descending order of “want”:
More locations / scenery to vary the experience
A ground shadow, like in the desktop version (without one, barnstorming often ends in disaster)
Ability to adjust control sensitivity
More aircraft, or the ability to import user aircraft from the desktop version
The X-Plane is one of–if not the–most respected desktop flight simulations available to consumers. Austin Meyer has done a truly impressive job of capturing the key elements of the full version and packaging them up to carry around in your pocket. At $9.99, flight simulation fans will find X-Plane 9 for the iPhone to be a real value. Yes, the title has room for improvement, but already I have been helplessly drawn to spend more time with it than any other iPhone game and even in this first release it has become my favorite app in the App Store. Well done, Austin.
It should be noted that this is a simulator rather than a true game, in that the point of it is to enjoy the feel of flying rather than completing any tasks or goals.
X-Plane 9 for the iPhone is a mobile version of Austin Meyer’s award-winning desktop original. The iPhone translation provides an excellent mobile flight simulation experience, the best aspect of which may be the convincing yoke-like accelerometer controls. The app would be made near-perfect with the addition of more varied scenery which we hope to see added in a future release.
THQ Wireless Inc has released Star Wars: Force Unleashed [App Store] to the App Store. The $9.99 game offers a companion game to the full version due for release on September 16th. The game is described:
Experience the Star Wars universe as never before. The devastating power of the Force is in your hands. You are Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice, trained by the menacing Sith Lord to hunt down the last of the Jedi. Unleash a barrage of Fource Powers - including Grip, Lighting, Jedi Mind Trick and much more - at the flick of your fingers as you tap, touch and swipe your way through enemies using the intuitive touch-screen mechanics and exclusive CellWeaver feature. Your journey will take you across the galaxy to clash with powerful enemies, yet you are destined to clash with powerful enemies, yet you are destined to become something far greater than just Darth Vader’s servant.
We’d earlier reported on screenshots and an early video of this major gaming title.
For one day only–today, September 30–Artur Ostapenko’s hidden-object adventure game 
As we recently reported, 
At startup, X-Plane 9 places the pilot at the top of a runway in Innsbruck, Austria in the default aircraft, the 
The simulator presents the pilot with a simple Heads Up Display (HUD) featuring standard compass, altitude, attitude, and speed indicators as well as semi-translucent touchscreen controls for thrust, flap position, brakes, landing gear, and view selectors. X-Plane 9 defaults to the aforementioned cockpit view, but also features three different external views (a standard chase view as well as two more dramatic “fly-by” views). Camera position and zoom in the external views are controlled via dragging and the standard iPhone “pinch / spread” technique. The options menus are also accessed via touchscreen.
