One of the development teams we met with at WWDC was Super Happy Fun Fun who has been in the mobile business for 6 years. Since September, however, they've been especially focusing on iPhone titles. They work both independently and also with Tilt n Twist to develop titles.

Snowboarding TnT

The first Tilt n Twist / Super Happy Fun Fun title Snowboarding TnT [$1.99] was just released tonight. We recorded a quick video of the game at WWDC:

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The game offers 6 different levels with 30 different tricks that can be invoked using the accelerometer. Power ups including speed, trick multiplier and time bonuses. Snowboarding games on the iPhone have been poorly represented thus far. We haven't had much time to spend on this title, though some first forum impressions on an iPhone 3G were a bit disappointing.

App Store Link: Snowboarding TnT, $1.99

Big Buck Hunter Pro

Another game that Super Happy Fun Fun will be releasing later this year is an iPhone port of the very popular Big Buck Hunter Pro arcade game. The arcade version allowed you to (obviously) shoot bucks while avoiding does to see how well you would fare. A unique aspect to the Arcade game included the use of online accounts to coordinate tournaments. The iPhone version of the game will incorporate these networked games using the same login ids. The game is expected in Q3 2009.

Dark Castle

Finally, in our conversation with Super Happy Fun Fun CEO Mark Stephen Pierce, we discovered that he was one of the original developers for the Mac classic Dark Castle. Additionally, through a series of events, his company has managed to regain the rights to the title.

As a result, Pierce indicated that they do have plans to bring Dark Castle to the iPhone and is tentatively scheduled for 2010.

While we were at WWDC 2009, Koduco showed us their then-upcoming, free iPhone checkers title 3D Checkers [App Store].  The game has since appeared in the App Store.

Simply put, 3D Checkers is the best checkers game available for the iPhone.  And, well...it's free.

The game features drag-and-drop gameplay, two play modes (player vs. player and player vs. computer), two AI difficulty levels, and two board designs.  Indeed, checkers is not the most hardcore of games, but anyone who enjoys a little of the red and black (or white, in this case) would do well to grab this one.

App Store Link: 3D Checkers, Free

This morning I met with Aurelien Kebeci, CEO of the French development group Agharta Studio to see their upcoming game, Rogue Planet. Previously known for 1112 [App Store], Kebeci blew me away with what he had to show me.

Rogue Planet is a turn based strategy game that consists of 15 campaign missions, as well as 15 additional maps for free play and multiplayer. In the initial release, multiplayer will be limited to local WiFi, but with 3.0 right around the corner, Bluetooth local multiplayer as well as asynchronous online multiplayer with push notifications will be available as a free update.

The entire game is rendered using extremely detailed 2D sprites on a 3D background, and the presentation is absolutely gorgeous. The isometric 3D view reminds me of Final Fantasy Tactics and each unit has its own set of sounds which gives the game a very lively feel as vehicles' engines start when you activate them and soldiers speak to you.

Each of the two factions have 10 different units to wage war with, and cover the standard array of what you would expect in a turn based strategy game. One intriguing mechanic is the importance of defending and destroying bridges. Tanks and other heavy units cannot cross rivers without a bridge, and the engineer unit can both blow them up and repair them.

Capturing buildings works a little different too, unlike Advance Wars, buildings must be destroyed first, then you send any foot soldier inside to instantly capturing it, which also consumes the unit. Rogue Planet also has all the multitouch view controls you'd expect in an iPhone game, complete with rotation of the game field.

The video I shot includes a demonstration of the view controls, how the story is delivered in the campaign, a few turns of gameplay, a demonstration of free mode, and some other surprises. Make sure you notice how fast the game loads.

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The game in its current state is a work in progress, Kebeci said they have about two weeks of development left on the 1.0 release that they're going to spend adding sounds in the cinematic battle scenes, localizing to English countries, add some additional animations when your turn is over, and a few more unit actions such as repairing and refueling.

To celebrate this exclusive announcement, Agharta Studio has put their earlier game, 1112 episode 1, on sale for $1.99 (down from $7.99) [App Store]. 1112, an episodic adventure game, has been very popular in Europe, and comes packed with the same high quality hand drawn art and original musical score that we're going to be seeing in Rogue Planet.

If all goes as planned, Rogue Planet will be submitted to the App Store inside of two weeks.

Wednesday night Touch Arcade and MacHeist held the iPhone Launch Party 2009 during Apple's World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco.  The RSVP list included industry celebrities (such as Steve Wozniak and "DVD Jon" Johansen), a large number of notable iPhone developers, and fans of iPhone gaming in general. 

The party served as the launch event for a number of great iPhone titles as well as a demo opportunity for the recently announced Doom Resurrection.

Games demonstrated or introduced at the event:

• Grunts, Warp Gate, TrackZ, Thor,Flick Baseball - Freeverse
• iSamurai [$0.99]- Toy Kite Software
  
• Real Racing [$9.99] - Firemint
• Doom Resurrection - Escalation Studios

A particularly entertaining part of the evening was Monodomo's demonstration of their iPhone beat-box app, bChamp [$0.99].  Have a look at the raw beat-boxing action that unfolded at the event.

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Even The Woz couldn't help himself (video)....  See our party walk-through video for a quick spin around the venue.

The Launch Party 2009 seems to have been a blast for all involved and Touch Arcade is very happy to have been involved in making it happen.  We thank all that were in attendance for being part of the event.

See more photos of the event after the jump.

(more...)

Events like WWDC are great... not only to put faces to names but when else would we realistically be able to talk face to face with many of the iPhone developers from around the world. Australian-based Rob Murray of Firemint was present last night to show off their new Real Racing game to the crowd and during the demo he announced that a pending update will be adding 6-way Wi-Fi Multiplayer.

For those not familiar with the Real Racing, we thought the game offered an unrivaled racing experience on the iPhone. The game has been earning some much deserved recognition and is quickly making it's way to the top of the App Store charts.

We caught up with Rob later in the evening to see what his plans were now that Real Racing had finally been released. Rob indicated that they still have a lot of work planned for Real Racing itself and that the 6-player local Wi-Fi multiplayer update would be submitted soon. For the Real Racing plans beyond that, we'll just have to stay tuned. Rob also reports that they are still working on other iPhone games and have been heavily prototyping various concepts. He seemed aware that the expectations for his company are quite high after the massive popularity and success of Flight Control and the wonderful early reception of Real Racing. We'll be sure to report on their future plans when they are ready to announce them.

App Store Link: Real Racing, $9.99, Flight Control, $0.99

Last night we had the opportunity to spend a brief amount of hands-on time with the upcoming Doom Resurrection. The iPhone game was developed by Escalation Studios in conjunction with id Software's John Carmack and has been a secret project for the past 6 months.

The gameplay itself is best described as an "on rails" experience where the player is moved through the levels automatically while aiming their targeting reticule with the accelerometer and tapping a button to fire. The game also offers a dodging button to avoid enemy fire as well.

The game is set in an impressive 3D environment and across 8 brand new levels. Like with their PC titles, the Doom Resurrection engine is pushing the boundaries of what has been thought possible on the iPhone. Gameplay time is estimated at 4-6 hours.

While some are going to pass early judgement due to the "on rails" aspect of the game, we think that's premature as both Eli and I had a lot of fun with our time with the game. The tilt controls to target felt good. The game would auto calibrate to your natural position when the game started. Almost needless to say, the graphics and sound were very well done and immersive (the game borrows the assets from Doom 3 which cost millions to make). Dodging with a button and aiming with the accelerometer provided a good amount of Doom feel even though your forward movements were scripted.

Escalation Studio's Tom Mustaine told us that a lot of work went into finding the right gameplay mechanic and that before they came across this latest incarnation, they were ready to scrap the entire project if it wasn't going to be fun enough to play.

Mustaine has a long history in game development and has been involved a laundry list of projects including several using the Doom and Quake engines.

Toy Kite software released their first iPhone game at the iPhone Launch Party last night. The game is called iSamurai [$0.99] and offers players the chance to finally swing their iPhones like swords.

iSamurai is an accelerometer-based iPhone game that recognizes certain gestures as specific sword fighting attacks or blocks. The developer's video shows it well:

The game comes with both two player (WiFi) modes and single player modes. The single player mode is surprisingly well implemented and pits you up against a computer opponent who calls out their attacks (like Left strike or High strike). In this mode, you must defend yourself by performing the correct block and finding your spot to attack. Meanwhile, two-player mode acts as you'd expect, allowing you to trade blows with a real life opponent.

The moves take a little practice to learn but the game comes with an extensive tutorial with videos of the exact movements.

App Store Link: iSamurai, $0.99

At last night's launch party, Freeverse previewed a number of their upcoming games including Warpack Grunts, Warp Gate, TrackZ, Flick Baseball and Thor.

While not all the presentation video has been released, we do have some early footage of a couple of these games.

Warpack Grunts is a squad-based shooter in which you control your pack of soldiers and lead them across various missions. Grunts are first equipped with a standard machine gun but can later pick up rocket launchers and sniper rifles. This basic video shows the early gameplay:

A second video that was shown at the launch event shows the sniper rifle as well as vehicular play (tank and helicoptor). The game is said to have gone gold master so we should expect it shortly

The next notable game Freevers previewed is one called Warp Gate. The game is described as a 3d space exploration / shooter / trading game that seems similar to Escape Velocity with a fully 3D engine.

The game is still under heavy active development, so many of the details are not yet complete. The game is said to include hundreds of different star ships and 30 different solar systems.

This early gameplay video shows the controls of the game, while a second video offers an overview of the game.

Warp Gate is due sometime in Summer 2009.

iPhone Launch Party is under way and it's a great turnout.  iPhone developers and industry personalities are sharing company, drinks, tales, and a general good time all around.

From a game perspective, the is serving as the launch party for Firemint's just released Real Racing as well as first looks at Freeverse's War Pack Grunts and Toy Kite Software's iSamurai. Meanwhile, Escalation Studios will also be present to demo the just announced Doom Resurrection.

The live stream of the party is online and can be seen at the iPhone Launch Party 2009 website.

TouchArcade met with Brian Robbins of Fuel Games to discuss their ongoing iPhones projects and games. Fuel Games is the development group behind Van's SK8: Pool Service and we've been told that there will be a Lite version of that game shortly. Brian also gave us a preview of their upcoming Lifeboat game which we will detail in a later article.

The other big news they had for iPhone gamers was that the massively popular Desktop Tower Defense flash game is coming to the iPhone.

Fuel Games is working closely with Paul Preece of Handdrawn Games to bring this classic to the iPhone. While iPhone-only gamers may have been introduced to the Tower Defense genre through Fieldrunners, for a large number of people Desktop Tower Defense was the game that brought it to the masses. From Wikipedia:

The game is played on a map resembling an office desktop. The player must stop a set number of enemies, known in the genre as "creeps," from reaching a set point on the playing field. This is accomplished by building and upgrading towers that shoot at, damage and kill the enemy creeps before they are able to reach their objective. Unlike many other tower defense games, the path of the creeps themselves is not set; instead, the towers built determine the path of the creeps, who take the shortest path they can find to the exit. The game prevents making an exit inaccessible.

Original creator Paul Preece is said to be taking an active role in the port and is working hard to stay true to the original game. Robbins stressed that the game has always been seen as a light hearted puzzle/strategy game, different from the more seriously themed action TD games that have followed.

The game will essentially be a port of the 1.5 version of the Flash game but will have updated graphics and other iPhone-specific features. Fans of the original should be reassured that a "Retro" mode will also be available to relive the original feel of the game. The iPhone version will also feature the original easy / medium / hard levels and eventually incorporate other modes of play.

The game is due later this summer. We'll provide more information and screenshots as we receive them. The Flash version of the game can still be played at HandDrawnGames.com.

We sat down with IUGO's Sarah Thomson (an active forum member here at Touch Arcade) and Hong-Yee Wong in the lobby of the San Francisco Marriott where we were shown both of their upcoming games, Star Hogs and A.D.D.

Star Hogs

The best way I can describe Star Hogs is Worms on crack, really premium high quality crack. They have taken the tried and true Worms formula, heavily modified with a system where you can level up (to a maximum of 32), buy new ships and weapons, play across three difficulty levels and best of all: Complete online multiplayer.

Multiplayer, which reportedly works great regardless of whether or not you're using WiFi or playing over EDGE/3G due to the turn-based nature of the game, can be played with a maximum of four players. The game is presented well and seems to have a great soundtrack.

Each turn is limited by a certain amount of "energy" which can be used for firing or moving. Additional energy or money for upgrades can be earned through finding "ore" scattered in the play field. Firing is performed using a familiar tap-aiming while power is determined by how long you hold the fire button. About 20 different weapons will be available on the initial release, including bombs, cluster bombs, lasers, and mines.

The gameplay video shows the game from launch:

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A.D.D.

Meanwhile, A.D.D. IUGO's take on WarioWare, offering the same type of micro-game experience in little 10 second blocks.

Included initially are going to be 72 "channels", with three free updates to bring the total to 108. Gameplay involves simple tasks using the iPhone's various control systems set in various humorous scenarios. These mini games are presented in rapid succession and part of the challenge is figuring you what you need to do. The game does tip you off with what control mechanism needs to be used (tilt, shake, tap etc...).

Despite some of it's edgier content, they seem fairly confident that the first version of A.D.D. will be approved by Apple. Subsequent updates will push that edge a bit more.

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Star Hogs is set for submission to the App Store next week, and A.D.D. is already working its way through the submission and approval process.

We first reported on Craneball Studios' beautifully drawn blimp game back in April. The game has finally arrived in the App Store for the low price of $0.99 [App Store].

You are a blimp pilot. A war veteran, who wants to live the rest of your life in quiet and peace. Working your day job on a trading planet, everything seems to be ok. Suddenly the planet is assaulted by an evil empire. Your blimp is upgraded with bombs and you are going to save the planet…

The game requires you to pilot around the various levels accomplishing specific missions and destroying enemy blimps. Controls are implemented with a mix of accelerometer for direction and virtual buttons for bombs and thurst. Blimp features 20 levels, particle effects, 5 different locations, and global high score with Facebook integration.

The game has been getting rave reviews amongst the early adopters in the forum with many pointing out the wonderful sound effects (headphones recommended). For the introductory price of $0.99, it's probably an easy pick up. The full price of the game is expected to be $2.99.

This developer video shows how the controls work:

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App Store Link: Blimp - The Flying Adventures, $0.99

We just sat down with Simon Edis of Ezone.com, creator of Crazy Snowboard [App Store] and the soon to be released Galactic Gunner, which we previewed not too long ago:

Australian brothers Jamie and Simon Edis have taken an unconventional approach to the genre–Instead of having the player control the flying and shooting like Galaxy On Fire 3D [App Store], Galactic Gunner is a shooter on rails. As the title hints, you play as the gunner and shoot by tapping where you want to fire on screen.

The most intriguing part of meeting with Simon was hearing his plans for the future, and specifically how he is handling the impending Galactic Gunner launch. The Edis brothers aren't going to be idly sitting by waiting for the game to quietly appear on the App Store. Instead, they're designing an entire alternate reality game, where the Trepidoids slowly invade the Earth and its Internet. It all started with this brief cryptic video of a mysterious looking crop circle designed to lead followers of the alternate reality game to the Trepidoids twitter feed:

Following this video a second even more mysterious video was released, along with the launch of a web site for the Trepidoids.

I'm not entirely sure how this all fits together myself, but we have a thread on our forums where people are being recruited to join the Galactic Gunners to fight the Trepedoids and win promo codes in the process. As Simon briefly laid out his plans for the promotion of the game, I found myself completely amazed that so much effort and creativity was going in to its launch.

I'm not going to spoil anything, but they've got some really cool stuff planned for not only the release of Galactic Gunner but also the potential future of the series and spinoff games that all take place in the Galactic Gunner universe. Simon also showed interest in porting some of their more popular games from the Ezone.com web site, specifically mentioning the game Sling.

This morning at WWDC we met with John Owens of the Belfast-based iPhone development studio Wee Man Studios to discuss their upcoming futuristic 3D racer Galactic Racer.

Galactic Racer is a Wipeout-like racing game that pits the player against a variety of adversaries in a high-speed run down a series of 3D tracks littered with obstacles and barriers, in a bid to make it across the finish line.  The experience is actually more akin to flying down a tube than hovering in an anti-gravity groove, with ship control available in all four directions.  Loops and other particularly "3D" twists, as well as sections of transparent walls, add a sense of depth to the feel of the courses.

Along the way, a variety of weapons and power-ups can be picked up to help fend off the competition.  The game's power-up items are more akin to those of Mario Kart than the typical Wipeout-style racer, Owens tells us -- one example being a wormhole that can transport the player to a point further down the track.

The initial release will feature Championship and Single Race modes, while future updates will bring multiplayer, online leaderboards, and other enhancements.  Though we were unable to play the current build of the game, we were shown a short video and various screenshots that show promising gameplay and an impressive texture quality.  Wee Man Studios will shortly be releasing a public trailer video to giver readers a taste of the gameplay.

No release date has been indicated for this title.

Some of Owens' previous game development involvements include Argonaut Games' iNinja and Cat Woman for other platforms.

We had the opportunity to meet with Bight Games at WWDC to discuss their upcoming games coming into the App Store on June 18th. Bight Games is a mobile gaming company that was founded in 2004. As seems to be the story of many mobile developers, Bight Games started doing primarily contract work. While they tried to publish their own original IP to mobile devices, the realities of traditional mobile distribution made it near impossible.

The iPhone, of course, has changed many of these rules, giving developers an opportunity to much more easily bring their own titles to market. Bight Games has two of these original iPhone games coming out on June 18th.

Big Top 10

Perhaps most efficiently described as "Wurdle with numbers", Big Top 10 is a puzzle game that will debut at only $0.99. Similar to Wurdle [App Store], the game revolves around sliding your finger across the board to make the proper combination of tiles. Instead of letters and words, however, Big Top 10 requires you to add a sequence of numbers up to 10. The longer the combination, the higher your score.

The game begins by giving you only 1 minute to make as many combinations as possible. Time is extended, however, as you make bigger sequences or pick up specific time bonuses. The numbers found on the board start off small but as you progress, the difficulty increases with higher valued numbers. If you find yourself stuck, you simply shake the iPhone for a new set of numbers.

Special items including bombs, clocks and multipliers aid in your task while negative numbers make it possible to make super long combos.

It's certainly a rather simple concept for a game, but sometimes those are the best. Here's a developer video:

Puzzlings

Another original iPhone game coming from Bight Games is called Puzzlings which is described as a console-quality puzzle adventure game. At its core, the game is a variant on match-3 but adds achievements in the form of unlockable clothing for your Puzzling avatar. These unlockables serve as both an incentive system to progress further as well as a sort of high score to show off to your friends.

Unlike most Match 3 games, Puzzlings is a bit more flexible in its swapping mechanism. Besides swapping two adjacent tiles, you can reverse the entire line by dragging across all the pieces. Additionally, pieces can be rotated by drawing a square around them. A combination of these moves can result in some careful planning for the optimal combo. Game difficult increases with the introduction of large blocks that can require some quick work. These changes do seem to make it much more interesting than the traditional formula.

Overall, the game offers a fit and polish that makes it feel like great title and should provide puzzle gamers something a little different to enjoy.

Kill All Bugs

Finally, one title we didn't have much hands-on time with is a mobile port called Kill All Bugs. It's a Tower Defense game claims to offer some new an interesting twists to the genre, but we'll have to take a closer look when it comes out. We've included this gameplay video for you to see for yourself:

We'll see the first of these games on June 18th, and Bight Games expects to continue introducing a number of games throughout the year.