This year’s 2008 Worldwide Developers Conference kicked off with the launch of the iPhone 3G and demos of a number of new iPhone and iPod Touch games. We were hoping that Apple would finally provide some solid details on the exact launch of the iTunes App Store and also release developers from the somewhat vaguely termed Non Disclosure Agreement which accompanies the SDK.
During the keynote, however, Steve Jobs never gave an exact date for the launch of the iTunes App Store, but did say the iPhone 2.0 Firmware would be released in “early July". The iTunes App Store has always been one of the major features of the 2.0 Firmware, so we should expect the app store launch at that time.
We’ve been told the App Store is still undergoing active development so Apple may not even know when the final version will be ready.
Also, there’s been reports that the latest 2.0 Firmware is “locked down like no phone has ever been." So, Jailbreaking is currently out of the question.
Once the iTunes App Store launches, we suspect the popularity of Jailbreaking will decline, but some apps (such as emulators) will have to remain outside of the official App Store due to restrictions placed by Apple.
I'm excited too, although it would've been nice to have a button in the lower-right or lower-left corner to automatically fire the laser, instead of tapping the screen. An example would be how MotoRacer does the Gas button, by holding it down, you stay accelerated.
Repeatedly tapping the screen will get tiresome after a whole, especially if you are using both hands to hang onto the iPhone.
There's been a few games that employ these kind of gameplay mechanics and I've nearly dropped my iPhone because of it.
Great price! loved starfox, got to get this one!
this is the kind of game i am waiting for. $2.99 is cheap. i will buy it for sure ^_^
Muchos respect for the dev's who understand that a low price point means far greater sales (eg. Trism).
Well done, it's good to see.
This is great news. I was wondering what happened to the iPhone demo efforts. I also just bought the 1983 Classic Star Wars Arcade game. The space sim seems like a neglected area. I will be buying StarSmasher.
seems like a total apple touchfighter rip off.
Seems like much more than that Apple demo app to me. I can't wait.
@Morgan - I immediately went off to the App Store looking for Star Wars Arcade thinking that someone released it. Then it clicked that you bought the actual arcade game... Man that was a picture of disappointment... That would be so cool to carry around for a quick blast... :(
Smart, smart smart!!! Looks great, and at a great price, too - I will definitely add this to my collection!!!
@MicroByte: You and me both! ^_^
Hey,
I look forward to this game, get it out quick, I have a feeling we'll see quite a few old style (with a twist) arcade shooters....and I'll purchase a few I'm sure!
Listen to to Matt Burris's comments above though ;)
@Matt Burris
I added the auto-fire mode. Great suggestion! It makes the gameplay a lot more smooth. The update is in the queue for Apple to review so it might be out a little bit after the initial launch.
@Morgan Daly
I agree that the space sim seems neglected (wikipedia calls it "dead"), but I personally love space sims, hence StarSmasher.
So I've been playing StarSmasher for about 10 minutes. It's definitely a good $3.00 game, though it could use some variety. I don't want to critique/complement it too much until the updates come out, but basically your game is an excellent example of what iphone games should/will be like. I don't really believe there's that big a market for $30+ iphone games like Doom, Quake or other original titles that are rumored to come out for the sole reason that these kind of games drain the battery way way way too much. Applications like StarSmasher, Solar Quest, and puzzle games that I believe will flourish - games that are pretty simple, have no massive, complex storyline, are damn cheap, and are great ways to just kill 10 minutes waiting for a bus or something.
That said, I did spend $3 on StarSmasher so here are my thoughts.
Pros: Decent 3d graphics; mildly addicting; the first 'blow stuff up' game out there; price; haven't noticed any bugs; upcoming update will improve the quality; pretty good representation of the iphone's power
Cons: Gameplay is too redundant; controls need improvement; feels like a demo; could use more levels
Overall, I'd give it a 7/10 and will probably bump that up to a 7.5 or 8 once the updates come out. Very nice!