FingerGaming

Mobile application publisher Mobila Interactive has partnered with developer Apogee Interactive to bring the classic PC first-person shooter Rise of the Triad to the iPhone, iPod Touch, and upcoming iPad platforms.

Running on a modified version of the Wolfenstein 3D engine, Rise of the Triad made its shareware debut in 1994. The title earned a fanbase for its solid gameplay and multiple playable characters, and was notable for its use of digitized enemy characters.

The iPhone version of Rise of the Triad includes the following features:

• Original game soundtrack.
• A number of customizable control schemes.
• Four full game episodes containing 32 super huge levels – up to one million sq. feet, and up to 16 stories high!
• Secret levels, hidden rooms, and other surprises.
• Play as one of five players, each with unique attributes and abilities.
• Look both up and down, up to 45 degrees, to see what is above and below.
• Ten unique, real digitized enemies (actual Apogee employees!).

Rise of the Triad will debut in the App Store in “early 2010.” A gameplay video is below.

Tags: apogee, fps, mobila, port, retro, rise of the triad, shooter, Upcoming

Every Monday, FingerGaming rounds up the most popular paid iPhone and iPod Touch applications, as current that day on the iTunes App Store. This week’s top titles are:

1. Doodle Jump ($0.99)
2. All-in-1 Gamebox ($0.99)
3. Shopping Cart Hero ($0.99)
4. Bejeweled 2 ($2.99)
5. Skee-Ball ($0.99)
6. Moto X Mayhem ($0.99)
7. Words With Friends ($2.99)
8. RunStickRun! ($0.99)
9. Rock Band ($6.99)
10. iZombieland ($0.99)

Doodle Jump faces new competition this week from Triniti Interactive’s compilation app All-in-1 Gamebox, which returns to the charts to finish at second place.

Shopping Cart Hero falls to third place, meanwhile, as Bejeweled 2 rises up past Skee-Ball to take fourth.

Moto X Mayhem and Words With Friends were in danger of dropping out of the top ten last week, but both titles have since recovered to finish at sixth and seventh place. RunStickRun! places eighth following the recent release of a free Lite version, as Rock Band and iZombieland settle for ninth and tenth.

Tags: all-in-1 gamebox, charts, doodle jump, shopping cart hero, top paid apps

Hudson’s Military Madness series premiered on the TurboGrafx-16 console in 1990, offering console gamers a rare look at the PC-dominated turn-based strategy genre. Though it never achieved the same level of success as Nintendo’s similar Advance Wars series, Military Madness became a cult hit, and spawned several sequels across multiple console generations.

Hudson’s latest franchise update, Military Madness: Neo Nectaris ($4.99) features the same hex-based strategy gameplay the series is known for, updated with touch screen controls and enhanced visuals. Players will guide an army of troops, tanks, and aircraft against an AI opponent in a single-player campaign that spans 48 maps.

Though Hudson has not clarified whether Military Madness: Neo Nectaris is an all-new series entry or a port of an existing title, it appears as though the game is a remake of the PC Engine Super CD game Neo Nectaris, meaning that much of the game’s content will be new to players outside of Japan.

Tags: hudson, military madness: neo nectaris, strategy, turn-based

Tap Tap Revenge series creator Tapulous has launched Riddim Ribbon ($2.99), a rhythm-infused action title featuring licensed music from The Black Eyed Peas.

Riddim Ribbon challenges players to navigate a twisting, obstacle-filled ribbon by tilting the iPhone’s accelerometer. All hazards, items, and ramps are synced to the beat of a background music track, making for an immersive audio-visual experience in the vein of titles like Vib Ribbon and Audiosurf.

The core version of Riddim Ribbon includes three songs by The Black Eyed Peas, and boasts a total of eight remixed tracks in all. Three additional levels featuring songs by Tiësto and Benny Benassi are available for 99 cents each.

Tags: Action, Music, rhythm, riddim ribbon, tap tap revenge, tapulous

This weekend brings discounts for several big-name titles, including Ubisoft’s recently released Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery and the Gameloft-published aerial combat sim Tom Clancy’s HAWX.

Capcom’s iPhone-exclusive platformer Ghosts’n Goblins: Gold Knights also gets a steep drop in price, and can be picked up for only 99 cents. Other notable dollar-priced apps in this week’s roundup include Crayon Physics Deluxe, Chronicles of Inotia, and Heavy Mach 2.

• Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery ($9.99 -> $6.99)
• Tom Clancy’s HAWX ($6.99 -> $4.99)

• Ghosts’n Goblins: Gold Knights ($4.99 -> $0.99)
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire 2010 ($4.99 -> $1.99)

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Tags: assassin's creed ii, crayon physics deluxe, ghosts 'n goblins: gold knights, Price Change, weekend app sales

Ukraine-based iPhone developer Tatem Games has brought the popular online Flash game Gibbets to the iPhone. iGibbets ($0.99) is a skill-based puzzle game in which players must use a bow and arrows to save the lives of hanging men by shooting the ropes above their heads.

Naturally, the operation can get a little messy. Miscalculate an angle, or misjudge the power of your shot, and you might have a dead ragdoll man weighing on your conscience. You can also expect plenty of blood and screaming, to make you feel even worse about turning the hanged men into pincushions.

Tatem Games notes that the original Flash version of Gibbets (playable for free here) has been played over 30 million times worldwide since its launch last year. The iPhone version includes all levels and content from the Flash version, and new stages will be released for free in future updates.

Tags: gibbets, igibbets, Puzzle, tatem games

In this round-up, Gamasutra highlights some of the notable jobs posted in its industry-leading game jobs section this week, including positions from Black Rock Studio, Blizzard and more.

Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site’s daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.

It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, cellphone games, ’serious games’, independent games and more.

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Tags: career, gamasutra, jobs

Zenonia publisher Gamevil has released its latest title for the iPhone platform. Billed as an “artistic action-RPG,” Vanquish: The Oath of Brothers ($2.99) boasts a striking visual style and a dramatic storyline based on the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history.

Vanquish’s gameplay blends elements from the RPG and hack-n-slash genres. While the in-game action plays like an arcade-style brawler, players will be able to upgrade weapons and learn new abilities between levels, using experience and items earned in battle.

Vanquish includes three playable characters and 25 unlockable achievements. A gameplay trailer is below.

Tags: Action, gamevil, rpg, vanquish

Game Developer Research, a sister service of FingerGaming partner site Gamasutra, has debuted its latest report, the 2009-2010 State of Game Development Survey, revealing among other things a surge of iPhone developers and a lull in those making games for the Wii.

The 100 page report is a result of a survey of more than 800 video game professionals from North America and beyond who read Gamasutra, subscribe to Game Developer magazine, or attend Game Developers Conference.

Those complete results are available as a 100-page report from Game Developer Research, and more information from the survey is also available in the February 2010 issue of Game Developer magazine.

The results of the comprehensive 55-question survey help to illustrate which platforms Western game creators develop for, which market sectors they work in, which tools they use and how much they spend on these tools, and sheds light on which factors determine the target platforms for game development.

As a reflection of recent economic difficulties and resulting layoffs, this year’s survey reveals that many experienced developers have founded smaller studios, or have begun developing games on their own.

This trend is marked by a 7 percent growth in the proportion of developers employed by companies of 50 employees or fewer, while in sharp contrast, the proportion of developers at companies of 500 or more employees has fallen by two percent since last year’s survey.

As shown from the results of the survey, another increasingly prevalent trend has been the growth of the mobile space. Due in large part to the success of Apple’s iPhone software platform, mobile support shot up to 25 percent of developers, more than doubling last year’s 12 percent.

Of these mobile developers, nearly three quarters of that group are targeting iPhone and iPod touch development, a number more than twice the reported support for traditional handhelds like Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.

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Tags: development, game developer research, Industry News, iPhone

Every Thursday, FingerGaming rounds up the most popular free iPhone and iPod Touch applications, as current that day on the iTunes App Store. This week’s top titles are:

1. Kinetic Balls
2. iBomber
3. Rock Band Free
4. RunStickRun! Lite
5. Titanic Rescue
6. Call of Duty: World at War Zombies Lite
7. Driver Free
8. How Long Can You Tap It?
9. FallDown!
10. Dum Dum Pops Flick-A-Pop

After making its chart debut at fifth place last week, Motion 9’s executive toy simulator Kinetic Balls tops the charts as this week’s most popular free game in the App Store.

Cobra Mobile’s arcade-styled bombing game iBomber follows at second, as last week’s chart champion Rock Band falls to third place.

Activision’s Call of Duty: World at War Zombies Lite also sees a drop in popularity after a strong showing last week, as newcomers RunStickRun! Lite and Titanic Rescue move in at fourth and fifth place. A free version of Gameloft’s Driver makes its chart debut at seventh, while FallDown! drops to ninth place after previously debuting at fourth.

Tags: charts, Free Games, ibomber, kinetic balls, rock band, top free apps