FingerGaming

Stalwart adventure game developer Telltale Games (Sam & Max, Wallace & Gromit) has released Puzzle Agent ($4.99), the first title in its new “Pilot Program” for proposed episodic franchises. An enhanced HD version for iPad ($6.99) is also available.

Puzzle Agent stars U.S. Department of Puzzle Research detective Nelson Tethers, who is tasked with solving a series of riddles surrounding the wintry town of Scoggins, Minnesaota.

Gameplay closely resembles Nintendo’s Professor Layton series for the Nintendo DS. Players will traverse a small series of environments, examining items and interviewing residents for clues. Along the way, Tethers will encounter self-contained logic puzzles that must be solved to progress the story.

Telltale’s previous App Store efforts have been strong, and if Puzzle Agent proves equally successful, future episodes could soon be on their way.

Tags: adventure, point-and-click, puzzle agent, telltale games

The multiplatform journey of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars continues with the announcement of an HD version for Apple’s iPad. It promises new and “updated” graphics, 50 missions, sidequests and the ability to play one’s own music for the soundtrack.

Chinatown Wars was GTA‘s first outing on Nintendo DS, and by all critics’ accounts, was remarkably successful even alongside the work of experienced DS developers. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews — but sold only 90,000 units in its debut month, shining a spotlight on whether Mature-rated content is viable on Nintendo’s handheld.

Although neither Rockstar nor publisher Take-Two has disclosed life-to-date sales for Chinatown Wars on DS, Take-Two CEO Ben Feder has said the company’s “very proud” of the game, and cited an achievement: it’s accounted for half of M-rated sales on the DS platform.

The company has been bringing Chinatown Wars to other platforms since; it launched a PSP edition that was widely-acclaimed (consumer site GameSpot called it ‘even better than the DS original‘) — but it failed to chart in the U.S. monthly NPD nor the UK top 40 charts within its release period.

When it released on iPhone in January of this year, it consistently made the App Store’s top 10 for numerous weeks following its release, and a free “Lite” version of the game regularly appeared among the top-downloaded free apps. The iPad version of the game arrives September 9, and will be priced at $9.99/£5.99.

Tags: grand theft auto: chinatown wars, iPad, rockstar, Upcoming

[How far will Apple go with its inroads into the gaming market? Gamasutra's Christian Nutt considers the latest evidence, fresh from today's press conference in San Francisco. ]

This morning in San Francisco at a Gamasutra-attended press conference, Apple laid out the plan of attack for its next generation of devices, and while it’s clear that the game industry is in its sights, it’s not a full-on assault just yet.

It’s no secret that Apple considers the iPod Touch a gaming platform — the company’s marketing has made this clear for some time, as have CEO Steve Jobs’ comments at previous events. However, with the implementation of its Xbox Live-style Game Center matchmaking and achievements service, the device just leveled up.

The company debuted a new commercial to showcase the newest iteration of the device, which launches next week. There’s little doubt that it will be mercilessly marketed throughout the upcoming holiday shopping season.

The commercial focuses on two major improvements to the latest generation Touch: HD video recording and the ability for FaceTime video chat.

The middle third of the commercial, though, focused entirely on games — and made sure to show Capcom’s Street Fighter IV prominently, clearly communicating that the iPod touch is ready for core gamers.

Besides recently becoming the most popular configuration in the entire iPod lineup, the iPod Touch “has become the most popular portable game player in the world,” Jobs climed. “The iPod Touch outsells Nintendo and Sony portable game players combined. It has over 50 percent market share for both the U.S. and worldwide.”

With Epic Games and Chair Entertainment’s Unreal Engine-powered action RPG/multiplayer fighting game, Project Sword, there’s a clear drive to attract the same audience that would have until recently thought about buying a PSP. And with Chair the only game developer presenting at Apple’s latest event — no Zynga this time — that speaks volumes, too.

On stage, Epic president Mike Capps said that Chair has achieved “intricate levels of detail you don’t expect to see on a phone device,” and — based on the Epic Citadel demo you can download right now — he’s right.

With the introduction of Game Center, Unreal Engine technology, and the addition of the more powerful A4 processor and slick Retina Display to the Touch, the pieces have fallen into place for iOS to become a serious contender for core gamers’ money and time — and more importantly, it seems that Apple is truly making a play for that.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Apple, appletv, Industry News, iPod Touch

Epic Games is best known as the hardcore developer behind games like Unreal Tournament and Gears of War, but in formally moving its popular Unreal Engine 3 to Apple’s iOS devices, the studio hopes to bring hardcore flavor to iPhones, iPads and iPods.

The developer on Wednesday was front and center at Apple’s latest media event, showing off a sharp-looking UE3 demo dubbed Epic Citadel (available free) on an iPhone. Also on hand was Epic subsidiary and Shadow Complex developer Chair Entertainment, which revealed Project Sword, an iOS action adventure RPG that uses UE3.

The projects could be the beginning of a significant change at Epic. Here, studio president Mike Capps talks about how porting large games to an Apple iOS device can be done, gives details on licensing plans, and why “It would not be smart for us to try to get in and compete with the Bejeweleds and Angry Birds of the world on the iPhone.”

You put the Citadel Demo out now, and it represents a full game that’s coming down the road for you guys?

Yeah, and this is basically the environment, the castle space and everything which you saw there, it’s basically a “no, this isn’t fake, this really is real, it really does look this good” kind of thing, because the game won’t be out until later this season.

So Chair is developing the game?

Exactly. They’re the primary developers on the game side, and then Epic of course we’re working a lot on the tech with the Unreal Engine team.

Does Unreal Engine 3 now, for external developers, have iOS tools in it?

Well, we’ve got them internally, and we’re just starting to work with a few guys now, but yeah, absolutely, we’ll be putting them out to all of our Unreal Engine developers.

Do you use all of the exact same back-end tools, like Kismet and everything?

Yes. Everything’s supported. The difference of course is that it’s not quite as powerful a graphics processor as on the Xbox 360, so you’ll probably do some custom content work, but you’re using the same tool chain of UnrealEd and Kismet and the same physics tools and everything.

The Citadel demo is for 3GS and up. Is that also the specs for the engine, or is that up to developers?

That’s the current plan, because of the various shaders and things we have support for, that’s what we need a 3GS for.

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Tags: epic games, interview, project sword, Upcoming

Following Apple’s announcement that its social gaming network Game Center will be launching alongside revised iPod Touch hardware next week, Aurora Feint revealed “OpenFeint PlayTime,” a new infrastructure allowing real-time multiplayer gameplay across iOS and Android devices.

Addressing Game Center limitations, the OpenFeint PlayTime network supports real-time voice chat, and includes a unique solution to account for dropped connections.

In supported titles, disconnected players will be replaced with AI-controlled opponents until a connection can be reestablished. Game Center multiplayer requires a consistent peer-to-peer connection, ending games in progress when connections are lost.

OpenFeint PlayTime will be available to developers for both platforms in “Casual” and “Core” packages. The Casual SDK enables basic functionality like leaderboards and turn-based multiplayer gameplay, while the Core version allows for advanced functionality.

“Traditionally, multiplayer technology has been accessible only to top tier developers,” said Aurora Feint CEO Jason Citron. “It’s just too complicated and time consuming. So we invented PlayTime, which literally takes one day to integrate into a casual game.”

All supported games will also have access to OpenFeint’s existing achievement system and friend lists. Pricing for the OpenFeint PlayTime SDK has not been announced.

Tags: Apple, game center, Industry News, openfeint, openfeint playtime

Apple’s Game Center, a social gaming network for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad applications, will launch next week with the release of iOS 4.1, the company announced today.

Game Center will be available as a standalone application that tracks an individual player’s statistics, purchased games, and online friends. From the Game Center application, players will be able to invite friends to join games in progress.

Players can also search for multiplayer sessions among all Game Center users using the application’s matchmaking functionality.

The core Game Center application will regularly promote new and popular multiplayer games released in the App Store, and will include quick download links to featured applications.

Game Center-supporting applications will additionally feature leaderboards and achievements that add points to a player’s Game Center profile when unlocked.

Tags: Apple, game center, Industry News

Apple has announced the release of an improved generation of its gaming-focused iPod Touch hardware, now available for pre-order and shipping next week in the United States.

The fourth-generation iPod Touch hardware includes many features previously introduced with this year’s iPhone 4. New iPod Touch devices will include a pixel density-boosting Retina Display, an A4 processor that improves performance for graphics-intensive games, and a rotation-sensing three-axis gyroscope supported by titles like Gameloft’s N.O.V.A. and ngmoco’s Eliminate GunRange.

Other hardware additions include a built-in-microphone, a front-facing camera for Apple’s FaceTime phone application, and a rear camera capable of capturing high-definition 720p video.

The new iPod Touch will be available with 8GB of storage capacity for $229, 16GB for $299, and 32GB for $399.

At today’s Apple event, company CEO Steve Jobs noted that the iPod Touch “has become the most popular portable game player in the world. The iPod Touch outsells Nintendo and Sony portable game players combined.”

Jobs adds: “It has over 50 percent market share for both the U.S. and worldwide. It has by far become the most popular game player in the world. And over 1.5 billion games and entertainment downloads have been downloaded from iTunes just to the iPod Touch.”

Jobs additionally revealed that App Store downloads have surpassed 6.5 billion units across 250,000 hosted applications. iOS devices, including the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, have sold more than 120 million units worldwide.

Revamped iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle hardware will launch alongside the new iPod Touch next week. New iPod Nano devices will feature a multi-touch screen, while iPod Shuffle hardware now includes navigation buttons and support for playlists and VoiceOver.

Tags: Apple, Industry News, iPod Touch

At a Wednedsay Apple event attended by FingerGaming sister site Gamasutra, Epic Games and subsidiary Chair Entertainment revealed Project Sword, an Unreal Engine 3-powered fantasy game that utilizes Apple’s upcoming Game Center.

The title is in full 3D and is Epic’s first game for Apple portable devices. Project Sword appears to mix first-person exploration elements with touch-based swipe controls for combat, along with virtual dual sticks to move around environments.

Epic president Mike Capps, who demoed the game in realtime on stage with Chair creative director Donald Mustard, said that the game will boast “intricate levels of detail you don’t expect to see on a phone device.”

Epic began showing off UE3 running on iPhone last year with a modified version of Unreal Tournament running on the device.

Epic VP Mark Rein said at the time the studio will eventually begin licensing out the iPhone version of the game engine, which provides the base for many of this generation’s most popular console games.

The game will also come with Game Center, a unified social networking platform that will come with iOS 4.1, which arrives next week.

Game Center adds social features to games such as matchmaking, leaderboards and achievements. Capps and Mustard said playing with a friend in Project Sword is easy via Game Center. iPad will get Game Center support with the launch of iOS 4.2.

“Gamecenter is all about multiplayer games, and it allows you to challenge your friends,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “…And if you don’t have any friends it will match you with people. And you can compare scores, and discover new games your friends are playing.”

Jobs, who revealed an updated iPod Touch set to launch next week, claimed the device “has become the most popular portable game player in the world. The iPod Touch outsells Nintendo and Sony portable game players combined.”

He continued, “It has over 50 percent market share for both the US and worldwide. It has by far become the most popular game player in the world. And over 1.5 billion games and entertainment downloads have been downloaded from iTunes just to the iPod touch.”

Tags: epic games, game center, project sword, Upcoming

Casual gaming company Miniclip has announced the formation of a new smartphone division which will focus exclusively on bringing its library to the iPhone and Android platforms.

Former Skype product manager Antonio Sergio Varanda will head up this new department, which plans to establish new IPs and support both Android and iOS devices.

Miniclip has already tested the mobile market with several of its current releases, including Fragger, Monster Trucks, Disc Pool and Monkey Kick. These titles have sold a combined 1.9 million in paid sales to date.

Mobile titles planned for a fall release include Fragger HD, Fragger 2, Ping-Pong!, and Candy & Clyde. All four will be available for the iPhone, and Fragger has undergone a complete HD redesign for the iPad.

The original Fragger for iPhone reached the overall #2 paid app position in the US App Store, as well as the third spot in the store’s overall top grossing apps. Free app Monkey Kick has also generated 1.7 million downloads.

Varanda said of Miniclip’s new division, “It’s no secret there is an overabundance of games available for the iPhone; yet Miniclip has been able to break through the clutter and leverage our massive community of casual gamers to drive awareness and sales.”

“Miniclip has spent the past nine years building the largest online destination site for gamers and establishing a trusted reputation amongst households worldwide. Now with our global games distribution platform, we have the capability to directly distribute and market Miniclip games across multiple channels including online, mobile and console.”

Founded in 2001 by Rob Small and Tihan Presbie, Miniclip serves 17 million users in the U.S. and is privately owned and funded. Miniclip develops, publishes and distributes more than 600 casual titles for the PC and mobile and has won the Webby Peoples Voice Award for three consecutive years.

Tags: fragger, Industry News, miniclip

In April of this year, mobile social network operator and game creator DeNA announced a partnership with Yahoo! Japan to launch a PC web-based gaming platform called Yahoo! Mobage. While developers have been allowed access since January, the Yahoo! Mobage service is now aiming for its public launch of the 1st of October.

Yahoo! Mobage provides services such as translation, hosting and monetization resources. DeNA is currently inviting American PC and mobile game developers to use a universal Mobage platform API to distribute their games to the Japanese market.

The platform offers the advantage of two user bases of significant size: Yahoo’s 52 million monthly active web-based users and DeNA’s 20 million active mobile users. Including other sources, it’s believed that the Mobage platform will reach an average of 90 million Japanese internet users.

DeNA will also offer several forms of aid for interested developers, including partnerships with four companies to assist in game testing and translation, money transfers through international banks, and hosting through the leading Japanese service provider, IDC Frontier.

DeNA’s CEO, Tomoko Namba, claims that the amount of money to be made in Japanese social gaming as “astronomical… by offering this platform and providing tools to help ease the transition, DeNA hopes to be American game developers’ portal to the East,” Namba says. Some Japanese developers on Mobage are already making an average of $1 million a month in their top games.

DeNA has seen significant gains in the social gaming market this year, with an 81 percent year-over-year increase to $205 million reported in its fourth quarter, partly due to the success of its self-created social game titles.

The Tokyo-based company launched in 1999 as an e-commerce business and later became a web service provider for PC and cell phone users. Its core social networking/virtual world platform Mobage-town currently has over 20 million members in Japan.

Tags: dena, Industry News, mobage town, yahoo