FingerGaming

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. FingerZilla
2. Sniper Strike
3. Tap Fish
4. Slingshot Cowboy
5. Scoops
6. Original Gangstaz
7. Alpine Crawler
8. Solitaire
9. Ninjas Live – 28 Honor Points
10. Funkyball Worlds

Inert Soap’s destruction sim FingerZilla captures the free app chart’s top spot during a one-day free download promotional offer. Donoma Games’ shooter Sniper Strike finishes at second place, as BayView Labs’ virtual aquarium Tap Fish takes third.

Slingshot Cowboy returns to the chart after a long absence at fourth place, narrowly beating NimbleBit’s ice cream-themed accelerometer title Scoops. Two online multiplayer titles — Original Gangstaz and Ninjas Live — also rank among this week’s top downloads, while the cross country vehicle racer Alpine Crawler surpasses Solitaire to take seventh place.

Tags: charts, fingerzilla, Free Games, sniper strike, tap fish, top free apps

Gameloft demonstrated a pair of its upcoming App Store releases at the Game Developers Conference this week, giving attendees the opportunity to play the Resident Evil-inspired Zombie Infection and an iPhone version of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction.

Based on Ubisoft’s upcoming console and PC stealth-action title, Splinter Cell: Conviction is a third-person shooter built using an upgraded version of the company’s N.O.V.A. engine. Conviction features 10 levels, with gameplay mixing stealth, action, and cover-based shooting mechanics.

Gameloft’s second offering, meanwhile, continues in the publisher’s controversial tradition of cloning popular titles on other platforms. After previously targeting Modern Warfare, Cooking Mama, and SoulCalibur, Gameloft now intends to capitalize on Capcom’s Resident Evil series with Zombie Infection.

Zombie Infection duplicates major portions of Resident Evil 5, in particular — Gameloft’s game is set in an African village, and features a female partner character named Shawna. As in Capcom’s title, players are tasked with discovering the cause of a zombie outbreak while fending off hordes of the undead.

Zombie Infection will include 10 single-player levels and a survival-based Arena Mode when it launches later this month.

Tags: Action, gameloft, splinter cell: conviction, Upcoming, zombie infection, zombies

THQ’s dedicated iPhone development studio is no more, but one of the company’s last efforts, De Blob Revolution ($2.99), has made its way to the App Store despite Universomo’s recent and unfortunate closing.

Following up on one of THQ’s early App Store hits, De Blob Revolution scales down the town-painting action of the original title for an altogether different kind of gameplay experience.

De Blob Revolution is a puzzle game in which players must plot a straight path through as many graydians as possible before reaching each level’s exit. Cross your own color path, and the level restarts. Don’t do this.

De Blob Revolution features three gameplay modes and five difficulty levels, giving players the choice between laid-back puzzles and frantic reaction-based challenges.

Tags: Action, de blob, de blob revolution, Puzzle, thq, universomo

In this weekly feature, FingerGaming rounds up the top-grossing iPhone and iPod Touch applications, as current that day on the iTunes App Store. This week’s top titles are:

1. Monopoly ($4.99)
2. Final Fantasy ($8.99)
3. Ragdoll Blaster 2 ($2.99)
4. Call of Duty: World at War Zombies ($9.99)
5. All-in-1 Gamebox ($0.99)
6. Bejeweled 2 ($2.99)
7. Plants vs. Zombies ($2.99)
8. Rock Band ($6.99)
9. Tetris ($4.99)
10. Rayman 2: The Great Escape ($6.99)

EA’s Monopoly finishes as this week’s highest-grossing game in the App Store, boosted by a recent television advertisement highlighting popular iPhone titles. Square Enix’s former chart leader Final Fantasy drops to second place, while Backflip Studios’ physics puzzler Ragdoll Blaster 2 takes third in its debut week.

Activision’s Call of Duty: World at War Zombies holds steady at fourth place, though Gameloft’s competing title Brothers in Arms 2 has fallen out of the top ten after a strong performance last week. Plants vs. Zombies also sees a drop in popularity after placing third last week, and finishes behind Triniti’s app compilation All-in-1 Gamebox and PopCap’s Bejeweled 2 in today’s chart results.

EA’s Rock Band moves up to eighth place this week, as Gameloft’s recently released iPhone version of the classic 3D platformer Rayman 2 closes out today’s chart.

Tags: charts, final fantasy, monopoly, ragdoll blaster 2, top grossing apps

[In the next in a series of Road to the IGF Mobile interviews with 2010 Independent Games Festival Mobile finalists, FingerGaming speaks to Randy Smith of Spider developer Tiger Style, whose game is currently competing in the Best Mobile Game category, having won the IGF Mobile award for Best iPhone Game.]

As pastoral as it is eerie, Tiger Style’s elegant Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor ended 2009 heralded as not only one of the year’s best iPhone games, but one of the best on any platform.

Having recently won the IGF Mobile Best iPhone game award, FingerGaming spoke to industry veteran and Tiger Style head Randy Smith about the studio’s stunning debut heading into the IGF.

What is your background in game development?

I’ve in the games industry for 12 years, primarily as a designer / director. I worked on the Thief series with Looking Glass and ION Storm, and consulted with Arkane Studios, Ubisoft, and others. My most recent gig before starting Tiger Style was a creative director at EA on one of the projects with Steven Spielberg.

Can you tell us what development tools you used to create Spider?

The iPhone SDK, xCode, Photoshop, and various other visual/audio/music creators and editors.

How long was the game in development?

8 months.

How did the initial concept come about?

We solicited the team for short, 1-2 sentence game concepts. Of those, we selected a small handful and did treatments of them – about 20 pages of PowerPoint that got into more depth of what the game would be about and how it would work.

Spider’s treatment attracted the most attention within the team. Originally we envisioned it as more of a slow-paced spider simulator, but during the pre-production and prototyping phases we refined our movement controls and web-building mechanic which in turn pushed the game into the form you see today.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: hornet smash, randy smith, spider: the secret of bryce manor, tiger style

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. All-in-1 Gamebox ($0.99)
2. Doodle Jump ($0.99)
3. Alpine Crawler World ($0.99)
4. Skee-Ball ($0.99)
5. Ragdoll Blaster 2 ($2.99)
6. More Cupcakes! ($0.99)
7. Moto X Mayhem ($0.99)
8. Plants vs. Zombies ($2.99)
9. Bejeweled 2 ($2.99)
10. Monopoly ($4.99)

Dimension Technics’ physics-based offroading sim Alpine Crawler World sees fast sales in its premiere week, and takes third in today’s chart. All-in-1 Gamebox keeps the top spot for the second week in a row, as Doodle Jump rises up to second place.

Backflip Studios’ Ragdoll Blaster 2 also makes a successful debut this week, finishing behind Freeverse’s Skee-Ball at fifth place. Last week’s second-place title More Cupcakes! falls to sixth, meanwhile, as Moto X Mayhem returns to the top ten at seventh place.

Tags: all-in-1 gamebox, alpine crawler world, charts, doodle jump, top paid apps

XS Games announced today that it will bring its acclaimed PlayStation 2 shooter The Red Star to the iPhone, iPod Touch, and PSPgo platforms this spring.

Having played through the original PS2 version, I can confirm, officially, that this is awesome news. The Red Star plays like a mix of Neo Contra and Final Fight; you can lock on to faraway enemies and blast away using an arsenal of infinite-ammo weapons, or engage them in combo-heavy melee combat. Either way, you’re in for a good time.

The boss battles are a real treat, too. You’ll often encounter several bosses during the course of each stage, many of which include multiple forms and attack patterns. Some levels are nothing more than extended boss battles. It’s great stuff.

According to XS, The Red Star will feature “fresh visual polish and improved controls” when it launches in the App Store this spring.

Tags: brawler, shooter, the red star, Upcoming, xs games

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. iMobsters – 28 Favor Points
2. Icy Escort
3. iGraveDigger
4. Line Up 2
5. Solitaire
6. Tap Farm – 6 Free Magic Beans
7. Doodle Bowling
8. Ground Effect
9. LetsTans
10. Doodle Army Boot Camp

A free points promotion for Storm8’s online RPG iMobsters lands the top spot in today’s chart. Donut Games’ penguin platformer Icy Escort premieres at second place, as the stick figure strategy title iGraveDigger finishes third.

Puzzler Line Up 2 and Solitaire follow at fourth and fifth, while Glenn Corpes’ land-skimming racer Ground Effect leads over LetsTans and Doodle Army Boot Camp after becoming a free download for a day.

Tags: charts, Free Games, ground effect, icy escort, igravedigger, imobsters, top free apps

Mission start! Click here. Then click here. Congratulations, you just scored yourself free copies of UniWar and Eco Punk. Mission all over!

UniWar is a turn-based strategy title that developer Javaground describes as a blend of Advance Wars and StarCraft. In addition to a 21-level single-player campaign mode, UniWar features a robust online multiplayer component that allows players to compete in up to 20 asynchronous matches at once.

UniWar includes over 50 multiplayer maps, each supporting up to eight players. Other features include in-game chat, global skill rankings, and cross-platform multiplayer support for Android, Ovi, and BlackBerry devices.

Nitako’s Eco Punk, on the other hand, leans more toward the destructive mayhem end of the gameplay spectrum. In Eco Punk, players control a crazed skate punk bunny out to clean up the streets by collecting garbage and, occasionally, blowing up every single vehicle that crosses his path.

Eco Punk includes three gameplay modes and unlockable OpenFeint achievements.

If you want to check out either game for free, you’d better act fast — both UniWar and Eco Punk are available as free downloads for today only.

Tags: eco punk, Free Games, nitako, uniwar

In this weekly feature, FingerGaming rounds up the top-grossing iPhone and iPod Touch applications, as current that day on the iTunes App Store. This week’s top titles are:

1. Final Fantasy ($8.99)
2. Monopoly ($4.99)
3. Plants vs. Zombies ($2.99)
4. Call of Duty: World at War Zombies ($9.99)
5. Brothers in Arms 2: Global Front ($7.99)
6. All-in-1 Gamebox ($0.99)
7. Bejeweled 2 ($2.99)
8. Words With Friends ($2.99)
9. Final Fantasy II ($8.99)
10. Rock Band ($6.99)

PopCap’s Plants vs. Zombies ends its two-week run as the App Store’s biggest-grossing game title this week. Square Enix’s port of Final Fantasy rises to the top of the charts in its first week of release, as EA’s Monopoly climbs up to second place after recently being featured in an iPhone television advertisement.

Activision’s Call of Duty: World at War Zombies overtakes Gameloft’s recently released Brothers in Arms 2 in today’s sales rankings. Triniti’s compilation All-in-1 Gamebox follows at sixth place, while Bejeweled 2 remains a steady seller at seventh.

Newtoy’s Words With Friends, Final Fantasy II, and EA’s Rock Band close out this week’s results, pushing former chart contenders The Sims 3 and Tetris out of the top ten.

Tags: charts, final fantasy, monopoly, plants vs. zombies, top grossing apps