Indie game developer Jason Rohrer makes his iPhone debut with this week’s App Store release of Passage ($0.99). Previously available as a PC freeware title, Passage comes to the iPhone this week as a direct port with a new touch-based control interface.
An extremely brief life simulation game (it takes less than five minutes to play to completion), Passage earned acclaim from both the gaming public and the mainstream press upon its PC release last year. Rohrer’s latest efforts include the arthouse title Gravitation and the multiplayer-only puzzler Between.
Passage’s commercial release on the iPhone is an interesting development in the world of independently developed games. The title earned attention and praise when it debuted as freeware, but how will it fare against the thousands of paid apps already available in the iTunes Store? More specifically, how will iPhone users respond to its short length and simple gameplay? You can bet that more than a few iPhone-curious indie developers will be watching this one closely.
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:
SimCity tops the charts in its first week of release, edging out new competition from the recently discounted action title Chopper. Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D moves up a few places, meanwhile, pushing last week’s chart leader Enigmo to fourth place.
Other big sellers like Fieldrunners and Touchgrind also see chart drops this week, though mainstays like The Price is Right and Tetris are still going strong. Finally, ngmoco’s Rolando makes its first chart appearance this week at ninth place, though it’s likely that positive buzz and word-of-mouth could drive it up the chart in weeks to come.
Will Wright’s beloved city simulation franchise makes its long-awaited iPhone and iPod Touch debut with this week’s App Store release of SimCity ($9.99). Resembling the 1998 PC release of SimCity 3000 in looks and function, the new iPhone adaptation of SimCity also boasts its own set of exclusive features and control options.
Initial reports and previews indicate that the iPhone SimCity is fully-featured, with all the depth and complexity of its PC predecessors. City builders can expect all the zoning, building, and lawmaking action typical of a SimCity session…after which they have the option to destroy it all by unleashing tornadoes, earthquakes, and an army of UFOs on their too-trusting citizens.
Iphone and iPod Touch-exclusive features include an extended tutorial for first-time players, along with touch functionality for zooming, planning, and construction.
Korea-based developer/publisher Com2uS has announced its December release lineup. Three titles are on tap for this month, including a horror-themed adventure game, an action-RPG, and a simulation of “America’s favorite fall competitive sport”: tailgating.
Trapped: Undead Infection features open-ended survival horror gameplay, placing the player in the role of a scientist who suffers from unfortunate zombie issues. On the RPG tip comes The Chronicles of Inotia: Legend of Feanor, which boasts “PC and console game graphic quality,” character customization, and attribute-boosting pets.
The casual-oriented (and awesomely named) Crazy Hotdogs Tailgate Party ($4.99) aims to accurately simulate the parking lot tailgating experience. Tailgate Party’s brand of business management-styled gameplay challenges players to cook hot dogs and sell them to hungry football fans.
All titles will see release this month, with further release announcements promised in 2009.
EA Mobile released Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition ($7.99), a virtual version of the popular board game, or at least, the latest version of the game’s World Edition. Monopoly Here & Now replaces familiar streets with recognizable cities from all around the world, such as London, New York, and, um, Gdynia.
Electronic Arts actually released this game for a variety of home and portable platforms earlier this year, but it looks like this version has some nice iPhone/iPod Touch-specific features:
Give your iPhone/iPod touch a shake to roll the dice or animate the movers.
Use your touch screen to flick and drag property cards and simulate real-life game experiences.
Listen to your own music while playing the game.
Touch the icons at the bottom of the screen to Buy, Trade, and Manage your properties.
Pull-down menu recaps last five game moves.
3D view of the board and movers.
Select full-board view or zoom in for a close-up.
Graphic indicator shows which properties you own.
Discover fun facts about exotic destinations with “Did You Know” Chance and Community Chest cards.
Play solo against the computer or Pass n’ play for four.
Wi-Fi multiplayer mode.
Allows four players to connect via the same router on a local area network.
Yoot Saito — the developer behind odd console titles like Odama and the Seaman series, the latter having a cult following — revealed a new iPhone titled called Gabo!, which appears to be a connection to the virtual animal Seaman games.
As with Seaman 2, which released for PlayStation 2 last year and never made it outside of Japan, the iPhone title charges you with rearing a “Peking Man” named Gabo, allowing you to act as a god and alter his island environment to influence his growth. Unlike past Seaman titles, however, you probably won’t use a specialized microphone to command Gabo. Instead, you’ll likely just use the iPhone touchscreen.
According to Saito’s Japanese blog, the game is slated to hit the Japanese market next month, with a possible release for the rest of the world following. For now, enjoy this video preview!
VentureBeat’s MG Siegler says that SimCity is slated to appear in the App Store in December with an expected price of $9.99.
According to Siegler’s impressions, the EA Mobile title has the “look and feel” of SimCity 3000, but with touchscreen controls for tasks like zoning. Players can also use the platform’s multi-touch capabilities for zooming in and out of cities, as well as other functions.
The SimCity 3000 comparison is interesting, as modified and touchscreen-enabled versions of the game were also released for the Nintendo DS, developed by now-shuttered EA Japan and later Hudson Soft. Could the iPhone/iPod Touch game be a further modified version of those titles? And if so, which game is it based on — SimCity DS or SimCity Creator?
Siegler also says that the demo he played suffered “loading time issues,” but an Electronic Arts representative promises that the game will run smoothly by launch.
Freeverse, the popular game developer (notably Moto Chaser ($0.99) and Flick Bowling ($1.99), released its awaited Flick Fishing ($.99, App Store). In this arcade fishing game, you fish for many varities of fish in many lakes; along with gorgeous graphics to appeal to any casual gamer. Although it’s not aimed at perfected simulation like iFishing by Rocking Pocket Games is, but it makes sure you’ll be entertained, with real-time 3D graphics.
One feature of Flick Fishing is when you go into Photo Album, then turn to landscape mode, you will see an aquarium with fish you’ve caught.
The developer recently posted a game-play video on YouTube awhile back, and I’ve posted it below so you can see it. You can also watch the high-quality .mov here. It shows the lake selection and main graphic interface. Some features may have been added since the video has been made, so don’t rely on it completely:
Also, Freeverse has a giveaway to celebrate the release of Flick Fishing. Ten people can win a pocket pen fishing pole. To enter, all you have to do is submit your email address.
“The Coleman Fish Pen is small but can catch fish up to 4lbs. When closed: 8 inches and fully extends to 37inches. It’s not just a toy, you can actually catch fish! It’s small and lightweight, you can store it anywhere.” For more information and to enter, visit this page.
Bootant, a respected developer in the App Store, released his brand new flight game, BiiPlane ($3.99), to the public yesterday. Similar to his other Bii games, like BiiBall, you cannot hit the sides of the map, and you have to collect items to move on.
At first glance, this game showed a promising fun interface, but ironically, all the levels are potentially the same, and the game can get very boring, very fast. The goal is simple, there’s little air-blimps that float, and they’re holding a small box with a star inside. This box, when ran into it, bursts open, and a star is credited to your player. Miss a star and you usually cannot complete the level. Also, rings appear that you’re forced to fly through; same concept if you are to miss it.
The graphics are brilliant, just like the gameplay, engine, and the accelerometer features, but there’s no story; and no real fun here. This game can really show what the iPod touch or iPhone is capable of, but for all the casual gamers, this game may not last long on your device. I think Bootant should have waited to release their application, maybe add some more challenge (possibly like moving blimps), or actual enemies to avoid.
If you’re curious to see the game in action, you can watch Bootant’s gameplay video below:
Update: Shortly after posting this, Wings dropped in price to $0.99 from $1.99.
X-Plane 9 ($9.99) is no longer the only flight simulator in the App Store, now that Wings ($0.99) from Bottle Rocket Apps has shown up. Although to be fair to X-Plane 9, Wings is more of a flight sim litein that there’s no planes involved, or anything else, other than just floating through a landscape in different weather conditions.
Wings allows you to choose from the four different seasons to fly in - winter, spring, summer, and fall. You can choose from Flying or Floating controls, with flying having actual pitch and yaw, whereas floating is … well, floating along. Wings isn’t really a game, but more of a technology demo, or a way to relax.
The textures of the landscape are a bit too muddy and low resolution to make them enjoyable to look at. Then there’s the draw distance which is too near and features a lot of drawing of the scenery too close to your view. The sky, however, looks very good. There’s no sound effects, but the music within Wings is very nice and relaxing.
Much like Koi Pond ($0.99), Wings is a way to relax with a stripped down version of a flight simulator. If you want a more challenging, combat-oriented flight simulator, check out yesterday’s post about Flying Aces, which is coming soon.
Click on the screenshot above to watch Wings in action.
Subscribe in a reader
Korea-based developer/publisher 
Yoot Saito — the developer behind odd console titles like Odama and the Seaman series, the latter having a cult following — revealed a new iPhone titled called Gabo!, which appears to be a connection to the virtual animal Seaman games.
