Namco Networks has partnered with iPhone developer Firemint to bring the popular air traffic management sim Flight Control to Java, Windows Mobile, Brew, and Android platforms in July.
Flight Control has sold over two million units since its launch in March of 2009, and was the second application in Apple’s App Store to surpass the sales milestone. A Nintendo DSiWare version of Flight Control is set to debut on February 19th.
Firemint previously collaborated with Namco Networks in the development of Rolling with Katamari, a mobile-exclusive entry in Namco Bandai’s Katamari Damacy series.
“We are honored to work with a company that is considered to be an innovator in our space,” said Namco Networks VP of sales and marketing Scott Rubin. “Collaborating with Firemint to provide casual game lovers with a mobile version of the top selling brand is a proud moment. The Flight Control experience transfers perfectly to the targeted mobile platforms because of the intuitive controls and pure simplicity.”
Firemint CEO Robert Murray comments, “Having sold over two million copies on the iPhone in under a year, Flight Control has achieved amazing success. Our partnership with Namco began over three years ago with our development of Rolling with Katamari and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with them again. It will be a great feat to see our game reach an even broader demographic with the mobile edition.”
iPhone application developer Firemint announced that its upcoming App Store lineup will take advantage of Apple’s just-announced iPad hardware, with an updated version of its multi-million-selling Flight Control currently in development.
“We are already building our next generation of games for higher definition, more powerful devices than are available today,” the company said in a statement released today. “We like to imagine what the devices of tomorrow will be capable of, and invest in bringing our games to the next generation of hardware.”
Firemint joins a growing number of developers to officially announce support for the platform. Apple demonstrated iPad-optimized versions of Gameloft’s N.O.V.A. and Electronic Arts’ Need for Speed: Shift at an unveiling event earlier today.
Prior to Apple’s event, Stand Alone Inc. also voiced its support for the new hardware. The company will release “a larger version” of its Crosswords app to take advantage of the iPad’s expanded screen size, and will continue to offer new downloadable puzzles from major newspapers on a daily basis.
It is currently unknown if existing applications can be updated with iPad support, or if the change will necessitate new standalone releases. Apple notes that iPad-optimized apps will be featured in a special section in iTunes after the device is released, but has issued no comment as to whether featured games will also be playable on the iPhone or iPod Touch.
After reaching one million units sold in June of last year, Firemint’s air traffic control simulation title Flight Control has reached another sales milestone. Firemint reports that the title has now sold more than two million units worldwide.
Firemint’s report arrives less than a week after developer Bolt Creative announced that its casual entertainment title Pocket God surpassed two million units in sales, becoming the first application in the iTunes App Store to do so.
Firemint notes that Flight Control achieved its sales target in less than a year, after launching in March of 2009. According to data released by the developer, Flight Control saw its biggest sales after its initial release, with an additional sales spike occurring in June after a content-expanding update.
Flight Control recently saw another rise in popularity over Christmas, though additional feature updates have not coincided with noticeable sales increases.
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:
Firemint’s Volkswagen-sponsored Real Racing GTI is burning up the charts in its first week of release, and finishes as today’s top free download. A limited-time free release for Rat on the Run places second, as a points promotion for iMobsters comes in at third.
Fling Free drops to fourth place after finishing second last week, while Stick-Fu rises up to take fifth. PlayMesh’s Connect 4 clone Link4 Online makes its chart debut at seventh place, leaving SpongeBob Diner Dash Lite, Racing Live, and Zoo Olympic to close out the top ten.
Firemint’s Real Racing GTI is more than just a free Lite demo of the developer’s popular sim-styled racer Real Racing. Car manufacturer Volkswagen is sponsoring its release, and the app marks the official introduction of the upcoming 2010 GTI automobile brand.
“With the personalization of media and the challenges inherent with reaching constantly connected consumers, we tasked ourselves to rethink the way we launch vehicles in order to engage our consumers in a meaningful way,” said Tim Ellis, Volkswagen of America’s Vice President of Marketing.
Ellis continues: “The GTI customer is a tech-savvy consumer who enjoys social networking, playing games and spending time on mobile devices — most often an iPhone. Launching the all-new 2010 GTI via the Real Racing GTI App allows us to connect with this savvy GTI consumer within his or her everyday life in a way that no 30-second spot ever could.”
In Real Racing GTI, players will take one of six 2010 GTI sport hatches for a test drive over a single main race track. In addition to a Quick Race mode that pits the 2010 GTI against five competitors, the game also include a solo Time Trial mode, along with a GTI Cup championship that splits the main track up into three races.
[The following news item was written by Simon Carless and originally appeared at FingerGaming sister site Gamasutra.]
Real Racing and Flight Control creator Firemint, 35 staffers strong, has made the successful transition from a work-for hire studio into a predominantly self-publishing iPhone developer, and studio head Rob Murray recently discussed his studio’s experiences.
The drive down to the 99c price point on the iPhone App Store may have been “somewhat altered” by the top-grossing list Apple has added, Murray suggested – but “the pressure is still there”, and marketing your company and game is key.
Flight Control was first billed as “from the creators of Real Racing“, and yet morphed into unexpectedly massive success, said Murray. Three weeks after launch, the game really took off, after it was featured by Apple and had been popularized via review sites and Twitter.
Firemint’s 99c iPhone game has now sold 1.5 million units worldwide, has hit #1 in at least 20 countries, and is one of the most popular games by number of paid downloads, according to Murray.
It’s been a long time coming, but today, Electronic Arts has finally rolled out an iPhone port of Wolfenstein RPG ($4.99), a first-person role-playing game set in the Wolfenstein universe.
Developed by id Software for J2ME cell phones, Wolfenstein RPG comes to the iPhone with nine levels, 32 enemies, and 16 weapons. Also included are two minigames: “Kick the Chicken” and “War.”
EA’s iPhone version of Wolfenstein RPG has seen a number of delays and setbacks since its initial reveal at E3 in 2008. The most recent delay came as a result of Wolfenstein creator John Carmack’s iPhone port of Wolfenstein 3D, which arrived in the App Store in March without prior announcement. EA chose to delay the release of Wolfenstein RPG to avoid potential confusion between the two titles.
Curiously — and in direct contrast with Carmack’s iPhone port of Wolfenstein 3D — Wolfenstein RPG omits all Nazi references and imagery present in the original game. Kotaku has more details and relevant screenshots, including a look at Hitler’s stylish new soul patch.
Over the past several months, iPhone developer Firemint has maintained a difficult balancing act. The company remained faithful to its fans, keeping the air traffic control sim Flight Control updated with new content while also developing its next anticipated title. Today, Firemint’s second iPhone release, the 3D racer Real Racing ($9.99) is available in the iTunes App Store.
Boasting an impressive 3D racing engine (which won Firemint the Technical Achievement award at IGF Mobile), Real Racing features 36 selectable cars, 12 tracks, and three racing divisions. Multiple single-player gameplay modes are available, including a full multi-circuit Career mode. Players can also challenge rivals via local WiFi multiplayer and online league play.
Real Racing includes a variety of control schemes to accommodate varying player skill levels. Beginners can enable automatic acceleration and braking assistance for an easier experience, and cornering can be controlled with either touch- or tilt-based input.
While many competing iPhone titles in the genre offer arcade-style experiences, Real Racing’s focus on realism and authenticity could successfully fill a necessary niche in the App Store. A gameplay trailer is below.
Firemint has released comprehensive (but “unofficial”) sales data documenting its air traffic control simulator Flight Control’s reign as the App Store’s top-selling paid application. During the two-month period the 99 cent title spent at the top of the charts, Flight Control sold 587,485 copies, for a combined lifetime total of over 700,000 sales.
The chart above reveals that the majority of sales occurred in a three-week period shortly after Flight Control’s release. Daily sales peaked at 31,132 on March 29th. 57% of total sales were from customers in North America, while Great Britain accounted for another 17%.
The full 16-page report — nearly half of which is dedicated to daily sales numbers broken down by region, to give you some idea of its impressive scope — can be downloaded at Firemint’s blog.
Firemint’s air traffic management sim Flight Control is currently enjoying its third week at the top of the iTunes App Store’s paid app charts, outpacing the daily sales numbers of all applications across every available category. In light of the title’s recent and resounding success, Firemint has announced that Flight Control will soon see the first of several planned updates.
In response to user requests, the next version of Flight Control will include online high score leaderboards and a feature that will automatically save all progress when gameplay is interrupted by a phone call. The leaderboards are a particularly noteworthy addition, as they will be powered by Firemint’s Cloudcell technology, which boasts advanced features like location-based high score lists and a skill-based ranking system.
The new version of Flight Control is expected to debut in the App Store on April 24th. Future upgrades will include additional features, new airports, and new aircraft.
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