Every so often, while browsing the new App Store releases, I come across a game that I’ve seen dozens of times before. It might be called Crazy Eggs, or Eggs Collector, or Eggs from USSR, or The Eggs. Each one is a simple, Game & Watch-styled LCD game in which a wolf character catches falling eggs. Miss three eggs, and the game is over.
After watching thousands of new apps roll in over the past several months, I can safely say that “Eggs” is one of the most-cloned game in the App Store. Curiously, each “new” version of Eggs is written by a different author, yet it features the exact same gameplay (and often, the exact same graphics) as the numerous clones that came before it.
So what is “Eggs?” Let’s find out!
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Tags: Action, eggs, game & watch, iphone oddities, nu pogodi, Puzzle
From the “about damn time” department (cc’ed to the offices of “this better not be an April Fool’s joke”) comes this bit of news exclusively obtained by geek.com. Mobile 1UP, the makers of iPhone Game & Watch clones such as GW Octopus, GW Helmet, GW Fire, and GW Chef, have received a cease and desist order from Nintendo of America. The developer has been ordered to discontinue the sale of its Game & Watch clones, all of which are set to be removed from the App Store shortly.
This news is hardly surprising. If anything, it’s more surprising that it’s taken so long for Nintendo to notice. In response, Mobile 1UP has created and released a pair of new games — GW Lab and GW Monkey — that feature simplistic Game & Watch-styled gameplay with redrawn graphics. The results can be seen in the screenshot above, taken from GW Monkey. Mobile 1UP plans to release more titles in the near future.
There’s been no word on whether Nintendo plans to take similar action with developer i4nApps for its Game & Watch-like apps such as The Hockey. They’re likely to remain safe for the time being, however, as their games aren’t clones of titles originally released by Nintendo themselves.
Tags: game & watch, i4napps, mobile 1up, nintendo, Removed Game
Seemingly unaware of Nintendo’s notoriously fierce protection of its intellectual property, Mobile 1UP has taken upon itself the task of porting the company’s Game & Watch library to the iPhone. Amazingly, they don’t seem to have been stopped so far — Mobile 1UP’s latest effort, a port of Helmet, joins a Game & Watch lineup that has been expanding since November, and now features five titles in all.
GW Helmet is available as a free download, and provides an accurate adaptation of the classic LCD title. It’s not like the controls are hard to nail down — you’ll take single steps to the left and to the right as you dodge falling objects — but the graphics and sound effects are spot-on as well.
Also available are GW Octopus, GW Fire, GW Parachute, and (my personal favorite) GW Chef, at a cost of $1.99 each. All are regularly updated with new features and improvements, too. Give Helmet a shot, if you’re interested — potential copyright infringement aside, the attention to detail is impressive.
Tags: game & watch, mobile 1up, nintendo
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