FingerGaming

Rating:

• Price: $1.99 (Get it)
• Version: 1.0
• Official Site: True Axis

Full disclosure: I had absolutely no interest in picking this game up until it came up during a discussion with Semi-Secret Software’s Adam Saltsman. He called it one of the few games on the App Store that he considered essential. Coming from the man who made Canabalt, that seemed as good a reason as any.

Of course, based on his description (”It’s like a platform game in which you’re a car rather than a person”) and the revelation that he’d never played Sidhe Interactive’s XBLA/PS3/PSP title Gripshift (which you would describe as exactly that) I was still pretty skeptical.

Not because Gripshift isn’t great – because it totally is – but because from the look of its screenshots, Jet Car Stunts didn’t have any of the polish or character that made Gripshift such a wonderful package.

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Tags: Action, Games, jet car stunts, Racing, reviews, true axis

Rating:

• Price: $9.99 (Get it)
• Version: 1.0
• Official Site: Square Enix Co., LTD.

Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes: Encore is a tactical RPG for the iPod touch and iPhone that uses your music as units in battles, which sounds brilliant. However, there are a couple of questions I want answered:

- Is it really doing anything with the songs that create units? iPod touch/iPhone apps can’t access song data (it’s why there are no visualizers on the App Store) and it doesn’t seem to be learning anything from song titles or even song genres, so it merely feels like a long-winded way of rolling up random characters.

- Has the game has been optimized specifically for the iPhone 3GS or for users with tiny music collections? Because on a second-generation 32gb iPod touch that’s nearly full of music, loading times are INSANE.

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Tags: adventure, Games, iPhone, iPod Touch, Music, reviews, rpg, song summoner, square enix, strategy

Since opening last year, the iTunes App Store — the mobile storefront for iPhone and iPod Touch games and applications — has grown exponentially in size. The App Store boasted more than 10,000 available apps at the end of 2008. One year later, as of this writing, that number has risen to more than 112,000.

Developers rushed to the platform after witnessing its potential as a gaming device. Some indies became overnight success stories, generating thousands of dollars in daily revenue. Soon, even big-name industry publishers like Electronic Arts and Activision turned their attention to the platform, eager to capitalize on its growing market.

App Store developers now face tougher competition than ever before. In addition to competing against high-quality offerings from established publishers, many independent developers now wage a race to the bottom among themselves, pricing their offerings at cutthroat rates in the hopes of earning a coveted spot on Apple’s daily sales charts.

In this highly competitive market, it takes a truly exceptional game to stand out from the crowd and earn the recognition it deserves. These are the five best titles released for the iPhone and iPod Touch this year.

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Tags: Action, app store, best of 2009, charts, edge, eliss, Games, Puzzle, rolando 2, shooter, skee-ball, space invaders: infinity gene

In celebration of the App Store’s first birthday (it’s July 11th — have a cake ready), Apple has launched a new section at the iTunes Store detailing the service’s top games and apps, as determined by an unspecified metric.

Whoever put together Apple’s list of “our favorite games” has good taste, though, as there’s some real winners in there. Zen Bound and Edge are right up there on the front page next to critical darlings like Rolando and Real Racing, and even Com2uS Corp’s recently released Baseball Slugger gets some love.

Apple’s top 12 favorite titles in the U.S. App Store are as follows:

• 2XL Supercross ($7.99)
• Baseball Slugger: Home Run Race 3D ($2.99)
• The Sims 3 ($9.99)
• Let’s Golf! ($1.99)
• Edge ($4.99)
• Rolando ($5.99)
• Zen Bound ($4.99)
• geoDefense ($3.99)
• Real Racing ($9.99)
• Touchgrind ($4.99)
• Peggle ($4.99)
• Fieldrunners ($2.99)

Tags: Apple, Games, itunes

Rating:

• Price: Free (Get It)
• Version: 1.1
• Official Site: N/A

I love Space Deadbeef.

Kind of an unusual start for a review, to be honest, but it feels unusual enough that a free shooter that’s short to the point of being a “tech demo” should be far and away the best thing I’ve played on my iPod Touch that I’m not really worried about it.

I guess I might be worried about trying to explain exactly why it’s the best thing I’ve played on the iPod Touch. Perhaps it’s the clean, functional and perfectly fitting art. Maybe it’s the simple; ahem, “gorgeousisity” of the sight of your ship (the titular “Space Deadbeef” I’d hope; it’s a great name for a ship) firing a stream of spiralling rockets at enemies in a destructive ballet that would make Katsuhiro Otomo proud. Maybe it’s the…

I know, I know. I’m gushing. Let’s scale back a bit if you don’t know what Space Deadbeef is. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Action, free, Games, iPhone, iPod Touch, reviews, Space Deadbeef

If you’re an iPhone game developer, and you have a great game you want the world to know about, you have one week left to enter your game into the Independent Games Festival (IGF) Mobile competition held in San Francisco, CA. The grand prize is a cool $10,000, with up to $30,000 in total given away, and with no entry fee there’s no reason not to enter.

The deadline for entry is exactly 11:59 p.m. PDT on November 17th.

Unreleased games are especially welcome. Got a new IP that you have great faith in, or gameplay that is so unique and compelling that you know everyone will love it? Enter it into the IGF Mobile contest and get worldwide recognition for it. Who knows, you may even win The Next Great Mobile Game award, which five finalists will be chosen on the basis of written pitch and in-progress prototype.

The finalists will pitch their product in detail and show completed prototypes at the IGF Mobile Awards, where an audience of peers will select the winner. This will be a great way to get your new title some face time with some of the most important minds in the industry. Have a new title in the pre-production phase that’s unsigned that you want people to hear about? Think about submitting it to the Next Great Mobile Game; it’ll be worth your while. All you will need is a proof of concept and you’ll be ready to enter.

If you’re worried about the process of entering being complicated or overwhelming, don’t worry, for IGF Mobile makes it easy for developers as much as possible. For an explanation on this, read the FAQ.

Submit your game to the 2009 IGF Mobile competition!

Tags: Games, igf mobile, iPhone

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:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBMuBOWiR9Q

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.

Tags: adventure, fishing, flick fishing, flick sports, freeverse, Games

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:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMguAkVTEfA

Tags: First Look, Games, reviews, simulation

The first real competitor to Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch and the App Store is Google’s Android mobile operating system and it’s version of the App Store, simply called Market. Manufactured by HTC in Taiwan and only available with a 2-year contract with T-Mobile, the new smartphone is looking to take a bite out of Apple’s pie. One evident drawback, though, is T-Mobile’s small 3G coverage compared to Verizon and AT&T. You can get your hands on the G1, as it is called, on October 22nd, 2008.

Gamasutra covers the debut which features a free Pac-Man game, and Glu’s Bonsai Blast. Suffice to say, mobile gaming is about to get a healthy shot in the arm.

Even tho they are free, at least two game companies are offering launch games for no charge: Namco Bandai has announced a version of Pac-Man with conventional gameplay and Swipe Mode (touch-controlled), Track Mode (trackball controlled), and Accelerometer Mode (tilt eter controlled.)

In addition, Glu is introducting Bonzai Blast for free – a title whose mechanics challenge players to shoot and match a tangled line of colored marbles, much like PuzzLoop or Zuma. Gamers will be taken through 20 levels with water, fire, earth, and wind themes. The title’s controls also take advantage of the phone’s touch-screen and accelerometer.

Tags: android, app store, Apple, Games, google

Here’s the latest round of games to show up in the App Store:

• Hangman2 $0.99 (Puzzle)
• ButterflyCatch $0.99 (Action)
• Travel Bingo $0.99 (Puzzle)
• Hairball $2.99 (Action)
• Expando $1.99 (Action)
• AeroGyro $2.99 (Action)
• Matches Plus $2.99 (Puzzle)
• Pocket Hoops Free (Action)
• Tilt A Sketch $4.99 (Puzzle)
• WordSearch Unlimited $1.99 (Puzzle)
• Ball in a Cup $0.99 (Action)

Tags: Games