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.”
Tags: firemint, flight control, mobile, namco bandai, port
Namco Bandai is yet another packaged goods publisher that is trying to make more headway in non-traditional digital markets such as social networks and digital downloads.
On Monday, U.S.-based Namco Networks said that it surpassed 23 million downloads on Apple’s App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch.
Namco Networks said it is averaging 36,450 downloads per day since the App Store’s opening in June 2008. A rep for Namco Networks told us that the total download amount includes both free and paid downloads, although the company did not immediately have a ratio at hand.
Namco has partially relied on popular franchises born in the arcade and home consoles in order to gain a foothold in digital markets, with App Store renditions of Pac-Man, Mr. Driller, Galaga and Ace Combat. The company has also released new properties such as Garters & Ghouls and Isaac Newton’s Gravity on the App Store.
The firm expects to continue its expansion into the App Store market with 20 more games to launch on the service this year. “With over 100,000 applications available and three billion downloaded apps, the App Store is booming,” said Jonathan Kromrey, general manager of Apple Games for Namco Networks.
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Tags: namco bandai, sales data
You know, it seems like only yesterday that Namco announced that its Ridge Racer franchise was coming to the iPhone. Oh, wait, it was only yesterday. After a painful one-day wait, Ridge Racer: Accelerated ($2.99) is now available for purchase from the iTunes App Store.
Accelerated features much of the same drift-heavy racing that defined previous entries in the series, but a few notable and potentially controversial design decisions make this one stand out.
Namco notes that the current version of Accelerated is optimized for play on iPhone 3GS devices, and that 3G support will be improved in future updates. Few games cater directly to the smaller 3GS market, so it’s interesting that Namco would choose to do so with such a major release.
It should also be noted that the core version of Accelerated only features two tracks, which can also be raced in reverse. In a move similar to the pricing strategy behind Pac-Man Championship Edition and Ace Combat Xi, Namco has chosen to make the majority of Accelerated’s content available through in-app purchases.
Not all add-on material will be paid content, however — Namco assures that additional cars and tracks will be periodically released in free updates throughout 2010. After the negative customer reaction to Pac-Man and Ace Combat, it appears that Namco is reevaluating its reliance on in-app purchases — here’s hoping that the proposed free updates manage to satisfy the majority of players.
Tags: driving, namco bandai, Racing, ridge racer: accelerated
Namco Bandai announced that it is developing an iPhone version of Ridge Racer, its popular arcade-styled racing franchise. Ridge Racer: Accelerated is set to premiere in the App Store by the end of the month.
After debuting in arcades in 1993 and following up with several sequels on the original PlayStation, the Ridge Racer series most recently appeared on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Judging from the screenshots released so far, the new iPhone version appears to feature similar gameplay to Ridge Racer 6 and 7, with speed-boosting nitrous awarded for drifting around corners.
Accelerated will feature accelerometer-based steering when it premieres in the App Store in Japan later this month. Namco Bandai has issued no word as to whether a U.S. release is planned.
(Screenshot courtesy Famitsu, via Kotaku)
Tags: driving, namco bandai, Racing, ridge racer: accelerated, Upcoming
Following up on its previous ports of Galaga and Dig Dug, Namco Bandai is readying yet another iPhone adaptation of one of its classic arcade franchises. Pac-Man Remix has been submitted to Apple for review, and will appear in the App Store later this week.
As was the case with Galaga Remix and Dig Dug Remix, Pac-Man Remix is another remake lifted from the PSP classics compilation Namco Museum Battle Collection. Confusingly titled Pac-Man Arrangement — notably, a completely different game from the more well-known arcade and Game Boy Advance version of Pac-Man Arrangement — the PSP take on Pac-Man boasts a graphical makeover and a series of new mazes.
Pac-Man Remix will be the first game to be released under Namco Networks’ “Apple Games” label, a newly announced iPhone publishing division led by former I-Play producer Jonathan Kromrey. No additional titles have yet been announced for the Apple Games brand.
Tags: arcade, classic, namco bandai, pac-man, port, remake, retro
Following up on December’s i Love Katamari, Namco Bandai adapts another one of its popular franchises to the iPhone with this week’s release of Time Crisis Strike ($5.99). This all-new entry in the classic light-gun arcade shooter series features multiple stages, along with unlockable challenges in the form of “Crisis Missions.”
To my knowledge, Time Crisis Strike is the first non-arcade Time Crisis game to somewhat accurately simulate the series’ duck-and-reload mechanic. The standard Time Crisis reloading procedure is controlled with a pedal in arcade releases, while home ports up until now have mapped the reload feature to a button on Namco’s GunCon controllers. This always bugged me, as pushing a button on the barrel of a gun is not only uncomfortable, but it lacks the important physical action of shifting your body to dodge enemy fire.
Time Crisis Strike, on the other hand, allows you to duck and reload by tilting the iPhone toward your body — a brilliant design decision that could end up making the game a worthwhile purchase, assuming the touch-based shooting mechanics are also done well. Anyone try this one out yet? As a fan of the arcade releases, I’m intrigued.
Tags: namco bandai, shooter, time crisis strike
Namco Bandai has released a patch for its debut iPhone entry in the Katamari Damacy series, i Love Katamari. The patch arrives in response to widespread reports of sluggish performance and unresponsive controls, which many buyers noted after the title’s release last week.
The newly released Version 1.0.1 features “improved control response,” along with a new on-screen tilt indicator, as seen in the lower-right corner of the screenshot above. Sega’s Super Monkey Ball was also recently patched to include a tilt indicator, in reponse to similar control issues.
Initial reports from various sources indicate that the new i Love Katamari patch does indeed improve its controls and increase its overall performance, though occasional framerate stutters remain.
Tags: Action, i love katamari, namco bandai
Namco Bandai Games has released an iPod adaptation of its sublimely weird, endlessly inexplicable Katamari Damacy series. i Love Katamari ($7.99) follows up on the franchise’s previous console and mobile offerings with a new accelerometer-controlled twist on Katamari Damacy’s unique roll-em-up gameplay.
As with earlier Katamari titles, players control the rodent-sized Prince of All Cosmos as he rolls up all sorts of earthly junk in order to build a new assortment of heavenly bodies. Though it starts off small in size, a properly-sized katamari will eventually grow large enough to envelop cars, people, and even the occasional island.
i Love Katamari uses a tilt-based control scheme, with swipe control features available for precision rolling. Gameplay spans five different environments and a variety of modes, including Story Mode (a time-based scavenger hunt), Exact Size Challenge Mode, and Eternal Mode.
Tags: Action, i love katamari, namco bandai, Puzzle
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