There are a ton of Magic: The Gathering utilities on the App Store to assist in playing the card game. I've always been partial to using a combination of TCG Buddy [$4.99] for game tracking and Orcish Librarian [Free] for checking card values. If the thought of dabbling in the third party Magic app market never appealed to you, you're in luck, as Wizards of the Coast just launched Magic: The Gathering Toolbox [Free].

Wizards has already detailed all the features, but it includes life counters, a card search, a deck builder, and even the ability to test your deck to see what a sample hand would look like-- All with full card art. With everything though, there's a catch. Magic: The Gathering Toolbox will initially be free, but as they release new sets of cards being able to access those cards for deck building inside of the app will require "a small fee to update the deck builder with the latest content." No word yet on what that "small fee" will be.

(more...)

If you happen to be one of the millions of people who forked out to be a Call of Duty Elite founder because of how cool the thought of changing out your weapon load-outs on the fly on your phone was, here's your chance to finally do it. The Call of Duty Elite App [Free] launched overnight, and even though it's missing a few features, I already like it better than the actual Call of Duty Elite web site. Admittedly, a lot of that has to do with the novelty of the whole thing, but still.

As mentioned in our post yesterday, Activision looks at this as a foundation for things to come later. I hope they eventually include the heat maps functionality, as that's the only thing I use which isn't in the app yet. Regardless, I really am digging these official companion apps, and hope this trend continues.

Let's wind back the clocks a bit so those of you who weren't around for the great iDOS fiasco of 2010. It all started with Apple ever-so-slightly easing up on their approval guidelines which opened the floodgates for quite a few apps (such as the Google Voice apps) that seemed to eternally be trapped in approval limbo. Whether this had anything to do with iDOS or not is debatable, but it seems awfully coincidental otherwise. Anyway, on the morning of October 26th last year, iDOS hit the App Store. It was a shockingly full featured DOS emulator complete with keyboard and mouse support, as well as a basic virtual gamepad, multiple screen modes, and so much more.

The crazy part about iDOS is there seemed to be nearly no limit to what it was capable of. If you scroll down on this story you'll even find someone successfully installing Microsoft Windows, within iDOS, on their iPad. iDOS was quickly pulled, then re-appeared in late January of this year with quite a bit of its functionality stripped. Regardless, people quickly figured out how to load things into iDOS, utilizing utilities like iExplorer and other Mac/Windows programs that allow you to fiddle with the file system of your iOS device. Once again, iDOS was removed from the App Store.

Yesterday, iDOS hit the App Store once again, this time as Aemula Oldies [Free] for the iPad and Aemula Oldies S [Free] for smaller screen devices. There's also the Aemula Gamepad [99¢] which works a lot like the other gamepad apps and pairs with an iPad playing a game. It seems that the functionality has been stripped even further, as all the previous command line access has been traded for a simple menu to load the included games.

The freebies packed in with Aemula Oldies are Mille Bornes, Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle, Duke Nukem, Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion, Scorched Earth, CD-Man, The Catacomb Abyss, Bio Menace, Monster Bash, StarMines II: Planet of Mines, 4D Prince of Persia and CHAMP Kong. They all seem to work decently well, too.

I sort of think third time is the charm for iDOS, err, Aemula Oldies, as I'd imagine that there aren't any holes for slipping other things to emulate in left anymore. Of course, I could be totally wrong on that, so if anyone figures out any tricks, be sure to let us know.

Emulators have had an interesting history on the App Store, to say the least. There are a few emulator apps that have received Apple's blessing, namely Manomio's Commodore 64 [$4.99] and a choice group of similar emulators. More often than not though, they randomly appear, having slipped through the Apple approval system, then are quickly pulled. Right now we've got no clue which side of the fence iMAME [Free] is sitting on, but it's free, so there's absolutely no reason not to download it just to have it.

iMame comes preloaded with nine less than stellar ROMs to play, but the real interesting part is going to be whether or not it's possible to side load other ROM files into the app. I've been tinkering around with various tricks to load other ROMs into the app that have worked in other instances of similar emulators on to the App Store, and so far haven't had anything work. Regardless, I give it about two hours (or potentially much less) before someone figures it out, and a few hours after that for Apple to pull it from the App Store.

Go go go!!! I'll keep this post updated as new things develop.

Update: It seems that the same method used to get games into iDOS also works in iMAME. Twitter user @mattlukens mentions, "Yep, add a .zip rom to the Docs folder through PhoneView and it works perfect! Just tried Crime Fighters!" He also provided a screenshot. The clock is really ticking now on Apple pulling this down.

Update: iMAME supports the iCade.

Update 12/23: iMAME has been pulled from the App Store.

It's been over a year since the last update, and many in our forums were worried that the app had been abandoned, but I'm happy to report that Manomio has released an update to C64 for iPhone [App Store], the Commodore 64 emulator and game store (at over 50 titles right now) for iOS, that we've been tracking since way back in 2008.

Stuart Carnie of Manomio filled me in on the license tangles he's been dealing with since late last year which stymied work on the app, but indicates all is now resolved and that he's excited to bring this update, as well as return his focus to development and the acquisition of new licenses for C64-loving iOS gamers.

The big news in this latest version of C64 for iPhone, version 2.2, is the addition of support for the iCade and compatible devices (such as the iControlPad and Gametel controller we recently covered), which is huge news given the nature of the typical Commodore 64 game title. In this initial implementation, iCade support means joystick and fire button emulation -- certain games with extended features, such as The Last Ninja, still require tapping the screen for key input and the like. This update also brings full support for iOS 5.

It's worth pointing out that, presently, C64 is not a Universal application, and so using it on an iPad in the iCade means running the iPhone app at 2x video magnification. However, Stuart has big plans for the app and shared a short-list of what's coming, down the road...

• A new, Universal app!
  • This is a rewrite in order to add all the required features
  • PRO: By not replacing the iPhone version, we can keep existing users with old hardware on the current builds
  • PRO: For compatible games, we'll continue to add them to C64 for iPhone
• Activate your original C64 for iPhone purchases if you have it installed
• Cycle-exact emulation -- will require ARMv7 devices
• Same OpenGL ES 2.0 retro visual effects currently in progress for iAmiga
• iCADE / iControlPad / Gametel support
• TV-out
• Network play
• More in-app purchases, including existing titles
• A big pack of free games to get you started
• Retina display support
• BASIC mode, with 1541 "disk" save support

The following demo video taken by one of our readers shows C64 for iPhone running on an iPad, being controlled with an iControlPad (in iCade emulation mode).

We're very glad to see Stuart out of the woods and moving forward with his efforts to bring retro fun to today's gamers. We will keep readers in the loop on the latest from Manomio as the news unfolds.

We're taking a break from our regularly scheduled iOS game programming to get the word out about a really sweet rapid prototyping tool for the iPad released by Two Lives Left, creators of Wheeler's Treasure [$2.99] and Pilot Winds [Free]. It's called Codify [$7.99], and utilizing the Lua programming language along with a ton of clever touch-based interface elements lets you quickly and easily throw together whatever game prototype you might be dreaming of.

I've heard more than a few developers attempting to create similar tools for the iPad, but all of them have hit various roadblocks in the Apple approval process because they all (in one way or another) allowed you to get code and assets onto the device and execute it. Codify sidesteps this by coming with a wide variety of assets, but unfortunately all of your creations will be trapped on your own device. Right now, there's no way to export (or import) anything, although Two Lives Left have told us they've submitted an update to Apple that has this functionality and they're planning on working with the approval teams to come to some kind of solution.

Either way, Lua is easy to learn and even with your prototypes stuck on your own iPad Codify can be an incredibly useful tool. If you come up with a game idea, you can quickly toss it together and see if it's worth pursuing. In fact, I'd almost say keeping these prototypes trapped on your device is a good thing as it serves as a fantastic rough draft to then redo in a more serious development environment.

Musical game-like apps have had a great life on the App Store. Smule seemingly launched the genre of musical toys with Ocarina [99¢] (if my memory serves me correctly) and later expanded out to fully licensed titles like Glee Karaoke [99¢] and I Am T-Pain [99¢]. Songify [Free] was one of the next major musical crazes to hit, which made the auto tuning process found in I Am T-Pain even easier. Tonight, Harmonix, creators of Dance Central and Rock Band up the ante even further with VidRhythm [$1.99].

In VidRhythm, you can quickly and easily create video remixes of a series of videos you shoot to have a product that's vaguely similar to some of the incredibly in-depth video remixes found on YouTube. The process couldn't be more simple. You shoot a small handful of clips, the app suggests what you should try to make one sound like, and then it auto-magically makes a video like this:

There's a number of different themes you can use, and exporting then uploading the videos to YouTube, Facebook, and/or your camera roll couldn't be simpler. I'm amazed at both how easy this whole thing is and how well it works. I mean really, it can take the weird sounds my dog makes and turn it into a coherent musical video. That's pretty awesome. I can only imagine what people will start creating once people with actual musical talent grab hold of the app.

Seriously, if you've had fun with these weird musical game-y apps in the past, you need VidRhythm. I've been having a blast with it. Also, if you like my weird dog videos, you'll love my dog's Facebook page.

Retro gamers out there, especially those on the other side of the pond, have had a great resource available to them for reliving the 8-bit classics, in the form of Elite's ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection emulator series, which landed last October. While it had basically zero presence here in the states, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum was probably the leading home computer gaming platform in the UK and various other parts of Europe during the early '80s.

(more...)

One of our very favorite not-a-game-itself-but-is-still-gaming-related apps in the App Store is Zell Application’s Joypad Game Controller [Free]. We reviewed the Joypad this past February, and in short it turns your iOS device into a customizable virtual control pad for playing games on your computer. You just run the app on your device and then it very easily connects to a desktop client on your computer over Bluetooth or a local WiFi network. You’re then free to map the virtual buttons of the Joypad to the keyboard controls of whatever game you’re playing, or choose from the many preset configurations, and just like that you’ve got yourself a competent little game controller.

Naturally, it’s not quite the same as having a physical controller, but if you like to travel light or find yourself needing to get your game on in a pinch it more than does the trick. Heck, I use the Joypad exclusively to play old emulators on my laptop simply because it works really well and I’m too lazy to bust out my USB controller. Ah, technology, always facilitating my laziness.

(more...)

If you're an online gamer that utilizes TeamSpeak to communicate to your guild, clan, tribe, improv group, or whatever else you might be doing that requires voice communication, here's some awesome news: An official TeamSpeak [$4.99] client has hit the App Store. The down side, if you'd even call it that, is it only works with TeamSpeak 3, giving you even more reason to upgrade to the new TeamSpeak software if you haven't already.

Being an official app, it sure doesn't seem to skimp on features. Not only is it universal, but it also sports all the functionally you need to use it as your main TeamSpeak client. It's got multi-server connectivity, both push to talk as well as voice activation. There's even support for common admin functions, contact management, and text messaging.

(more...)

TechCruch has the scoop on a fairly basic HTML5 game of Blackjack running on the Apple TV. While a browser-based game of Blackjack isn't exactly mind blowing, it's still awesome seeing the Apple TV taking these baby steps towards becoming what could potentially be a brand new market for iOS developers. Remember, the foundations of the App Store we know and love today was largely in part of jailbreak developers proving it could be done.

(more...)

Are you the kind of person who has such an extreme affinity to retro gaming that you've let your lust for games like Pac-Man and Galaga invade every aspect of your life, but you've often found yourself disappointed that they haven't taken over your social media feeds? Well, Namco has the answer for you, and it's not part of a twelve step program-- It's PAC'N TWIT [Free]. This free Twitter client does what most Twitter clients do in that it allows you to view your timeline, replies, direct messages, and all that jazz. It even has push notifications, which I was more than a little surprised to see implemented.

PAC'N TWIT also has some strange mini game integration. You can spin a roulette wheel based on the number of tweets you've posted, and winning rewards a puzzle piece to a… iPhone wallpaper. Each skin has its own associated wallpaper to unlock, and apparently aside from the two included Pac-Man skins and two included Galaga skins there are more on their way via updates.

It seems weird for Namco to dedicate resources to developing and releasing a Twitter client, but it was also pretty weird for Taito to release a whole mess of utilities like Space Invaders Calculator [99¢]. Myself, I'm a fan of Tweetbot [$2.99], although I suppose the one drawback that it has is a significant comparative lack of retro game skins.

In case you didn't know, Unity provides the glue that makes a considerable amount of iOS games work. It's a game engine, development environment, and multi-platform publishing tool rolled into one easy to use package. (You can read all about it here.) The magic behind Unity is what brings the world of Aralon [$4.99] to life, and what allows you to level up in Order & Chaos Online [$6.99]. Similarly, it's what allows Gameloft to take Order & Chaos and seamlessly turn it into a Facebook game. The engine isn't limited to 3D either, it's what's behind fantastic 2D platformers like Max and the Magic Marker [99¢] and too many other games to list.

Recently, Unity 3.4 was released which brings a whole boat load of new features, functionality, and other tweaks. So many, in fact, that it's hard to pick out which to highlight. Personally, I'm excited for better water effects, because who doesn't love water effects? Also, finally having gyroscope support is going to be great. The best part about these kind of engine upgrades, is that most of the tweaks and enhancements are essentially "free" just as part as developers upgrading to the new version, and testing to make sure that nothing breaks in the process.

If you're a Unity developer, download 3.4 and give it a shot. If you're a gamer, keep an eye out for upcoming Unity titles that benefit from the mile long feature list of the 3.4 upgrade.

I've always thought the early Fallout games would work great on the iPad, (and to some extent they do, if you were able to download iDOS before it got pulled) but like many ancient PC games, the Fallout IP is securely locked up in a twisted web of developers and publishers that have been bought and sold over the years. In the case of Fallout it was originally an Interplay project, which got rolled into Bethesda, which now is part of ZeniMax. There's even been some brutal legal drama as who owns the rights to a Fallout MMO has been duked out in courts. What I'm getting at, is I'm not holding my breath for an iOS Fallout anytime soon.

So, having totally written that off long ago, imagine my surprise when I stumbled across PipClock [99¢ / Lite] randomly browsing the App Store today. In a nutshell, it takes the "dashboard" style clock and weather apps, but applies a glorious level of Fallout-esque style to it. Seriously, just check out the screenshots:

The functionality is basically what you'd expect out of one of these sorts of clock and weather apps, although everything has a wonderful Fallout spin. For instance, here in the "Ruins of Los Angeles" in "California's Wastelands" it's 85 degrees out with "poisonous fog not detected". Oh, there's a faux geiger counter built in too. Each element also has subtle animations, with static, scan lines, and even sparks.

Since upgrading to an iPad 2, I've been looking for a good use for my original iPad outside of checking to make sure games we're reviewing still run on it. With PipClock, I'm thinking I might have to relegate it to night stand duty as PipClock just looks too awesome to not be running all the time. It's universal too, so you could do the same with an old iPod touch if you've got one laying around.

In case you didn't know, TouchArcade is part of one big happy internet family with MacRumors which is the place to go for Apple news and rumors as well as AppShopper which catalogs the App Store and actually provides quite a bit of the glue behind the scenes that makes a lot of things on TouchArcade work. If you're already familiar with AppShopper, you might be aware of most what I'm going to go over in this post, so consider this a PSA for those who aren't in the know.

The AppShopper site itself is incredibly useful because it makes browsing through the App Store quite a bit easier (and often times quite a bit faster) than just using iTunes. For instance, part of what I do every morning to find games to cover on TouchArcade involves going through the listing of all the new games that have appeared on the App Store. Similarly, you can see all games that have had a recent price drop and all paid games that recently got switched to free. That second link is particularly useful, as since it's generated as close to real time as possible you often can scoop up awesome free games hours (or even days) before they appear on the various free app promotional sites.

If you're only interested in iPad or universal games, there's toggles for that. Also, if viewing everything the App Store has to offer is overwhelming (which it totally is at times) you can mash the "Popular" switch to only show things that the 1,000 monkeys on the 1,000 typewriters powering AppShopper have deemed as such. Where things get really useful in all this is that every view of AppShopper has its own custom RSS feed, so if you're an RSS kind of person, you can add specific views such as popular universal games that dropped to free right in line with whatever else you've got in your RSS reader of choice.

The reason for this particular plug of AppShopper is due to a recent update to the AppShopper App [Free]. This app does everything the AppShopper site does, and more, packed into a slick native application. It's got a bunch of cool features, but what people will find the most useful around here is the wish list functionality with push alerts. If you read TouchArcade on a daily basis, you'll totally be inundated with cool games you'd like to check out. You also likely have more games than you even know what to do with already on your device which can make buying everything the instant it comes out at full price a little silly (and potentially expensive).

If this describes you, you should really give using the AppShopper wish list as a way to "bookmark" games a try. Here's how it works-- You see a game you thing looks cool, but don't necessarily need right away. You add it, then when it drops in price you'll get a handy alert telling you so... Both reminding you that a game you thought was cool still exists, and that it's now on sale.

If you're already a faithful user of the AppShopper app, here's some great news: It's been recently updated to be even better. The app now includes links to TouchArcade reviews as well as reviews from our friends over at 148apps. Also, you can customize when push alerts get sent, so you won't be woken up at 3:00 AM anymore to be alerted that a game you've been keeping your eye on went free. (Unless of course, you want to be awoken for something like that, of course.) In addition to app ratings being implemented, there's all kinds of new filters for searching within the app.

The AppShopper app is totally free and is ad-supported. If you're the kind of person who hates ads, a single 99¢ in-app purchase will get rid of them forever.