In early February of this year, we learned that a rogue developer named Daniel Blezek was spending his spare few minutes in-between a full time job and a full time family life toiling away at bringing Bungie's seminal FPS Marathon to Apple's iPad. The port was in progress at the time and looking great, but there was still a bit of uncertainty whether or not a release of Marathon would completely jive with some of the rules of App Store and the open source licensing of the codebase.
Then in June, Bungie sort of shocked everyone by announcing that they had picked up the project and would be officially supporting its release. Just a couple of weeks later, on Bungie Day no less, Marathon 1 [Free] launched for the iPad and we thought it was pretty dang awesome. Perhaps the best part was the choice of business model, as the entirety of Marathon 1 was available for free, with the ability to purchase hi-res assets or a cheat mode as optional IAP. While having the entire first entry in the Marathon trilogy literally at my fingertips was fantastic in its own right, we still couldn't help but wonder if the second and third entries in the series would make it to the App Store too.
We've been giddy for the Sonic CD iOS release since it was finally officially announced back in August, Sega has finally revealed the release date for the game: and it's tomorrow! This will coincide with the release of Sonic CD on the console digital download platforms Xbox Live and PSN this week as well. Pricing on consoles will be $4.99, but iOS gamers get a special introductory price of $1.99. Sega has also confirmed via their Twitter that Sonic CD will be coming to Android and Windows Phone 7, but not until early next year.
This was going to be an absolutely insane week for releases already, but when you throw a heavy hitter like the beloved Sonic CD, coming with all sorts of enhancements and bonuses over the original, into the release mix then things quickly get turned up to 11 and beyond. We'll let you know as soon as Sonic CD officially hits the App Store, and you can be sure we'll be playing the heck out of it with a review soon to follow.
Initially, I rolled my eyes a bit when I saw a thread in our forums posted for a game called Infinity of God. After the sweeping success of the Infinity Blade series, tacking "infinity" onto your title in any way has just about as much effect on me as if it was "doodle" or "angry." That's to say, the predetermination is that what I'll find will be a low quality knockoff of the highly successful games that have made those words ubiquitous on the App Store.
For better or worse, Infinity of God actually does not resemble Infinity Blade so much, but it definitely does not hide the fact that it's a God of War-inspired game. In fact, it appears that in the developer Calvi Game's native Chinese, the subtitle reads as "Wrath of God of War". And so it goes.
However, no matter your feelings on games that are very blatantly "heavily inspired" by other successful games, the trailer for Infinity of God looks mighty impressive:
Easily one of my most anticipated games this year, and I'm sure many of yours out there as well, is Warballoon Games' Star Command. In case you aren't familiar, Star Command can most simply be described as Game Dev Story meets a Star Trek-like science fiction theme, though from what we've seen of the game thus far I'm not totally sure that does it justice. Game Dev Story was beautiful in its simplicity, but Star Command appears to take those simplistic game mechanics and add all sorts of depth on top, creating what we hope will be a deep strategy affair that's still not too convoluted for anybody to jump in to.
We first learned of Star Command this past March, and originally the game was slated for a summertime release. However, that didn't quite pan out, and in August we got a look at some new screenshots for the game but we haven't really heard anything since then. Today Warballoon sent over a quick update on the status of Star Command, along with a slew of new screenshots to check out. It sounds like they are really interested in making the best possible game that they can, rather than trying to rush something out just to hit a planned release date. This latest set of screens is to demonstrate a bit of the work they've put into tightening up the overall user interface.
Fasten your time-travellings belts and turn off your electronic devices. Back in August, we checked out Toxic Blob's Sin Or Win for the first time. We came away impressed, and were stoked to see it that coming September. The game didn't make it out. In fact, it still isn't out and won't be until ... this week.
Toxic Blob's Jamie McCarter dropped us an e-mail saying that he's been using the delay time, which he's written about extensively on his studio's blog, to focus on tweaking and refining the entire experience. The final, retail build of Sin Or Win you'll play this coming December 15 has new fiends, better load times, a "solid" 60 FPS, and even an in-app hint system.
We've had a long, long time since initially seeing this game to figure out how the heck to categorize Sin Or Win. No luck -- we'll continue to let McCarter pitch it, and also use his words as a way to convienently remind you about what it is.
"In the game, the cavemen come from either side, and following the Grim Reapers' command, leap into the abyss," McCarter told us awhile back. From here, you'll get the choice to either save cavemen (winning) by flicking them into clouds or kill them by letting them dive into the pit and burn to death (sinning)."
December is going to be crazy busy with releases, but we're definitely going to give this the official look closer to release. Also, with the game finished, McCarter has moved on to a content update for the game: version 1.1 will "expand" the play, as well as add in Game Center. Neat!
Earlier this summer, we caught word that Frontier Developments's LostWindswas headed to iOS and Android. Now, we've got a great first-look at the iOS version title in action -- and, guys, it's silly gorgeous.
Once an acclaimed WiiWare title, Frontier has obviously pushed the visuals to the max for our phones and tablets. And if you look, you'll notice that it's a fairly HUD-free port with specific touch actions, which has us thinking that we're actually in for an all mobiled-out experience.
No solid date or price point have been announced, but we do know that LostWinds is coming to every iDevice this holiday as a Universal app. Also, it'll ship with a "new map feature" specific to touch devices. Our popcorn is ready, for sure.
UPDATE: Yay, technology! The trailer we originally posted was cut short for some... reason. This is the full thing.
Back in late October we posted an update on Elite Systems' coming Elite Collection (iPhone) and Elite Collection HD (iPad)Â apps, which will offer a bundled collection of classic Commodore 8-bit home computer games, as well as an in-app game store for purchasing additional singles and bundled arrangements of games. At that time, Elite indicated that these applications would be delayed due to a trademark complication. We're now happy to report the studio has informed us that the titles will land in the App Store on Friday, December 16th, and at a one-week promotional launch price of $0.99 each. [ UPDATE: Apologies to readers in our overlooking the fact that the stated release date does not apply to the Americas. These titles will see release there in mid-to-late January. ]
Last month, CAVE announced plans to bring Bug Princess to iOS. Details were vague aside from a teaser video and a "winter 2011" release data. Well, this afternoon CAVE let the proverbial cat out of the bag and revealed that it'll be available on the 15th as a universal app for $4.99.
My favorite part of the trailer is about half way in when they show the side by side gameplay of the different difficulty levels. I've never really been good enough at CAVE games to advance past the easy modes. Thinking that it's possible for someone to rock out in "hell" mode sort of makes my head explode.
Bug Princess is just the latest of the plethora of games that are scheduled to be released on the 15th. Strap in, next week is going to be insane.
Here's some news I wasn't expecting. Andriasang.com is reporting that Capcom is readying an enhanced version of Mega Man X, the beloved Super Nintendo classic starring everyone's favorite blue hero, for release on iOS sometime this month.
The only catch with that is the game is only confirmed for release in Japan, but it's not a big stretch to imagine that Capcom would be bringing the game to other territories as well. In fact, I'll eat my blue helmet if we don't get Mega Man X in the US App Store at some point.
It's hard to come up with an IP I have more fond memories of than the MechWarrior family. Anyone remember the actual BattleTech Centers? After spending a few hours in one of those, you basically become a MechWarrior fan for life. Anyway, MechWarrior: Tactical Command was announced mere moments ago, and is the first MechWarrior title designed for iOS. It's apparently even been in development since 2009, and it utilizes touch controls to facilitate a real time tactics system of battling. Check out the trailer:
Over 30 mech options will be included, along with an advanced weapon system and all sorts of missions to complete. Details aside from that are vague right now, but we expect more information to start dribbling out next year as the game gets closer to release.
Fans of the excellent Battlezone-like Vector Tanks and Vector Tanks Extreme titles will be excited to hear that Black Powder Media has taken the baton from original developer Peter Hirschberg and is creating the next installment in the Vector Tanks series, Vector Tanks 3, on iOS. Larger in scope, Vector Tanks 3 will try to introduce competitive local multiplayer to the franchise, as well as "bold new graphics," new vehicles, and configurations. One problem: it needs funding, and the creators are crowd-sourcing that via Kickstarter.
Some of its goals might change based on hitting different levels of funding. The best example of this is in the multiplayer arena. Depending on the cash received, the team might or might not be able to incorporate world wide, Internet multiplayer. Or consider platforms like the PC or XBLA.
If this project succeeds, chances are that we'll see more Vector Tanks in the future. On the game's funding page, it's mentioned that this is just one chapter of up to seven in the series, all following the adventures of Vic Vector.
We're huge fans of the firsttwoVector Tanks games, so we'd love to be able to get our hands on Vector Tanks 3 at some point in the future. Extreme, in particular, was a sharp, focused, and really well-executed iteration that amped up the action in glorious ways. If the trend of bigger and better continues with each new game, Vector Tanks 3 could be really special.
For what seems like forever now, gamers have been clamoring to have the indie arcade platformer Super Crate Box ported over to their beloved iOS devices. And who can blame them, the game is awesome. This past August Vlambeer, the developer of Super Crate Box, made the official announcement that they would indeed be bringing their game to the App Store, with the help of The Blocks Cometh [99¢] developer Halfbot. And there was much rejoicing.
The plan was to have Super Crate Box ready for iOS the following month, but in the world of game development almost nothing ever goes as planned. Yesterday, Vlambeer updated their blog with word that at long last, Super Crate Box for iOS was finished and had been shipped off to Apple for their approval. Again, there was much rejoicing.
Earlier this afternoon, Telltale Games revealed when we'll see the next two chapters of the Tales of Monkey Island series on iPhone and iPod Touch: December 15 and December 22, respectively. For fans of the series on these smaller devices, we'd imagine that this is a very welcome turnaround between episode releases. The gap between initial chapter and the upcoming second chapter will have been more than a month when it releases.
For those not in the know, Monkey Island Chapter 2, or The Siege of Spinner Cay, follows the Mighty Pirate (TM) as he interacts with the world's Mer-folk. Monkey Island Chapter 3, or Lair of the Leviathan, deals almost exclusively with the latest, and probably most moist, mess Guybrush has ever been in. Both are cool, so definitely give them a shot if you're really feeling Tales of Monkey Island.
We thought the My Xbox Live app would be the surprise of the afternoon, but Warner Bros incoming Batman Arkham City tie-in for iOS is contesting. Earlier today, the New Zealand App Store was updated with a bunch of new apps that we'll see tonight, and Batman Arkham City Lockdown is one of those. In brief, it's an Infinity Blade-style one-on-one fighter that has you, as the Batman, eventually beating up the Joker, Two-Face, "and more" dudes from that universe across several different gritty Gotham environments.
As you'll notice from the screens, there's a little more to the experience. Gadgets and gizmos and upgrades are apparently a threat, as well as "unique gameplay" elements in its boss fights. I wouldn't be surprised if it had a touch more, er, viciousness than your run-of-the-mill Batman game, too, since the guys behind Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm, are behind it and all.
Lockdown should release tonight at around 11PM EST (at $5.99), so we'll be able to get a much better picture then. For other release news, look out for our upcoming post that spills the beans on everything notable hitting tonight.
Big news this afternoon: the simulation gurus over at Kairosoft have announced their next game, and no, it's not that Hot Springs Story On A Boat title we noted a few weeks ago. Instead, it's a city simulation dubbed Venture Towns, and it's expected to hit the US App Store this coming December 15, presumably exclusively for the iPod Touch and iPhone.
We don't know anything about it from a hands-on perspective, but the screens we've seen so far have been telling. More than likely, this will be Oh! Edo Towns [$1.99 / Free] with a modern twist. As you'll see, Venture Towns is rocking stadiums and skyscrapers, and storefronts, vegetation and even planes. Abilities like "IQ" and "Work" stand in, presumably, for "Farming" and "Loyalty."
More telling is the grouping of buildings. Venture Towns has a similar grid-based style just like Oh! Edo Towns, which implies that it'll have similar mechanics. So, prepare to stare at an Excel spreadsheet all afternoon in order to drill down what combinations work best with the kind of workers you have. Yes!
Fasten your time-travellings belts and turn off your electronic devices. Back in August, we 
Earlier this summer, we caught word that 
Back in late October we posted an update on 
Earlier this afternoon, Telltale Games 
We thought the 
Big news this afternoon: the simulation gurus over at Kairosoft have announced their next game, and no, it's not that 
