gaming - page 46

The iControlPad has been teased for so many years that the case — which promised to allow you to add physical gaming controls to your iPhone or iPod Touch — was the front contender in our own internal Vaporware awards. Heck, just a month ago, I wrote: “The sad fact of the matter is we’re never going to see the release of the long fabled iControlPad.”

So much for my soothsaying and shows what I know. After two and a half years of development, the very first iControlPad has finally popped off the production line as the sexy unit you see above. The first run of the device will be limited to 3,000 units, and orders should start being taken “soon.”

That’s great news for iPhone gamers, particularly emulation enthusiasts, but what impresses me most about the new design is its modularity: the bumpers actually pop off and can be changed to theoretically support another smartphone, or even an updated iPhone design.

Really neat. We’re glad to see the iControlPad’s long transition from dream to product finally nearing the end its final days.

Longing for the gaming arcade but stuck at your desk?  Well, the Pinball Magic [app]cessory from New Potato won’t fool you into thinking you’re at the real thing, but it looks like a cute way to kill both time and disposable income.  Slide your handheld iDevice into the mini pinball machine and Tilt Away:

Get ready for iPhone and iPod touch entertainment that’s in a class by itself! The Pinball Magic [app]cessory creates realistic and engaging gameplay, bringing classic pinball machine cabinet design and fun to iPhone and iPod touch. Pinball Magic, just like the classic cabinets (only smaller), works with the free Pinball Magic app to create a portable arcade experience, complete with flipper buttons and ball-launching plunger.

Perfect for entertaining miniature coworkers or family members.  Available soon at Best Buy for $40.

[via TUAW] [Chip Chick]

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNhxQ0SElwE&feature=player_embedded

It’s really rare that an App Store game can sell me with just four achingly beautiful words, but Deceased Pixel’s upcoming iOS action game Super Mega Worm has done just that… and those words are “Great Death Worm Wojira.”

The trailer embedded above gives a bit more details about the game. The Great Death Worm Wojira? That’s you, a Tremors-style nematode who needs to chew into great, spattering hunks the miserable humans who have wreaked havok on the poor skin of Mother Earth… all with a fantastic soundtrack and fun, rich SNES-era pixel sprites.

And yes, oh yes: just like the MegaShark, the Great Death Worm Wojira can take out planes. Heck, you can even take out satellites.

Look, Deceased Pixel. You can charge me anything you want for this one. Just fulfill your promise and get it out to us by the end of the month.

Pretty much every iOS game is played with fingers, but the (i)Pawn app from French studio Volumnique is trying to change that by employing a set of physical token that are each capable of being uniquely identified by the iPhone’s touchscreen. Click through for a video.

It’s a neat demonstration, but I’ll be honest with you: I’m not entirely sure how it works. Looking at the site, each token appears to be glued onto a different sized cell battery. Since the iPhone’s capacitive touchscreen works by using a layer of capacitive material to hold an electrical charge, and senses a touch when the amount of charge under your finger changes. If the bottom-loaded batteries on the tokens predictably change the amount of charge sensed by the touchscreen, this could conceivably work… but I’m not sure the iPhone’s touch software is that nuanced. Any developers out there who might be able to hand us their theories?

Either way, it’s a neat demonstration, an even if (i)Pawn looks like a pretty boring game, it could have some neat practical merits. The iPad’s a great size for a game board, after all: a Monopoly app with mail-away top hats, locomotives, irons and terrier tokens could be a pretty satisfying experience.

Looking for something to keep you entertained this weekend? Let Cult of Mac’s weekly must-have apps & games feature help you out.

After some feedback on last week’s post, we’ve decided that this week we’re going to split up apps & games and give you a dedicated post for each.

So here’s are a few of our favorite games; check them out after the break!

We’ve all seen what id software has in mind as far as bringing their upcoming Rage to iOS as a 60 frames-per-second FPS, but what about id’s classic games? They’ve already released incredible ports of Doom and Wolfenstein 3D to the App Store, and id’s engine-building maestro John Carmack had promised to bring Quake to iOS devices too, as well as the mobile specific title, Orcs and Elves. What’s the hold up?

TouchArcade got a chance to talk to Carmack, and it doesn’t sound good:

Currently, id is completely focused on Rage, and John isn’t sure when they will get back to the classic games “even though it makes a lot of sense.” He also explained that while both Doom II RPG [$3.99] and Wolfenstein RPG [$1.99] have done well on mobile phones, their performance on the App Store has been less than ideal, leading to the decision to not bring the Orcs & Elves games over to iOS.

That’s disappointing news, because both Doom II RPG and Wolfenstein RPG are great titles. Moreover, when Doom Classic was released, Carmack promised that it would soon be updated to allow in-app purchases of the sequels, Doom 2 and Final Doom. That update still isn’t out.

Rage for iPhone looks incredible, but id’s doing the best FPS ports on the App Store, and their classic library of games is non-pareil. Let’s hope id software figures out a way to get back to the App Store in earnest.

Valve’s Source engine games run fantastically on the Mac already, but the performance hasn’t quite been up to the level of what they’ve come to expect under Windows, mostly due to issues inherent to Snow Leopard’s graphic drivers. We posted last month that Valve was working closely with Apple to remedy that issue, and now the fruits of their labors have been released, courtesy of a new Snow Leopard Graphics Update.

Here’s what the 69MB update fixes:

Addresses frame rate issues occurring in Portal and Team Fortress 2 by Valve, on iMac (Late 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac mini (Early 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac Pro (Early 2009), MacBook (Early 2009 and Mid 2010) and MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) or MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010) models.

Resolves an issue that could cause Aperture 3, or StarCraft II by Blizzard, to unexpectedly quit or become unresponsive.

Resolves an image corruption issue that may occur when disconnecting and reconnecting external displays while the system is running.

It’s really good to see Apple taking Mac gaming seriously enough to specifically call out new games in their patch notes. Cupertino’s long sent the message that it doesn’t really care about gaming under OS X, but perhaps all that was missing was a passionate advocate like Valve.

Apple keeps plugging away at getting their iOS-oriented social gaming network, Game Center, and the latest version in developer builds of iOS 4.1 include new parental features to the mix.

Joining other parental features like turning off access to Safari, YouTube, in-app purchases or location services, the new option will allow users to restrict multiplayer game settings per device. Given the amount of homophobia, racism and downright vile smacktalk that takes place in multiplayer games on other services like Xbox Live, it’s probably a wise addition.

Game Center’s probably nearing launch: Apple has tended to heavily tout the iPod Touch as a gaming device over the past year, and with a hardware refresh of that device likely to happen in September or October, we can probably expect Game Center to drop simultaneously, bundled in iOS 4.1.

[via Apple Insider]

With hundreds of thousands of applications and games already in the App Store, and more and more added daily, it’s often hard to notice some of the great apps that are available for your iOS device. That’s where Cult of Mac’s weekly must-have shortlist comes in: we’ll compile a list at the end of each week to showcase a few of our favorites and pick out the best of the bunch. Check out this week’s after the break!

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeXe_G0xmY0&feature=player_embedded

By all rights, id software’s John Carmack should be an engorged psychic brain floating in a tank somewhere: he talks like some kind of representative of a spatial robotic hive mind, and his ability to code next-gen graphics engines are often years ahead of their time.

Consider, for example, this demonstration Carmack gave at yesterday’s QuakCon 2010 keynote. What you see here is the id tech 5 engine, which will drive id software’s forthcoming next-generation post-apocalyptic shooter, Rage… except it’s running on the iPhone 4 at 60 frames per second , with Xbox or PlayStation 2 level graphics. That’s nothing to sneeze at… and Carmack promises it’ll

Sure, this isn’t an actual “game” yet, just a technology demonstration… but Carmack expects to see the iPhone version of Rage come to the App Store later this year as a smaller prequel game, with a more robust sequel to be released simultaneously with the console version next year.

Of course, where id software tends to fall over isn’t in the technology, but the actual gameplay, so who knows if Rage for iPhone will actually be worth playing. Either way, though, this is on track to be the best looking game on the App Store.

No need to resort to physical violence to escape from jail, just let an engrossing iPhone game do the work for you.  GamePron brings us of this tale of a gaming fix with a higher cost than usual:

Everybody knows that there’s a certain risk one takes when playing addictive, engrossing games when you’re meant to be doing something else.  The prevalence of awesome games on the iPhone hasn’t helped that risk – as a Philippines police officer has learned.

Five inmates recently escaped from a police precinct in Cagayan de Oro City, snatching up the officer’s keys where he’d left them while playing a quick few levels of Plants vs. Zombies.   Apparently, the convicts had no trouble getting the keys and gaining their freedom – although four of the five were recaptured shortly after.

A cautionary tale for those playing addictive games on the clock – though I suspect one (likely) former prison guard now has a lot more time to work on his high score!

[via SlashDot]

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zVmW4NYkwE&feature=player_embedded

Perhaps the most bizarre meta deconstruction of Oregon Trail for the Apple II ever made hit the App Store this week. So Long, Oregon! by BlinkBat Games takes the trappings and retro-style of Oregon Trail, but where the latter title is all about historical edutainment, resource management and not dying of dysentery, this one’s all about hurtling your team of bison over mountain ranges as you commit xenocide against the native fauna while batting back plagues, pestilences, venereal diseases and infections.

Not sold on the concept? One review in the App Store remarks, “[T]here is no way to improve upon this game. It’s a masterpiece of game design and modern thought.”

You can get So Long, Oregon! now as a universal app for just $1.99.

Osmos for iPad is a unique game for Apple’s new platform. It reminds me a little bit of Spore from Electronic Arts, but only a little. I got bored with Spore on my Mac and iPhone pretty quickly, but I cannot say the same about Osmos.

The app makes good use of the iPad’s graphic abilities, touchscreen interface, and audio hardware. The latter provides nice music and sound effects that make playing the game for long periods of time enjoyable. However, the rapidly changing game play, that made me feel immersed in a totally new gaming experience, was what really made me fall in love with this game.

Steam for Mac is great and all, but after an impressive launch of Mac titles, the stream of new OS X games has slacked to a mere trickle.

Don’t expect that to change anytime soon. In a new interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Valve says that we probably can’t expect developers to make a concerted effort to bringing their in-progress titles to the Mac until 2011.

“People are looking at their titles for this holiday and saying ‘a Mac version would screw with my schedule, or I’d have to ship it late. Neither of those is super-desirable. But the titles that I have in Spring of 2011 or in Holiday of 2011, let’s have a discussion and let’s see those numbers and start to figure it out,” said Valve’s Doug Lombardi.

The good news is that it seems game developers do want to support the Mac. The bad news is that Steam for Mac took them a bit by surprise, and so we’re probably looking at slim pickings in native Mac ports until sometime next year.

Serious>PC heavy, but if you game under Boot Camp, that shouldn’t be a problem, and there are numerous Mac titles like World of Warcraft, Civilization IV and Unreal Tournament 2004.

Other features of the G510 include custom-color backlighting, allowing you to truly tart up your keyboard according to your own chromatic specification, integrated USB audio for headset support, 18 programmable keys and simultaneous key input for up to five keys at once, allowing you to deploy some truly polydactyl shortcuts.

The G510 costs $119.99, and although it’s temporarily sold out, you can sign up to be notified when the keyboard’s next available over on the official Logitech website.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH0zasBkNX8&feature=player_embedded

Games maker Blizzard has always had sympathy for Mac gamers: not only do native Mac ports exist for most of Blizzard’s titles, but they have exclusively shipped hybrid Mac/PC installation DVDs of their titles since World of Warcraft.

Their latest blockbuster title, Starcraft II, follows suit with the Mac love… but the game’s content also includes another fond pat on the head for fans in this in-game ad for the iPistol, a space marine spoof of Apple’s famous “dancing silhouette” iPod ad campaign.

Not that anyone’s seen those ads in a while, mind, but cut Blizzard some slack: given Starcraft II’s ten year development cycle, we should count our blessings that they aren’t parodying “Think Different.”

Apple’s never been really serious about Mac gaming… which makes it all the more miraculous that we’re currently living in a golden age of Mac gaming, largely through the efforts of Valve Software to bring native ports of their Source engine games as well as the Steam digital delivery service to OS X.

But now Valve is doing one better. They’ve just announced that they’ll be sharing a lot of their graphics code for the Mac with developers on Steam, which they characterize as the hardest work of bringing a title to the Mac.

Valve’s a great company, but they aren’t doing this out of sheer benevolence: as it turns out, even old Steam games released for the Mac have seen 15-20% sales bumps across all platforms, and that number’s only going to rise. That means more money in Valve’s pockets. There’s huge money in Mac gaming, and even if Apple is mysteriously unwilling to capitalize upon that, it’s good to know that savvy developers like Valve know a good opportunity when they see it.

[via TUAW]

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkB9vQDY3eU&feature=player_embedded

The sad fact of the matter is we’re never going to see the release of the long fabled iControlPad iPhone case, which would allow you to add a D-Pad and physical buttons to your phone.

For us jailbroken retro-gamers with an affinity for emulation, that’s pretty sad, but maybe there’s hopes: the iPhone Game Pad has now come along, adding the same functionality to the iPhone.

Unfortunately, right now, it only works with the original iPhone, with 3G and 3GS support coming soon. Double unfortunate is that, as usual, this seemingly wonderful product isn’t in the shipping phase, with its creators now looking for a manufacturing partner.

Granted, it’s understandable why iPhone accessory manufacturers both wouldn’t and couldn’t sell an accessory that depends on jailbreaking, especially if they want to keep a good relationship with Apple. Still, I hope someday one of these iPhone control pad projects gets off the ground: there’s plenty of iPhone gamers out there who miss the tactility of physical buttons underneath our thumbs.

Nothing like dropping a little ninja into a spoiling dish to spice things up. In this case, the dish is a game like Tap-Tap Revenge, and the ninja is…well, it’s a ninja. Sorta.

Rhythm Spirit ($2) lets you control a little rendered cartoon-ninja named Toshi as he battles through ten levels of Japanese-ish folklore after being “empowered by a spirit.” The art and soundtrack look and sound tasty, but it’s the way you control Toshi — through tapping out fight (or flight) commands to the rhythm of the soundtrack— that makes this game stand out from the crowd.

Try the free version if you’re still not sold after watching the vid.

Tanoshii’n da!

Archetype, the instantly popular online FPS by Villain that impressed many of us upon its release earlier this month has been pulled from the App Store.

The game’s recent update to version 1.2.1 brought with it several bugs that caused issues when loading on certain devices, and in turn a large number of unhappy customers.

Archetype’s Twitter page confirms that Villain are currently working with Apple to resolve the issue and get Archetype back in to the App Store. One tweet suggests that users with a backup of version 1.05 can continue to use that for the time being:

We’re working with Apple to resolve the problem. 1.05 should work if you have a backup (assuming you downloaded 1.2.1). 

Let us know if you’ve had problems with Archetype and what device you’re using in the comments. We’ll keep you updated on the game’s return.

Gameloft’s popular iOS shooter N.O.V.A. has just been updated and now includes a new gyroscope control system for the iPhone 4.

First impressions are fantastic! I’ve only given it about 15 minutes, but I love the gyroscope control system and since it’s introduction in games like ngmoco’s Eliminate: Gun Range, I’ve been looking forward to seeing other shooters with this functionality. It takes a bit of getting used to, and you’ll need some room to play, but it’s incredibly fun.

As well as gyroscope support, N.O.V.A.’s graphics have been updated and optimized for the iPhone 4’s Retina display.

If you don’t already have this game, I highly recommend it. Check it out in the App Store.

When you think of Tron in a gaming context, you inevitably think lightcycles, which makes the official Tron game from Disney Interactive something of a puzzler: it’s a dual-stick tank shooter game. The single player is a diverting (if not particularly engaging affair, in which you blast programs into pixels across 15 different levels, but it’s the multiplayer that shines: you join a particular team, and each faction’s score is gauged weekly according to their deathmatch dominance.

The best news of all? Tron is free to download. Go grab it on the App Store, program.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZUSMkyCxvI

If you’re looking for a quirky puzzler to whittle away your time over the weekend, I can’t recommend Helsing’s Fire enough: a hysterically written and unique puzzle game with an astonishing amount of playtime for just $0.99.

Plot-wise, the game follows Dr. Helsing and Rafton in their attempts to save London from a plague of vampires, ghouls, werewolves and other monsters. The gameplay is based upon dynamic lighting puzzles: you are given a limited number of torches and color-coded tonics to kill a set number of monsters per level. By shining your torch upon a monster and then using a tonic on it of the same color, you hit any monster illuminated by your torch with a killer shockwave. But it’s not quite so simple: hit a monster with the wrong tonic and they gain a shield, some monsters are protected by multiple shields, and your tonics also have an unfortunate splatter effect on helpless Victorian babes whom you must protect.

In truth, I could recommend the game for the congratulatory fist bump performed by Dr. Helsing and Rafton upon the successful completion of a level alone… but the gameplay is truly captivating as well. With over 90 levels and three separate endless modes, Helsing’s Fire is an absolute steal of a value. Give it a whirl.

As an achievement iOS junkie, I’ve been disappointed that it’s taken Apple so long to bring their new Game Center app out of beta. Although there’s many services that offer gaming social networking features like friends lists, matchmaking and achievements, Apple’s entry into the market should consolidate everything into a default, Xbox Live style gaming hub.

Unfortunately, Apple hasn’t quite polished the service off yet, as revealed in a few pictures posted by Mobile Crunch, showing the updated look of the Game Center app. Gone is the dark blue look in favor of an appearance simulating a felted gaming table.

Aesthetically, I prefer the old look, even though the gaming table design is probably a stronger and more internally consistent one. Either way, we still have some time yet to wait before we get out hands on Game Center: it’s not due out until sometime this fall.

[via TUAW]

If you’re a kid who grew up in the 80’s or 90’s, you might remember days spent carefully building slot-car tracks that would eventually overrun the entire floor; now all that fun can be had on the iPhone with HTR High Tech Racer — without the annoyance of hunting for slot cars sent unceremoniously hurtling off a sharp corner.

Build tracks, customize tires, chassis and motors, then race the creations. The game claims “realistic physics” and an “intuitive track editor.” And if the lure of racing slot cars on an iPhone isn’t enough, the app’s developer, Graffiti Entertainmant, says they’re also giving away an iPad to the top racer on the app’s race leader board.

HTR High Tech Racing is $2 on the iPhone, $5 for the iPad’s HD version.