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Coming Tonight: ‘Awesome Land’, ‘Ghost Trick’, ‘Off The Lease’, ‘Reckless Racing 2′, and More

by Salat on February 1, 2012 · 0 comments

It’s Wednesday again, and if you’ve been reading TouchArcade for any more than a week you’ll likely know what that means: Game releases, and lots of them. This got me thinking, surely everyone has heard the old nursery rhyme Monday’s Child, right? That’s something they still tell kids these days, isn’t it?

I think this should be revised, as Wednesday’s child is now full of iOS games, which I’d say is the exact opposite of woe. Or, maybe the reason Wednesday’s child is woeful is because on that particular Wednesday there was a game that cost more than 99¢? The world may never know.

What does this have to do with anything? I don’t know, the brutal truth is I just need enough text to make this image I embedded look right. Now, enough breaking the third wall and on with the games!

Awesome Land, $ 1.99 – Forum Thread – How awesome Awesome Land actually is will largely hinge on its controls. Judging by the trailer there’s an awful lot of retro-y platform-y goodness, let’s just hope managing these jumps isn’t an exercise in virtual control frustration.

Fly With Me, 99¢ – Forum Thread – A flying game published by EA. What you see in the above gameplay video seems to be what you get.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Free – Forum Thread – This “interactive mystery” started its life on the Nintendo DS, and has since made its way to the App Store. It’s free to try, but unlocking all the content will run you $ 9.99.

Gorilla Gondola, $ 1.99 – Forum Thread – This physics game seems to have an interesting gimmick to it in that you control a gorilla on top of a gondola, and jump up and down to make it avoid obstacles. It’s just crazy enough to work.

Off The Leash, Free – Forum Thread – So this tilt-based top-down racing games looks pretty standard from a control and gameplay perspective… Then you add the premise into the mix. Watch the trailer which segues into this OJ Simpson style multi-car police chase to catch a …dog?

Reckless Racing 2, $ 4.99 – Forum Thread – I had an absolutely fantastic time with the original Reckless Racing, and I can’t wait to dive into a sequel. We’ll have a review up of this game as soon as we can.

Spice Invaders, Free – Forum Thread – I’m not sure if they’re making a Dune reference or a Space Invaders reference, but this looks like a pretty slick tower defense game.

Terra Noctis: Free Dreaming, Free – Forum Thread – We weren’t entirely crazy about Terra Noctis in our review. Here’s a free to play spin on the game that you can try yourself and see whether or not you agree with us.

Source: Touch Arcade

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More ‘TinyTower’ Drama: Glu Releases Second Knock-Off; Zynga Responds, as Does NimbleBit

by Salat on January 31, 2012 · 0 comments

I hope NimbleBit believes in the saying “There’s no such thing as bad publicity,” because they’ve certainly been the target of a boat-load of industry drama lately with not one but three individual TinyTower [Free] knock-off “betas” landing on the Canadian App Store in the last week. First there was Zynga’s Dream Heights [Free], then Glu’s Small Street [Free], and this morning we discovered another clone by Glu, Lil’ Dungeon [Free]. The main innovation of Lil’ Dungeon seems to be that you’re building down instead of up. Aside from some new graphics, just like the other clones, all of the gameplay elements are identical.

What’s more interesting than Glu mashing the green button on their copy machines is that Zynga actually has responded to the recent controversy. VentureBeat not only scored a interview with Mark Pincus, Zynga’s chief executive of social games, they also managed to snag a copy of a confidential memo he sent around. The takeaway from the interview is this:

In essence, Pincus is not saying that it’s OK to copy someone else’s game. Rather, he is saying that a company can make a contribution to the canon of gaming if it takes an existing game and improves it. That company can reimagine the game and remove all the barriers that stand between the game reaching a billion people.
…

“You should be careful not to throw stones when you live in glass towers,” Pincus said. “When you pull the lens back, you saw that their tower game looked similar to five other tower games going all the way back to SimTower in the early 1990s.” …Read More

In light of this news, I got in contact with NimbleBit’s Ian Marsh for a rebuttal to Pincus’ claims:

It is a smart idea for Mark Pincus and Zynga to try and lump all games with the name Tower together as an actual genre whose games borrow from each other. Unfortunately sharing a name or setting does not a genre make. The games Pincus mentions couldn’t be more different. Sim Tower is a true “sim” with macroscopic management and fine tuning of a buildings facilities. Tower Bloxx is a timing based high score game.

If you take a quick look before “pulling the lens back” as Pincus suggests, you’ll find an innumerable number of details in the game that were painstakingly crafted to be identical to Tiny Tower. These are core gameplay mechanics and rules, not similar settings or themes that games in the same genre might share.

Why are there 5 different business types like Tiny Tower? Why do 5 people fit in an apartment instead of 4 or 6? Why are there VIP elevator riders that perform the same functions as Tiny Tower? Why do businesses employ exactly 3 workers and produce exactly 3 products that are stocked in exactly the same way as Tiny Tower. Even the tutorials at the beginning of the game follow the exact same steps.

All of these things are poorly hidden underneath an uninspired veneer which has become Zynga’s trademark.

It’s hard to disagree with the NimbleBit guys on this one, and it’s equally difficult to find the “improvement” Zynga claims to have packed into Dream Tower. From where we’re sitting, it seems that the main “improvement” that they’re seeing is the Zynga dog in the top left corner of the Dream Tower app icon.

Source: Touch Arcade

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FFXIII-2 Lightning DLC strikes Feb. 7, more DLC plans outlined

by Salat on January 31, 2012 · 0 comments

Final Fantasy XIII-2 comes out today in North America, but it’s already benefiting from simultaneous DLC releases with Japan. Due on Feb. 7, upcoming DLC lets players fight FFXIII protagonist Lightning, accompanied by Lt. Amoda. If you defeat her, she can join your party.

Siliconera reports that future DLC following this Lightning battle will include a costume pack and new story content (which Square Enix says will “enhance the experience and complement the narrative of FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 with storyline branches for key characters in the story,” with another coliseum battle coming in mid-March. That wacky Ezio costume will be in there somewhere, as well.

Gallery: Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Lightning and Master Sergeant Amodar DLC)

FFXIII-2 Lightning DLC strikes Feb. 7, more DLC plans outlined originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: Joystiq

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Report: Xbox Next Will Be Six Times More Powerful Than Xbox 360, But Not More Powerful Than Your Current PC

by Salat on January 25, 2012 · 0 comments

IGN has a report told to them by good old Sources about the GPU of the forthcoming Xbox console. Here’s what they said, followed by my sadness.

Following initial reports from tech blogs Fudzilla and SemiAccurate, our sources have confirmed that mass production of the system’s GPU will indeed begin by the end of 2012 but will not, however, be based on AMD’s 7000 series Southern Islands GPU. Instead, the processor will be derived from the 6000 series, which was introduced last year. More specifically, it will be akin to the Radeon HD 6670, which offers support for DirectX11, multidisplay output, 3D and 1080p HD output. The chip currently has a market price of upwards of $ 79.99.

It’s hard to figure out how to interpret that. Yes, the 6670 isn’t nearly as powerful as you would hope the next generation of console would be. Hell, I have a 6950 in my PC right now, and it’s been there for six months.

What this implies is that the increase in graphical capabilities will be only incremental from the current generation. That’s a maybe, though. The thing to remember is that the performance of the Xbox 360 probably already rivals that of a PC with a 6670 in it. Consoles, because they are dedicated gaming devices, get more gaming power out of hardware than a PC does.

But how much more can they get out of a 6670? That’s not even a top of the line card right now. IGN’s report also says Microsoft is planning a 2013 release for the new console, so you can imagine just how far behind they’ll be by the time it actually makes it into your home.

It’s hard to picture, though, CliffyB’s hopes for the next generation being realized on the back of a 6670. It’s also hard to imagine a 6670 pulling off physically based rendering. But we’ll see. Hopefully, the folks at Microsoft know what they’re doing.

Source: Gaming Today

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Report: Xbox Next Will Be Six Times More Powerful Than Xbox 360, But Not More Powerful Than Your Current PC

by Salat on January 25, 2012 · 0 comments

IGN has a report told to them by good old Sources about the GPU of the forthcoming Xbox console. Here’s what they said, followed by my sadness.

Source: Gaming Today

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News: Origin signs 11 more publishers

by Salat on January 24, 2012 · 0 comments

EA’s digital distribution platform Origin has added a further eleven publishers to its line up.

Trion Worlds, Robot Entertainment, CD Projekt RED, Freebird Games, Recoil Games, Autumn Games, 1C Company, inXile entertainment, Paradox Interactive, Core Learning Ltd and N3V Games will all supply content for the service.

“The digital versions of Rift have seen incredible success, and Origin offers an ideal direct-to-consumer avenue for gamers interested in experiencing the rich world of Telara,” said Trion’s Jim Butler.

First details on Mortal Kombat for Vita: 60FPS, touchscreen fatalities and more

by Salat on January 19, 2012 · 0 comments

Having a scorpion in your pocket isn’t usually the kind of experience people rush out and pay for, but Mortal Kombat progenitor and NetherRealm Studios creative director Ed Boon doesn’t seem too worried about that. In fact, the Vita port of Mortal Kombat is starting to sound pretty legit: The title will include all of the characters and modes from the PS3 version, run at 60 frames per second and support both local and online 1-on-1 multiplayer via wifi, according to an interview with PlayStation Blog.

The handheld homage to hemorrhaging also includes a second, brand-new Challenge Tower that takes advantage of the Vita’s touchscreen and accelerometer in 150 new challenges. While unable to speak specifically on how the Vita’s tech has been implemented in these challenges, Boon teased being able to tilt your Vita in order to change gravity’s orientation during a hypothetical mission.

The touchscreen will also be used for activating X-Ray attacks and swiping direction inputs to initiate fatalities, but beyond that no Ultimate MvC3-esque touch controls have been implemented. “We goofed around with ideas like that,” said Boon. “It was an interesting novelty at first, but literally everybody who tried it said ‘Oh, that’s cute,’ and then went right back to the normal control scheme.” Mortal Kombat for the Vita is set to tear out tiny, adorable spines sometime this spring.

First details on Mortal Kombat for Vita: 60FPS, touchscreen fatalities and more originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: Joystiq

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Coming Tonight: ‘Ash II: Shadows’, ‘JAZZ: Trump’s Journey’, ‘Niko’, ‘SoulCalibur’, and More

by Salat on January 19, 2012 · 0 comments

After some deliberation with Brad while recording our podcast today, we determined that it is in fact Wednesday, which means a whole slew of games coming out tonight. We’re still not seeing the massive influx of games that we were seeing towards the end of 2011, but we’re getting back to where we used to be.

This week is a massive improvement over a few weeks ago where we were struggling to find four games to post about. All of this stuff should be available at 11:00 PM Eastern, or potentially much earlier if you’re the kind of person who lives east of North America.

Ash II: Shadows, $ 2.99 Silver / $ 4.99 Gold – Forum Thread – We had a great time with the original Ash, and needless to say, we were very surprised to see this Konami-published sequel squeak out on to the App Store today. It comes in two versions, a “silver” and “gold” edition. It sounds like buying the Gold version now is similar to subscribing to Call of Duty Elite in that you get all the DLC included. Meanwhile, it sounds like these will be IAP for the Silver package. Without any solid plans of what sort of DLC is coming, it’s hard to say which is the better buy.

Greedy Penguins, 99¢ – Forum Thread – I know what you’re probably thinking, the App Store really needs some more bird-based physics games. Well, Chillingo has you covered with Greedy Penguins. Three different environments are included as well as a host of unlockables.

JAZZ: Trump’s Journey, $ 2.99 – Forum Thread – This game sounds so crazy I can’t wait to try it. You play as a jazz musician assembling a band with a trumpet that can stop time. The art style looks cool, the premise is delightfully crazy, and it’s got the BulkyPix seal of approval.

Niko, Free (With $ 1.99 Unlock) – Forum Thread – This platformer looks pretty neat, as games that use flinging mechanics for jumping seem to work pretty well on the App Store. Niko has the added bonus of apparently being able to award you items in Habbo Hotel. That’s cool, right?

Order Up!! To Go, Free (99¢ Unlock to Remove Ads) – Forum Thread – Ever wish you could experience what it’s like to work in the fast food industry without actually working in the fast food industry? Here’s your chance!

Puzzlejuice, $ 2.99 – Forum Thread – I’m always down for a crazy word game. It seems like the idea behind this one is to first match colored blocks, which then turn into word tiles, which you then use to spell words. Sounds delightfully hectic.

Smash Cops, $ 2.99 – Forum Thread – After an unfortunate App Store SNAFU, Smash Cops should be back this week? I hope so, anyway. I can’t wait to play it.

SoulCalibur, $ 12.99 – Forum Thread – Yet another classic fighting game joins Street Fighter and King of Fighters on the App Store. I can’t wait to see how this one controls.

Time of Heroes, 99¢ – Forum Thread – A 3D turn-based strategy game. It’s a little hard from the video to tell how all the gameplay elements work, but people in our forums seem to be excited for it.

Source: Touch Arcade

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