November 16th, 2009 1:32 PM | by Christen da Costa
When ‘COD: World At War‘ hit the scene last year everyone and their little brother was ultra psyched for the Zombie board. After all, who doesn’t like slaying zombies, let alone Nazi Zombies. Now their first board, ‘Nacht der Untoten’ (German for ‘night of the dead’) has been transposed to the iPhone where you can engage in up to 4 player coop game play over WiFi (2 if Bluetooth).
At $9.99 it’s a bit steep, especially when you consider it’s just one board and the same board found on the console version. They’ve also got plans to roll out additional Nazi levels which will no doubt cost you.
Remote the iControlpad, the accessory that turned your iPhone into a real deal portable gaming machine? Well they’re back, and this time around they’ve gone bigger, bolder and more powerful. More powerful you say? Yup, this version has a built-in battery that chargers your iPhone as you hammer out levels of TapTap Revenge, or in their case Mario Kart.
According to the maker, the feedback they got from the first iteration was that it was too cramped. And then they realized they’d have to produce a different version for each new iPhone. While I don’t know if this iteration will accept every iPhone currently on the market, its larger size definitely gives way for physical ‘inserts’ to allow for such a feat.
And yes, those are two analog sticks that you’re seeing. They’ve got access to the parts used on the openPandora handheld. Can you say ’see you later’ PSPGo?
There is no word on a release date, but let’s just hope they make it foldable for greater portability, because right now it’s looking a bit too fat.
The ever so memorable scene from Star Wars when Luke blows up the Death Star for the 1st time can soon be yours to control anywhere you go. It could be a great way to impress a young lady at a bar, or perhaps even start a riot at a Trekkie convention.
THQ will be releasing Star Wars Trench Run for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The game will used tilt based controls and with no price or actual release date set, I can’t imagine the game being over a few dollars. But after watching the video below it seems like a very short game so that may warrant a very low price tag. We’ll see.
4Bugs 200 is a picture hunt game from Root9 Media. I had previously reviewed their Yeti Sports game and I’m here today to talk about Bugs4. Sort of a weird name for a picture hunt game, the Bugs are merely the character that you represent when playing by yourself or in multiplayer. You end up seeing them a bunch during scoring screens and they always look pretty happy regardless of how bad you are at the game. …Continue reading: 4Bugs 200 Game Review (iPhone/Touch)
Though it’s been out for two weeks, this is the first I’m hearing of the Dexter game for the iPhone. Enjoying the TV show (midway through season 2), I am interested in how it translates for the iPhone. Published by Marc Ecko Entertainment the game is seeing some high praise from the reviews in the App Store.
Mimicking the show’s minute details, Dexter the game looks to appeal to the investigatory/ stealth gaming crowd. Running at 30 frames per second, the game should last around 5 hours and is $6.
At today’s Apple event, Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed 2 will hit the App Store on the same day that the console versions hit the retail shelves. Taking the same route as the first Assassin’s Creed, the game will be a side-scrolling 2-D platformer.
The graphics look to be tighter and more refined, and word has it that you can use photos from your camera roll and place them in the game to appear as wanted posters.
Available now until tomorrow night for an introductory price of $7.99, Madden NFL 2010 by EA sports hits the App Store and looks to be this fall’s definitive football title for the iPhone. After tomorrow night the game should return to $9.99.
We saw some great looking screen shots two weeks back, and it will be interesting to see how EA’s version stacks up against GameLoft’s NFL 2010. There are no ratings yet in the App Store but be sure to expect some in the hours to come.
I would have never thought that I would be writing about this today. Seemingly totally innovative, Elonex has developed the iGame Dock that will fully support a bevy of motion controlled games soon to appear on an iPhone near you.
Beyond the normal dock functions and including a TV output, you will be able to play music, video, movies, podcasts, and such in addition to the motion sensor games. The basic game package by Elonex will feature 20 Wii-type sports games such as: tennis, bowling, ping-pong, and darts.
Elonex also has a development kit available to encourage publishers and developers to make games for the iGame Dock. Sounds to me like a great idea but we’ll have to wait and see how the final product turns out. Elonex hopes to have the iGame Dock in homes by this holiday season for a price of around $130.
Over the last year or so the iPhone has seen many quality games that have brought smart phone gaming to new heights. EA has helped bring many classic and high profile games to the iPhone and The Sims 3 is one of them. A well rounded and robust package, The Sims 3 can really swallow a lot of your time if you let it.
I’ve never played the Sims before, so I was mildly surprised with the playability and all that one could do with your Sim. But at the same time it was hard for me to get excited or look forward to playing it. I felt like I was limited to the parameters of ‘living” too much, and that nothing I did was very interesting or compelling.
Storyline/ Plot:
The whole object of The Sims 3 is to replicate a microcosm under your direct command. Make friends, get jobs, repair stuff, cook meals, and numerous other activities will keep you and your Sim occupied til’ the end of the day. It’s up to you to decide who your Sim will be based on the choices you make and the effect you have on other SIMs and your surrounding environments. The game is very open ended with a myriad of possibilities at your disposal so in the end the “ultimate goal” is to be whatever person you want to be.
Graphics:
Considering the scope of the game and the size of the screen, I thought that the graphics were great. Zoom and rotation controls were smooth and I never felt like the iPhone 3G couldn’t handle the graphics. Character models were on the large side and interior and exterior environments were decent. I wasn’t blown away by anything in particular nor was I ever disappointed. I would have liked to have seen more enthusiasm in the design of the exterior environments as they were kind of stale and tepid.
Sound:
Minimal at best. Not a whole lot going on. No voice acting and the majority of music was during menu screens. There are some environmental noises like birds chirping and such, but the sound design in general left much to be desired. So although the sound is probably the game’s biggest flaw or altogether missing component, though, it doesn’t really impede upon the playing experience.
Gameplay:
All the controls worked flawlessly and I never had a problem doing what I wanted to do. From the menus to the in-game commands, the iPhone layout had a great design and was very fluid. The screen seemed a little crowded at times, but it never really hindered the gameplay; easily the best part of the game in my opinion. Never do you need help performing the various tasks and actions of your Sim such as moving or buying furniture and cooking on the stove. The implementation of the controls for the iPhone is a novel achievement that any “non” gamer could instantly find accessible.
Replay Value:
Quite limitless. With all the different wishes, goals, and character set ups there are a ton of ways to play The Sims 3 and it is totally worth the asking price. It’s actually on sale right now at 30% off for $6.99. My problem with The Sims 3 is just all the menial meandering that is inherent in the game itself. Monitoring my Sims bowels and hygiene quickly became redundant and having to go to work (just like in real life) was a real snore. I even set up my character to be a maniac and that still didn’t make things more exciting. Watching people sleep and using other people’s showers and toilets just wasn’t that cool. With that said, The Sims 3 is a real time sucker so if you have the time, The Sims 3 will definitely be there for you.
Final Endings:
EA Mobile has truly done an impressive thing with The Sims 3. It’s a full game and you can tell that not many corners were cut in order to bring this game to the iPhone. And while I found the game to be extremely tedious and boring that’s not to say that others cannot enjoy all that The Sims 3 has to offer.
‘Grand Theft Auto: ChinaTown Wars’ is set to be released this October for the PSP Go and it now looks like Rockstar will launch an iPhone version around the same time. Despite Apple’s strict and rather stringent app store policies, Rockstar says the game will go unedited and include all the phallic language and sexual content Grand Theft Auto players have come to expect and love.
Control of the game will come by way of an onscreen analog stick. Based on my experience it takes sometime to get use to, and although it’s a viable way to control the onscreen action, it’s still is a far cry from having a set of physical buttons. So if anything, this version will appeal to the casual gamer who wants to try their hand at Rockstar’s most popular game.
There’s no word on a launch date or price, but Rockstar says they also plan to release Beaterator, an app that lets you make “world-class beats and songs.”
