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The Official iPhone/iPod Touch Gaming Thread

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permutated said:
How is there not a STACKS type utility for sale yet!?

It was on the Jailbroken firmware, it should be easily done, and I have about 10 apps I never use like Stocks or You Tube.
Click to expand...

Something like that could never be developed as an app through the SDK, that would have to be a firmware supported features. Personally, I agree, Apple is far too stylish and UI-savy for me to have imagined they'd have stuck with the purely grid-based icon arrangement system that they have since the iPhone's release.
 
I just got Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart tonight, and holy crap, this framerate is bad. I reeaallly wish I wouldn't have bought this. I can see it becoming a very fun game (it controls very well), but the framerate is just horrible in most spots.

Did anyone else notice this? Are there any fixes?
 
Flunkie said:
I just got Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart tonight, and holy crap, this framerate is bad. I reeaallly wish I wouldn't have bought this. I can see it becoming a very fun game (it controls very well), but the framerate is just horrible in most spots.

Did anyone else notice this? Are there any fixes?
Click to expand...
ten pages ago
 
if anyone's into word games, imangi is really fun. you basically move rows and columns of letters around, trying to get the most points in a turn. unlike other word games, the letters don't disappear - you have to make as many words possible with the set given. pretty challenging, but addictive.

more info here: http://www.imangistudios.com/
 
FYI: There's a new WoW app called "Warcraft Characters" that shows you a status page (lvl, stats, skills ect) for any of your WoW characters. Just tried it and it works great. Heard reports that it has trouble with character that are on realms with spaces in the name. Just a heads up.
 
Costanza said:
BreakClassic was uploaded today and it's BY FAR the best breakout/arkanoid clone. And it's free!
Click to expand...
Granted, it's free, and they've got what seems like a solid OpenGL 3d engine for the visuals so it runs smooth. But otherwise, it's so barebones and unchallenging I can't see myself playing it more than a couple of times until the update it and really start to add some meat to the bones.
 
kaching said:
Granted, it's free, and they've got what seems like a solid OpenGL 3d engine for the visuals so it runs smooth. But otherwise, it's so barebones and unchallenging I can't see myself playing it more than a couple of times until the update it and really start to add some meat to the bones.
Click to expand...
heh, I realized that today after I put a little bit more time into it. DEFINITELY needs an update.
 
Just wanted to let everyone know I bought Blackjack 21. I'm sure it's probably the best BJ app on the store. Intuitive gestures, downloadable deck + table themes, achievements, and a metric TON of options (seriously). It's awesome.

I also d/l'ed Hold'em (the one made by Apple) and was dissapointed in the user interface until i realized you could switch it to landscape mode. Now I'm totally happy with it!
 
infiniteloop said:
Critter Crunch is $5.99 for one week.
Click to expand...
sold!

how has spinblox been for people who got it? worth it?
 
just to make sure,

critter crunch over spinblox any day of the week, right?
or is spinblox actually really great stuff?
 
Just got a black 16GB. :D

Someone should update the OP with a list of the must-have games and apps. Trying to find stuff in this thread is like trying to find a needle in a haystack!
 
Costanza said:
BreakClassic was uploaded today and it's BY FAR the best breakout/arkanoid clone. And it's free!
Click to expand...

I see BreakClassic at .99? Is there a different one taht I'm missing here?
 
cjelly said:
Just got a black 16GB. :D

Someone should update the OP with a list of the must-have games and apps. Trying to find stuff in this thread is like trying to find a needle in a haystack!
Click to expand...


This thread could definitely use a 'what to get/what to avoid list'.

What to get
Galcon
Radius
VS Chess
and +1 for CritterCrunch


What to avoid
Graal Zone
Crash Kart Racing
Monkey Ball
 
that list above is sad..

Simply because the fact that Dizzy Bee is not on there probably the best game on the Iphone...

$2.99
 
Dorfdad said:
that list above is sad..

Simply because the fact that Dizzy Bee is not on there probably the best game on the Iphone...

$2.99
Click to expand...

I've been meaning to pick that up. Thanks for reminding me.

+1 for Dizzy Bee


Edit:
For some reason Dizzy buried at the waaaaay bottom.. has anyone figured out their method for sorting the apps yet? I seem to get a random grouping every time I view the store.
 
Dorfdad said:
that list above is sad..

Simply because the fact that Dizzy Bee is not on there probably the best game on the Iphone...

$2.99
Click to expand...

Also, because Monkey Ball is one of the best games on there. Thanks for letting me know about Dizzy Bee. Just downloaded it!
 
Yes Boss! said:
Also, because Monkey Ball is one of the best games on there. Thanks for letting me know about Dizzy Bee. Just downloaded it!
Click to expand...

While that's true it still doesn't save it from being a crap game.
Of course that's just my opinion.

The accelerometer is a gimmick and should not be used as the basis of controlling a game. Having to move the screen around so you can't see the thing is an instant fail in my book of good game design.


Edit:
see Dizzy Bee *sigh

While Dizzy is a solid looking game in terms of presentation.. I can't get over the fact that I have to tilt the screen nearly completely away from me to control it. Does anyone else have this problem? I can't understand all the love for the accelerometer.
 
mrWalrus said:
The accelerometer is a gimmick and should not be used as the basis of controlling a game. Having to move the screen around so you can't see the thing is an instant fail in my book of good game design.
Click to expand...

Don't buy dizzy-bee then. That is all accelerometer. Wait, you don't have any faith in accelerometer-only controls? What about Kirby Tilt N' Tumble...or a half dozen wii games that rely solely on the accelerometer. Not even interested in the upcoming Wipeout HD?
 
mrWalrus said:
While that's true it still doesn't save it from being a crap game.
Of course that's just my opinion.

The accelerometer is a gimmick and should not be used as the basis of controlling a game. Having to move the screen around so you can't see the thing is an instant fail in my book of good game design.


Edit:
see Dizzy Bee *sigh

While Dizzy is a solid looking game in terms of presentation.. I can't get over the fact that I have to tilt the screen nearly completely away from me to control it. Does anyone else have this problem? I can't understand all the love for the accelerometer.
Click to expand...

You don't need to turn the screen away from you. just keep the screen facing you and rotate the iphone 360 degrees in a circle.

tada.
 
So I bought some stuff last night:

DizzyBee Free - What's the difference between this and the $2.99 version? Fewer levels, I guess? Fun, pretty game, but the art style seems a little derivative of LocoRoco.

Vay - Hmmm. I need more time with this, but I didn't get such a good impression last night. Moving around the world by tapping felt annoying and unnatural, even though I've played dozens of DS games with similar schemes. Oh, and they chose to use one of the ugliest fonts of all time.

Feeds - Still not as good as Google Reader (I couldn't get some sites to work) but everything else about this RSS reader was fine. Okay, I lied, I don't like the color scheme they chose but at least it worked well.

Critter Crunch - Ah, finally got it. Like DizzyBee, it's very pretty. Crisp, colorful graphics, sound effects were nice too. Only played for about 10 minutes but I can see myself playing this a lot.
 
Yes Boss! said:
Don't buy dizzy-bee then. That is all accelerometer. Wait, you don't have any faith in accelerometer-only controls? What about Kirby Tilt N' Tumble...or a half dozen wii games that rely solely on the accelerometer. Not even interested in the upcoming Wipeout HD?
Click to expand...

yeah too late.. oh well. It's still a good game.. just not my cup of tea. I really like to be able to control a game when I play it. I don't want to seem like a troll.. I think it , the accelerometer, works fine I just don't think in practice it's a good way to develop a solid playing experience.

Never played Tilt and Twirl, or the Yoshi one... and to be honest this generation of gaming from Nintendo has left me feeling a little empty inside. I didn't much like flOw either. I really enjoyed the flash version but was completely put off by the sixaxis only controls. That was an instant fail for me. Having them there for the people who like them is great.. but was it too much to include analog support?

I really want to be able to control a game when I play it. Otherwise it's hard for me to feel that I'm ever really getting good at it. Accelerometers leave too much grey area for me to ever feel completely comfortable using them.

As for Wipeout HD:
I'm more pumped for that game than any other, it may be this gen's best racer. If all it has are sixaxis controls tho it's going to be heavily hampered by 'could have been's'. At least for me anyway.



I'm still holding out hope for negon support.
800px-Namco_Negcon_centred.jpg
 
mrWalrus said:
As for Wipeout HD:
I'm more pumped for that game than any other, it may be this gen's best racer. If all it has are sixaxis controls tho it's going to be heavily hampered by 'could have been's'. At least for me anyway.
Click to expand...

Waitwaitwait--off topic, but is this true? Wipeout HD only has Sixaxis controls???
 
So iPhoneDevCamp is apparently happening this weekend, and an iPhone version of iUseThis has gone up. Since I'm guessing most people haven't used iusethis before, it's a pretty neat tool for maintaining a list of apps you use, seeing what your friends use, etc. I've been using the OS X version for a few years.

The iPhone version still needs to have apps loaded into it (which is an easy process thanks to the App Store), but it may be a useful tool for people browsing for apps they haven't heard of, and so on.

http://iphone.iusethis.com/

My profile is over here, if you need to see the site in action:
http://iphone.iusethis.com/user/remy
 
I regret my Zen Pinball purchase... The pinball board is well-crafted, but the ball framerate is bad, and the lack of physical buttons makes me crazy. You can't rest your fingers on the screen like you do with a button because it activates the flippers, you have to keep your fingers lifted and then press! Argh...
 
whatdidyousay said:
Waitwaitwait--off topic, but is this true? Wipeout HD only has Sixaxis controls???
Click to expand...
No, it's not simply accelerometer controls, if that's what you're thinking. It supports standard stick controls on the sixaxis.
 
MotionX Poker, de Blob, Texas Hold 'Em, Scrabble, Dizzy Bee, Critter Crunch, and Quordy are my favorites.

Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart would have been on that list, but the framerate really keeps it from being a great game.

Monkey Ball is horrible, from my experience. I didn't buy it myself, from all the negative feedback, but my friend got it and let me try it - it's really bad.
 
I'm pretty pissed that I paid for Monkey Ball. I wish I could had gotten de Blob first, because then I might have held off on it. Why isn't every single game that needs an accelerometer calibrating tilt like de Blob?

And 3-D Vector pong is awesome. Reminds me of sitting in class and playing 3D pong back in highschool.
 
ha1f said:
I'm pretty pissed that I paid for Monkey Ball. I wish I could had gotten de Blob first, because then I might have held off on it. Why isn't every single game that needs an accelerometer calibrating tilt like de Blob?

And 3-D Vector pong is awesome. Reminds me of sitting in class and playing 3D pong back in highschool.
Click to expand...
Bingo. I was very impressed with the calibration in de Blob. Monkey Ball might have been saved if it had some good calibration settings, but it had none whatsoever.
 
Well, I picked up de Blob based on the recommendations here. Played a bit of the tutorial before I had to turn it off but I'll have better impressions later. Seems pretty polished so far.

Box Office is a very slick app. Too bad Apple pulled it from the store. Glad I got mine.

Did anyone here happen to get Netshare while it was up for a while yesterday?

It allows 3G tethering to your laptop via USB, which is against AT&T policy so I can see why they pulled it. Dammit, wish I could tether with this phone...
 
mattiewheels said:
just to make sure,

critter crunch over spinblox any day of the week, right?
or is spinblox actually really great stuff?
Click to expand...

IMO, critter crunch is the better game. i think most here would agree. for 6 bucks, it's a good deal.
 
I picked up MotionX, Dizzy Bee, and Critter Crunch based on recommendations here. I'm enjoying them all so far and they'll prove useful when I'm traveling this weekend.
 
Great:
Dizzy Bee
Motion X Poker
Aurora Feint
non game: Budget..nice app for keeping track of how much you spend on certain categories each month. I never knew i spent so much on food and random stuff. Menu system could use some streamlining, but i really like this app for what it does.

Decent:
Bomberman
Sudoku Unlimited
Trism

Avoid:
Monkey Ball
Chopper...this is getting great reviews, but it feels like a cheap desktop game to me. Really low production values and the framerate even takes a hit when a lot of enemies are on screen at once. Save system is shit too.
 
holy crap, guys try fire drop.

so.addicting.

At first I was annoyed by the loop playing but it only helps you get in the zone more. You'll see what i mean.

dallow_bg said:
Break Classic got an update, and now costs 99 cents.
Glad I got it for free early.
Click to expand...

This reminds me, you know how we can redownload apps we paid for? Does anyone know if this is the case with stuff that was free, but they now charge for? I got break classic, but I don't want to delete it if that's the case.
 
I just got a 16gb a few days ago. Here are the free apps I downloaded so far. Most are worth checking out.

IGN Reviews (meh), myLite, PhoneSaber, eBay, PayPal, Labyrinth LE, Pandora, Urbanspoon, Google, JawBreaker, Accel Break, NetNewsWire (RSS), Speedtest, Hangman, Dial Zero (Must have), Diggnation, NYTimes, iPhunny (dumb), magic8ball, YouNote, More Cowbell, Tap Tap, Scratch, SpeedType, Crosswords Light, Tunnels.

I also bought Pianist for $5.99 and think it's totally worth it for anyone who plays piano. It's pretty fun on the go, but very limiting obviously.

Anyone have any suggestion of free apps?
 
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