Support NeoGAF

[Juice]

Just picked up Peggle AND Stone Loops for a grand total of $1.98, after getting The Creep! for $0.99

Getting these three amazing games for under $3 feels like I pirated them.

 

[jonnybryce]

The Creep looks nice but there's only so much tower defense I can take and I've got Star Defense and Geodefense to hold me over.

But I totally agree okno, I don't have my iPhone yet (Friday!) but I play games on my brother's and father's and you wouldn't think that games could be so much fun on it. Before I was one of those people that would think "It'll never be a good game platform, wtf" at the gaming hype but I really enjoy the whole experience more than my DS or the PSP (which I sold, disappointment.) The digital distribution and low prices, along with the fact that it's portable enough to always be in your pocket, makes it the most convenient way to play.

I just want more "hardcore" games, more of the stuff that ngmoco and gameloft make.

 

[Juice]

The Creep looks nice but there's only so much tower defense I can take and I've got Star Defense and Geodefense to hold me over.

But I totally agree okno, I don't have my iPhone yet (Friday!) but I play games on my brother's and father's and you wouldn't think that games could be so much fun on it. Before I was one of those people that would think "It'll never be a good game platform, wtf" at the gaming hype but I really enjoy the whole experience more than my DS or the PSP (which I sold, disappointment.) The digital distribution and low prices, along with the fact that it's portable enough to always be in your pocket, makes it the most convenient way to play.

I just want more "hardcore" games, more of the stuff that ngmoco and gameloft make.

At the risk of slaughtering one of my favorite quotes:

The best camera is the one you have with you

I really think the best game is the one you have with you.

I'm never going to carry my PSP or DSes out and about with me, but I always have my phone, and therefore it's my best camera and my best game machine most of the time.

 

[60_gig_PS3]

You guys should try the Saucelifter demo. I want to know if I'm crazy of is it actually a pretty good game.

More full scale games would definitely be a good thing

but to be honest there's so many games released that the next one always seem to trump the old and I want to move on and play something new.

 

[Stoney Mason]

The past month, month and a half or so has seen a high number of quality games released on the platform. Since a lot of people just casually enter the thread every so often to see what's new, here is a round-up of some of the better games released recently even though many have been discussed in recent pages. This is even leaving out a great deal of smaller unknown titles which always seem to slip through the cracks. I don't own all these titles of course but I do own a good number of them.


Star Defense. Very good TD title with excellent production values you've come to expect from ngmoco. Star Defense is one of the next wave of Tower Defense games that switches up the formula a bit by using different perspectives or gameplay mechanics to vary the TD forumla.

Itunes Link
Review #1
Review #2
Video

Real Racing. Simply an outstanding racing game compared to the competition on the iphone. Looks nice and professional but more importantly plays very well and shows the evolution of the iphone market perhaps better than any title. This is the quality bar more apps should be striving for and apple should be encouraging.

Itunes Link
Review #1
Review #2
Video

Knights Onrush. From MoreGames one of the best devs in the iphone market not surprisingly comes another very good title after iDracula and Orions: Legends of Wizards. Knights Onrush is in the castle defense genre that is becoming very popular on the iphone but unlike the competing titles on the market this one actually looks good and plays as well as it looks.

Itunes Link
Lite Version
Review #1
Review #2
Video

Defender Chronicles. As mentioned with Star Defense TD games are starting to branch off from the initial style of games like Fieldrunners and 7 Cities which is only a good thing for diversity in the market.

Itunes Link
Review
Video

StoneLoops! of Jurassica. Just a ridiculously polished and fun take on Zuma which also happens to have had a ridiculously cheap price to match for most of its life on the appstore.

Itunes Link
Lite Version
Review
Video

Isotope. A very well done take on the Geometries Wars formula that actually manages to do some things the original didn't in this case.

Itunes Link
Lite Version
Review
Video

Mecho Wars. Mecho Wars is new to the app store but was an eagerly anticipated take on the Advance Wars formula where the iphone is currently short on good turn based strategy games.

Itunes Link
Impressions Thread
Video

California Gold Rush. After a long dearth of the mining resource style game, there are now quite a few on the app store including I Dig it and Mad Miner but California Gold Rush seems to be getting the best impressions so far as a complete game.

Itunes Link
Review of the mobile version (non iphone)
Video

Toki Tori. Rock solid polished puzzle platformer. This is the way iphone games should be done.

Itunes Link
Lite Version
Review #1
Review #2
Video

Go Go Rescue Squad. Another very good action puzzler to add to the very high number of solid games within the genre on the iphone.

Itunes Link
Review #1
Review #2
Video

Rise of the Lost Empires. No skirmish mode but otherwise a very solid take on the Warcraft style forumla rts.

Itunes Link
Review of the non iphone version
Video

Circuit Strike One. A brutally difficult shooter that isn't for everybody but if you like a challenge and can adjust to the movement system (which trades in the usual geometry wars approach for something more akin to Asteroids) there is a good game underneath.

Itunes Link
Review #1
Review #2
Video

Vanguard Storm. It's a bit unusual to think that a Square Enix game could be considered under the radar on any platform but that is exactly what I consider Vanguard Storm. A game that takes its simplicity which should be a weakness and turns it into a strength.

Itunes Link
Lite Version
Review #1
Review #2
Video

Jules Verne's Return to Mysterious Island. Developers are quickly learning that graphic adventures are more than suited to the strengths of the idevice platform.

Itunes Link
Review #1
Review #2
Video

Westbang. Casual but fun tap shooter. While idevice games continue to improve in scale, sometimes simple concepts still are the best executed on the platform.

Itunes Link
Review
Video

Zenonia. A good rpg that does an interesting mix of combining Diablo style qualities mixed in with a traditional action jrpg. There are some controls issues but not enough to stop the game from being playable and enjoyable.

Itunes Link
Review #1
Review #2
Video

X2 Soccer 2009. A Lot of the early feedback is that this is the best action soccer gamer on the iphone so far.

Itunes Link
Lite Version
Review #1
Review #2
Video

 

[Eggo]

At the risk of slaughtering one of my favorite quotes:

I really think the best game is the one you have with you.

I'm never going to carry my PSP or DSes out and about with me, but I always have my phone, and therefore it's my best camera and my best game machine most of the time.

I agree wholeheartedly. I've spent much more time and much less $ with my iPhone than I have with my DS or PSP. I doubt I'll be picking up any DS or PSP games unless they're AAA quality.

 

[elguerosinfe]

After a two week ban, this is the only thread I really missed.

We missed you. What was your infraction?

 

[Stoney Mason]

We missed you. What was your infraction?

Cursing somebody out and namecalling. But it was worth it...

 

[Twig]

I love Toki Tori on WiiWare, it's one of my favorites. But I heard it basically used a lot of the same levels as in the old GBC version.

Is the iPhone version the same? Reusing levels?

 

[Stoney Mason]

I love Toki Tori on WiiWare, it's one of my favorites. But I heard it basically used a lot of the same levels as in the old GBC version.

Is the iPhone version the same? Reusing levels?

Yes. This version is essentially a port of the Wii-ware version just iphone control enabled.

 

[TurtleSnatcher]

Stoney thanks for that round up on games in recent months.

I'm getting a 3GS and this is my first iPhone and I'm already interested in numerous titles in that list.

 

[Twig]

Boo.

Oh well will not buy then.

 

[SnakeXs]

Is Peggle back up to 5 bucks or what? I see the sale badge but it sure ain't 99¢.

 

[Sean]

Is Peggle back up to 5 bucks or what? I see the sale badge but it sure ain't 99¢.

When I bought it the description said the sale would last only through June 14th. So you're a bit too late.

 

[Kalten]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trDL4vYNZqY

tons of shots a toucharcade :
http://toucharcade.com/2009/06/12/wwdc-exclusive-preview-turn-based-strategy-game-rogue-planet/
[

 

[Barrett2]

Does EA frequently drop prices on their games? I want to pick up Sim City, but don't want to pay the current price. Since NFS just dropped, im' wondering if other EA games will start getting cheaper.

 

[Stoney Mason]

Does EA frequently drop prices on their games? I want to pick up Sim City, but don't want to pay the current price. Since NFS just dropped, im' wondering if other EA games will start getting cheaper.

Fortunately no although occasionally they will lower the price of a game after it has been on the market for quite awhile. Spore Origins and Sim City are both cheaper than when they originally came out a long time ago as are a few others. NFS was reduced in price most likely in response to Real Racing and having a little competition.

But for the most part, they are one of the few publishers (thank god) who stick to their guns in their pricing model for the most part. EA being a bastard in this case is one of the few times they are on the right side by doing so.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Does EA frequently drop prices on their games? I want to pick up Sim City, but don't want to pay the current price. Since NFS just dropped, im' wondering if other EA games will start getting cheaper.

I just go to www.appshopper.com and check the price drop history of apps there. They also have "other apps by the same developer", so you can easily cross-reference:

Here's the entire price history of every EA app store game:
Tetris -> 9.99 -> 7.99 the next day -> 5.99 2 months later -> 7.99 1 month later -> 4.99 2 weeks later
Scrabble -> 9.99 -> 7.99 1 month later -> 5.99 2 months later -> 7.99 1 week later -> 4.99 2 weeks later
Sudoku -> 4.99 -> 1.99 1.5 months later -> 4.99 2 months later -> 1.99 1 week later -> 4.99 1 month later -> 2.99 3 months later
Spore Origins -> 9.99 -> 7.99 1 month later -> 5.99 1.5 months later -> 9.99 1 week later -> 7.99 1 week later -> 6.99 1 week later -> 5.99 1 month later -> 4.99 1 week later -> 2.99 4 months later
Yahtzee -> 4.99 -> 2.99 2 weeks later -> 4.99 1 week later -> 2.99 2 weeks later -> 4.99 2 weeks later -> 2.99 3 days later
Monopoly -> 7.99 -> 4.99 1 month later
SimCity -> 9.99 -> 7.99 1 month later -> 5.99 2 months later -> 4.99 2 months later
Lemonade Tycoon -> Free
Trivial Pursuit -> 4.99 (April 23rd)
Pandemonum -> 4.99 -> 2.99 1 week later
Tiger Woods -> 9.99 (April 30th)
Clue -> 4.99 (May 29th)
NFS Undercover -> 9.99 -> 6.99 1 month later
American Idol -> 4.99 -> 2.99 1 week later -> 0.99 1 month later
Anytime Pool -> 4.99
Star Trek -> 4.99 -> 2.99 1 day later -> 1.99 1 month later
SimSampler -> Free
The Sims 3 -> 9.99 (June 2nd)

Most of the price raises that you see on the list appear to have been done on December 2nd or 8th, like a pre-Christmas milking attempt. But as you can see almost all EA games have had their prices lowered in the first 3-5 months.

 

[Stoney Mason]

Most of the price raises that you see on the list appear to have been done on December 2nd or 8th, like a pre-Christmas milking attempt. But as you can see almost all EA games have had their prices lowered in the first 3-5 months.

I bow to a well researched post.

 

[whatdidyousay]

Welcome back Stoney!

 

[Barrett2]

thanks for the price history info. I bookmarked that site.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

'Castle of Magic' now available on the App Store http://bit.ly/ps6qO

Platformer by Gameloft is all I know.

 

[jonnybryce]

'Castle of Magic' now available on the App Store http://bit.ly/ps6qO

Platformer by Gameloft is all I know.

Whoa, this looks like it could be great!

Thanks for the heads up, Gameloft is definitely one of my favorite developers...this is on my radar now, hopefully some reviews pop up soon so I can pick this up.

trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuWBTKSJtuY

Seems to have Kirby-like elements, where the character gets different abilities. I'm digging it.

 

[Diablohead]

My biggest problem with the ap store prices is that nearly every indie dev will at some point drop the price to 0.99 / 0.59p and that's the key time to buy a bargin, but because everyone does it, most worthwhile games have to also do the same unless they come from a huge name like EA.

The upcoming changes to microsoft's XNA allow people to drop prices but they have to do so for a month before they can change it again, I think it would be wise for apple to only allow app price changes once every week to try and keep people away from giving away sudden promotions or offers that end up pissing someone off who paid full price just the day before, that's what seems to make people "wait it out" for a lot of app's now.

I brought a few games full price because I really wanted it asap and support the dev, like real racing and zunina (forget it's spelling right now)

That, or apple need to redesign the app store interface in itunes to help non top 100 games a bit, top weekly sales listing may help as each week the slate is wiped clean again and others can creep into the top 100.

Whoa, this looks like it could be great!

Thanks for the heads up, Gameloft is definitely one of my favorite developers...this is on my radar now, hopefully some reviews pop up soon so I can pick this up.

trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuWBTKSJtuY

Seems to have Kirby-like elements, where the character gets different abilities. I'm digging it.

OOH I like what I see in that yotube video, will have to check it out.

 

[Stoney Mason]

I brought a few games full price because I really wanted it asap and support the dev, like real racing and zunina (forget it's spelling right now)

That, or apple need to redesign the app store interface in itunes to help non top 100 games a bit, top weekly sales listing may help as each week the slate is wiped clean again and others can creep into the top 100.

Everybody knows they need to redesign the app store to divide out and give higher budget efforts a separate organizational grouping to try to spur sales in that category. It's just a matter of when it will happen I'm guessing. I once said an app over $1.99 would never be the top selling game and then the Sims 3 comes along and stays at the top for a bit but that's the exception that proves the rules. That was a title from a massive franchise that was able to co-ordinate its release along side of the PC version and therefore get piggyback marketing along with Apple themselves marketing the title on their own apple website. That's not going to happen a lot. Good interview with a dev/publisher on this very subject.

Apple's iPhone has managed to single-handedly reinvent the market for mobile games, a market that had promised a lot but delivered very little. As quickly as publishers flocked to mobile with its promise of a massive installed base, they soon backed off when fumbled commerce, multiple SKUs and horrible interfaces left many consumers laughing at the format.

So when the iPhone launched, larger publishers were wary, allowing smaller, younger and experimental developers to take advantage of a cheap SDK and a relaxed approval process to create titles that reached a wide audience. Established gaming franchises and licenses mean very little to the format so long as titles are designed specifically for the iPhone, and with constant support from Apple such as the forthcoming release of the 3.0 upgrade, the format is evolving alongside the talent creating for it.

"The 3.0 upgrade is very significant for games producers," offers Paul Farley, managing director of Tag Games, creators of New Jack Streets. "It's our belief that subscription and micro-transaction business models will change the way we all pay for our games in future and so Apple is certainly ahead of the curve here.

"In a market that has seen a rapid shift to the bottom in terms of retail price this will help the creators of the better quality games increase the return on their often sizeable investments. It's not rocket science to see the relationship between profitable developers and greater innovation and quality in the marketplace."

iPhone developers are already able to upgrade and tweak their games once on the market, a function that has endeared the format to many gamers as everything from bug-fixing to difficulty spikes are assessed on a regular basis. It's a great feature, says David Hamilton of Bloons team Digital Goldfish - but for small teams its not financially viable in the long-term, and he believes that in-App commerce and upgrades will help address that problem.

"I think the micro-transactions will add longevity to the lifespan of games and drive developers to keep on improving their products. Right now it's good to listen to the feedback of your customers and do one or two free updates for them but at the end of the day developers are losing money doing this unless the free updates increase sales of the game."

"As much as we would love to keep on giving our customers more and more value for money and make our games as feature rich as possible, it's just not feasible without any more revenue coming back in."

Hamilton is also looking forward to added multiplayer functionality from the 3.0 upgrade. "I also think the peer-to-peer functionality will be a big hit in terms of improving games. Allowing multi-player is really exciting not just for the user, but also for us developers,” he says.

"All of our iPhone games have quickly achieved profitability even the ones selling at the very lowest price points from launch," says Tag's Farley. "The key is to be realistic about revenue return and don't go crazy with the budget. It's also fair to say that our profit margins aren't going to excite the likes of EA or Gameloft, but with our smaller overheads we can achieve profitability with fairly low volume.

"It's a key competitive advantage we have over the bigger players in this market and one we fully intend to continue exploiting," he adds.

McNicoll is a little more cautious of the price points of games, in a market where GBP 3.49 is considered expensive and high-end. He believes there should more structure to pricing, and an area for premium content could help the iPhone business mature.

"I am sceptical about the different price points at the moment and feel there should definitely be a premium content area so that great games aren't lost because of their higher pricing. And lets face it these type of games cost a lot more money to make so should be priced in a higher price bracket," he says.

"If the platform is going to mature properly it cannot keep the current price points. It will not be viable for most games to make a profit with such a small price point as it is only the lucky few that really can break through at that price range and make a lot of money. People are willing to pay a fair amount of money for good content as has always been the case," he adds.

McNicoll would also like to see a redesigned App Store to help promote titles more clearly to consumers.

"We think a slight redesign to the iTunes store could go a long way to having an easier way of finding the type of App which you want and also sorting the wheat from the chaff," said. "Given the sheer amount of Apps available it is always going to be a problem getting noticed on the App Store."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/iphone-3-0

 

[todahawk]

Just thought I'd mention that Saucelifter is pretty fun.

Its simple but for some reason I keep coming back to it.
Games I'm playing now are Suacelifter, Geodefense, Go go rescue squad, and Zombie mansion.

Zombie Mansion is a bad game but for some reason I keep going back to it.

bought saucelifter at launch but man that game kicks my ass. I need to go back to it, choplifter kicked my ass hard for a long time too before I got any good.

 

[Barrett2]

How quickly could we expect an app store re-design? I would think Apple is already well into developing one; the sheer avalanche of content being released / in development already seems to be completely overwhelming the current design; especially when rich pubs like PopCap can just offer weekend firesales to continually push their products to the top of the lists; making it even harder for smaller outfits to get attention.

I would love to know how much cash a company like Digital Chocolate is making off the App Store.

 

[SnakeXs]

When I bought it the description said the sale would last only through June 14th. So you're a bit too late.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

 

[jonnybryce]

Do we even know that a redesign is really coming? People say it should come, and that it needs to be organized better, but that doesn't mean Apple actually cares.

 

[Diablohead]

'Castle of Magic' now available on the App Store http://bit.ly/ps6qO

Platformer by Gameloft is all I know.

So when I posted my "OOH" in an above post about an hour ago I was at my sisters house on her laptop so I did not want to buy it there and have sync issues, now that I am home I am getting a "not avaiable in your UK region" message.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU gameloft.

 

[Barrett2]

Do we even know that a redesign is really coming? People say it should come, and that it needs to be organized better, but that doesn't mean Apple actually cares.

Considering they make more money if more apps are sold, I think they have a pretty clear incentive to facilitate as much commerce as possible through the app store. Every app that goes unpurchased because of the limited interface is money out of their pocket.

 

[jonnybryce]

Considering they make more money if more apps are sold, I think they have a pretty clear incentive to facilitate as much commerce as possible through the app store. Every app that goes unpurchased because of the limited interface is money out of their pocket.

Yeah, this makes complete sense. It definitely makes sense for them to organize it better, but I was just curious if we know they are definitely working on it. It made sense for Nintendo to expand Wii storage and they didn't care, what makes sense doesn't always happen (or happen soon enough).

 

[Lord Error]

Here's another nice looking ball puzzler, Dayju Ball.

http://toucharcade.com/2009/06/15/fayju-ball-a-3d-ball-rolling-puzzler/

I cannot wait for Pinball Fantasies to be released. I know it's coming soon, probably later this month, but I want it now. So much time spent playing Pinball Dreams on Touch, and it's the main reason I'm getting 3GS, to be able to have perfect 60FPS in portrait mode.

(Amiga Screens, they will offer updated graphics too, just like they did with Pinball Dreams)

And after that of course, they said they would port Pinball Illusions as well, which offered some pretty complex tables as well as multiball. Having this pinball trifecta of awesomeness in my pocket makes my mouth start to water even as I'm typing this.

Moral of this post is - go and buy Pinball Dreams now, if you didn't already!

 

[Keyser Soze]

A silly little game called Strange Horse, has just dropped from £0.99 to FREE.

You play as a horse and move him around (by tilting) to avoid the evil crabs

Not amazing by any means, but I find it weirdly entertaining

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=318359124&mt=8

 

[Stoney Mason]

Yeah, this makes complete sense. It definitely makes sense for them to organize it better, but I was just curious if we know they are definitely working on it. It made sense for Nintendo to expand Wii storage and they didn't care, what makes sense doesn't always happen (or happen soon enough).

No we don't as Apple doesn't generally communicate future plans until they are close to doing them. It is a very common complaint among devs however, and they have been somewhat responsive to dev concerns. Altering Itunes though is a pretty major change as it would have to be coordinated with the rest of itunes which does more than just sell apps for the idevices of course.

 

[Twig]

Hell I'd just be happy if they made iTunes more light-weight. I'm so tired of how ridiculously slow it is.

But yeah reorganizing the app store would be nice too I s'pose. Though I have yet to just browse the store at all. Every game I've bought has been on recommendations in this thread. And sales. d:

 

[Masklinn]

Hell I'd just be happy if they made iTunes more light-weight. I'm so tired of how ridiculously slow it is.

iTunes's always been ridiculously slow, so I doubt that's going to change.

 

[mrkgoo]

A silly little game called Strange Horse, has just dropped from £0.99 to FREE.

You play as a horse and move him around (by tilting) to avoid the evil crabs

Not amazing by any means, but I find it weirdly entertaining

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=318359124&mt=8

That looks more like a llama. No sale.

 

[Slacker]

Another Advance Wars wannabe is out:

http://toucharcade.com/2009/06/15/luc-bernards-turn-based-strategy-game-mecho-wars-released/

$4.99, under 10MB.

Seems OK so far. I was immediately confused when my "Winged Crusade" units couldn't fly over a body of water. Apparently they can't fly. I'm not terribly fond of the art style so far, but I'll stick with it to see how it plays. It did lock up on me already on the third level after disabling the battle animations, but hopefully that's just a fluke.

One cool thing: There is a day/night cycle to the game that freezes water overnight, allowing ground troops to traverse the seas to access different terrain more easily.

I'll post more impressions once I get into the game more. Oh, no online multi yet, though apparently it is coming soon. Hopefully it'll be asynchonous like Uniwar and the forthcoming Rogue Planet (which may make this game irrelevant when it drops soon).

 

[LCfiner]

iTunes's always been ridiculously slow, so I doubt that's going to change.

there's a good chance that it's gonna be rewritten, for the Mac anyway, to run faster in time for September (new 64 bit OS X release)



anyway..



this

looks beautiful

 

[Masklinn]

there's a good chance that it's gonna be rewritten, for the Mac anyway, to run faster in time for September (new 64 bit OS X release)

Nope:

• There's been no announce of anything even remotely close
• The Snow Leopard seeds don't contain any new iTunes
• 8.2 is already out

I say there's pretty much no chance.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Rogue Planet looks like a more solid Advance Wars style game... I'm excited to see what happens with that

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trDL4vYNZqY

 

[LCfiner]

Nope:

• There's been no announce of anything even remotely close
• The Snow Leopard seeds don't contain any new iTunes
• 8.2 is already out

I say there's pretty much no chance.

you're being remarkably short sighted.

1. apple always intros new ipods and, occasionally, new versions of itunes in September. OS X 10.6 with all new 64 bit apps is releasing in September.

2. the 10.6 build we have now is still early and some apps are still in 32 bit, like front row and itunes (which is version 8.1 in the dev preview, btw). why would you assume they're not working on itunes when all the other major apps are getting converted to 64 bit?

3. that 8.2 is out means nothing. what's stopping 8.3 or whatever from coming out in September?

i have no idea what apple is gonna do with windows versions of itunes and i don't really care. but to dismiss the possibility of itunes being rewritten in 64 bit cocoa when Apple has been pushing this aspect of their new OS heavily is, as i said, short sighted.

 

[Stoney Mason]

there's a good chance that it's gonna be rewritten, for the Mac anyway, to run faster in time for September (new 64 bit OS X release)



anyway..



this

looks beautiful

invariably whether it be the PSP or DS, the best looking games to always use a highly stylized approach to the way they present their graphics.

Pure 3-D on handhelds of that level of power never can hold a candle to nice art of that sort as far as my personal preference.

 

[Costanza]

Dunno if anyone mentioned this, but Touchgrind was patched to allow you to access your music library in game (if you're on 3.0).

 

[Stoney Mason]

Here is a game I'm finally happy to be able to pimp with a clear conscience. Circuit Strike One.

It's a game that I really liked but that was legimately hard to recommend outside of a very niche group because of some real concerns.

But the last two updates have just been awesome and the game imo is easily recommendable now for the great price of 99 cents. I love when a dev improves his product to take it to a true finished state when it didn't originally start out that way. So few apps actually do it and I always try to applaud the guys who do.

The last update.

1. Preload Data.Core – Fix framerate drop when the last Shield Generator is destroyed
2. Preload Player Ship on level start – Fix framerate drop when spawning the first time
3. Data.Core Health Bar – Brighter so you can see the remaining health on hit
4. New Data.Core Explosion – Fix framerate drop and eliminate some bugs on next level after memory is not freed
5. Player Ship brighter – Improved the contrast for visibility
6. Slow Turret Bullet Speeds on Higher Levels – Improve frame rates
7. Max Shield Generators set to 6 from 8 – Improve frame rates
8. Add Bonus points for Skill Level – Solve Leaderboard “Rank up” issue
9. Cleaned up a Null Object Leak
10. Add “Slow Motion” title for Hypercube Hit, Teleport and multi-explosion
11. Add Physics Update Selection – Fix problem where 1G touch was trying to update like the 2G
12. Add VFX Selection High Med + Low – Allow players to turn off visual effects if they are having frame rate issues
13. Turned off N00b bullets (big collision area) after level 3 one Easy
14. Hopefully killed the double ship Error
15. No accidental double tap in achievements and high score menus
16. New Data.Core Hit effect – Fix lag from particle effects and instantiation
17. Fixed XP calculations
18. Faster Controller Polling – Improve input response time
19. Bullet.Time Pause – Fix bug where game would not pause

Today's update.

1.) Dual Stick Controller
2.) New Ship Designs - One for each control method
3.) Enemy Spawn Markers
4.) Pause Button moved out of the way to the top right
5.) Additional Bug Fixes
6.) Open GL Performance Optimizations - Built on Unity Beta4
7.) Display scoring multiplier up to 20x
8.) In App Email - Get your friends on board
9.) iPod playlist selection - Play CS.One to your own music

Circuit Strike One. A brutally difficult shooter that isn't for everybody but if you like a challenge and can adjust to the movement system (which trades in the usual geometry wars approach for something more akin to Asteroids) there is a good game underneath.

Itunes Link
Review #1
Review #2
Video

 

[Costanza]

Dunno if anyone mentioned this, but Touchgrind was patched to allow you to access your music library in game (if you're on 3.0).

k this is pretty cool. you can go in, make playlists, etc. all from the game's pause menu. it even pops up with the song info whenever one comes on.

hopefully more apps do this.

 

[Diablohead]

Reminds me that I have to pay like £5.99 for the 3.0 update :/

 

[jonnybryce]

Yeah thanks for that list, it's pretty awesome and introduced me to a couple of games I missed.

 

[dock]

Reminds me that I have to pay like £5.99 for the 3.0 update :/

I wonder whether there will be a decent market for people that don't upgrade, and making games for iPhone OS 2.1. My GF has a ipod touch and doesn't seem too interested in the OS update, she will probably only upgrade if a game she especially wants forces her to.