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The Official iPhone/iPod Touch Gaming Thread

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lawblob said:
Wait, Plus is already out? How do I get it?
It seems to be built into Star Defense. I hope it has a really small footprint if they have to build it into every single app that uses it.

abu, cool, I'll add you back when I can.
 
Just added the three of you on my plus+ account. My user name is, unsurprisingly, Remy.

I think I bought Star Defense just so I could play with plus+. :X
 
A follow-up post on this as I did one before. For Motherload fans you have two current options on the iphone.




California Gold Rush

Itunes Link
Review #1
Review #2
Video


picture_18454.png





I Dig It

Itunes Link
Review
Video


picture_8941.png
 
Struct09 said:
Any Picross fans? What's the best Picross game?

I tried all the Lite versions I could find, and thought PicGrid was pretty good. The other two Lites that I tried were bleh, but I noticed there's a couple on the App Store with no demo version.

So far I bought Griddler Puzzle, Pixelcross and the one Warner Bros. released simply titled Picross.

Of these, Griddler Puzzle ($1.99) is by far the best (excluding the creepy loli/furry title screen.) It controls like the Game Boy/SNES Picross games (you use a simulated control pad to move the cursor around the grid.) The size of the puzzles goes up to 15x15 and there's both B&W and colour ones. There have been a couple of updates containing new puzzles as well.

Pixelcross ($0.99) was the first one I bought and it controlled like a dream at first (using the touchscreen to control the pixels directly), but it becomes cumbersome once you hit puzzles that are larger than the screen.

Warner's Picross ($0.99) feels cumbersome even on the smaller puzzles. They tried some interesting things with the controls, like allowing you to drag your finger to cover larger areas at once, but the interface is too finicky to ever really get yourself in a rhythm.
 
Shanks said:
So what's the verdict on Let's Golf? It's only 99 cents but I don't want to spend that on garbage! :lol
I brought it at launch and it's fun, simple and has plenty of tournaments and things to do, you unlock a few new outfits, hats and balls to effect your stats but they only help a little bit. Worth the sale price by far.
 
dream said:
I'm actually jonathan on Plus+. )

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

I was looking to see if you could register online yesterday because I knew someone would take it but I was hoping no one did. :lol At least it's someone on Gaf.

I'll be some variation of Jonathan, confirmed. :(
 
Hi guys!

Sorry for the "spam" but we are going to release really soon (maybe this week? maybe they are already released?) a couple of great I-Phone games:

3D Rollercoaster Rush
Iphone version of our popular series in mobile phones. I personally really like the visuals, I played the iPhone version today for first time and it looks just amazing. Look this (not final) footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urHekbo0jzw

Jungle Bloxx
A new IP, released as "Diamond Tumble" in mobile phones. Pocket Gamer selected it as one of the Top 10 best puzzles for mobile phones. I worked in this game, and I'm really proud seeing it in the same list than Tetris or Puzzle Bobble.

Take a look, it's an early buid of the iPhone version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXKY9ZZVOI0

Edit: 3D Rollercoaster Rush is already out. Here you have link to free versions of all of our iPhone games, including this one: http://www.digitalchocolate.com/iphone/
 
jonnybryce said:
:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

I was looking to see if you could register online yesterday because I knew someone would take it but I was hoping no one did. :lol At least it's someone on Gaf.

I'll be some variation of Jonathan, confirmed. :(

Heh, add me when you get an account and we'll bond over having an excellent name.
 
Will do, dream.

I saw a new version of Bomberman and got excited but it doesn't have multiplayer online. And then I jumped around the app store and ended up at Bomber Online and I really hope some people are still playing online because I'm really excited for the possibility of more online Bomberman.

Has anyone in here played Bomber Online, Rebolt or AntiMatter? Did you like them?

yurinka said:
Hi guys!

Sorry for the "spam" but we are going to release really soon (maybe this week? maybe they are already released?) a couple of great I-Phone games:

I'll check it out. :)
 
yurinka said:
Hi guys!

Sorry for the "spam" but we are going to release really soon (maybe this week? maybe they are already released?) a couple of great I-Phone games:

3D Rollercoaster Rush
Iphone version of our popular series in mobile phones. I personally really like the visuals, I played the iPhone version today for first time and it looks just amazing. Look this (not final) footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urHekbo0jzw

Jungle Bloxx
A new IP, released as "Diamond Tumble" in mobile phones. Pocket Gamer selected it as one of the Top 10 best puzzles for mobile phones. I worked in this game, and I'm really proud seeing it in the same list than Tetris or Puzzle Bobble.

Take a look, it's an early buid of the iPhone version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXKY9ZZVOI0

Edit: 3D Rollercoaster Rush is already out. Here you have link to free versions of all of our iPhone games, including this one: http://www.digitalchocolate.com/iphone/
No such thing as spam in this thread. :)

Downloading the Free version of Rollercoaster Rush 3D now. Looks pretty fun.
 
I have had a chance to test Zen Bound on 3GS today in the store, and was very impressed to see that the framerate was pretty much locked 60 even on the more complex objects. To contrast that with my 1st gen Touch (same as in Iphone I presume) the framerate with those shapes was probably 20-25FPS, if not worse. Also, the whole unit felt a lot faster, there never seemed to be a moment where I had to wait for things to show up or respond to a command. Very snappy.
 
Lord Error said:
I have had a chance to test Zen Bound on 3GS today in the store, and was very impressed to see that the framerate was pretty much locked 60 even on the more complex objects. To contrast that with my 1st gen Touch (same as in Iphone I presume) the framerate with those shapes was probably 20-25FPS, if not worse. Also, the whole unit felt a lot faster, there never seemed to be a moment where I had to wait for things to show up or respond to a command. Very snappy.
Don't do this to me. :(

I've got 6 months of my contract left and I can barely wait!
 
Sad. :(

I updated my Ipod Touch to 3.0 and the update went fine. After I got an error where I had to continually accept the terms of use. So I then left it for a bit hoping it would clear up, I then went to wake the ipod up and nothing happened. It will not come on at all. I went and tried a restore and halfway through it errors out and the ipod dies again.
 
Deadly Cyclone said:
Sad. :(

I updated my Ipod Touch to 3.0 and the update went fine. After I got an error where I had to continually accept the terms of use. So I then left it for a bit hoping it would clear up, I then went to wake the ipod up and nothing happened. It will not come on at all. I went and tried a restore and halfway through it errors out and the ipod dies again.
I had that error with the terms of use and I've also had an error where my iphone just seemingly died on me. The next day it just sort of cleared up for me.
 
Deadly Cyclone said:
Sad. :(

I updated my Ipod Touch to 3.0 and the update went fine. After I got an error where I had to continually accept the terms of use. So I then left it for a bit hoping it would clear up, I then went to wake the ipod up and nothing happened. It will not come on at all. I went and tried a restore and halfway through it errors out and the ipod dies again.
Try rebooting the ipod (press power button and home button together for ~10 seconds) and see if it boots up. If it does, then try restoring it.

If this works through, you can buy something on itunes on your computer, accept terms and conditions there, so then ipod won't ask you to do that anymore.

cjelly said:
Don't do this to me. :(

I've got 6 months of my contract left and I can barely wait!
Hehe, I'm hoping to get mine tomorrow, if Rogers lets me upgrade to it, I'm 3 months away from the end of my contract with them, but I have a non-smartphone phone right now, so who knows what they decide to do.
 
Lord Error said:
Try rebooting the ipod (press power button and home button together for ~10 seconds) and see if it boots up. If it does, then try restoring it.

.


Won't even turn on. The only time I get anything is when I start the restore, then I just get the logo and update bar until it errors out.
 
Diorama is fucking hard :lol But it's pretty cool though, I'll keep it on the phone as one of those apps to showoff. Wonder if they'll use the digital compass in any interesting way...
 
I just organized my games (and the small # of apps I have) in Microsoft Paint :lol

I have a lot of games bought so I figured it would be easier to figure it out on the computer...and plus I'm really excited.
 
So is there no way for me to register a Plus+ username yet without buying Star Defense? Was kinda hoping there'd be a website where I could "reserve" my name.
 
Sean said:
So is there no way for me to register a Plus+ username yet without buying Star Defense? Was kinda hoping there'd be a website where I could "reserve" my name.

A lot of people, including myself, wish this was the case, as well as (1) Plus+ also being a standalone app and (2)the website allowing you access to player profiles and being something more than literally nothing.

But I guess it makes sense, their supporters bought SD so they get first pick.
 
Finally tried one of the apps with built in music support. Pretty nice.

If only they hadn't fucked it up by not allowing read music access. I'm still bitter on that :(
 
eznark said:
Go nuts, I want to see how this is going to work. If successful (and adopted across publishers) it could be pretty excellent. Definitely adds some entertainment to an otherwise straightforward TD game.

Interesting, it uses a sort of twitter system which doesn't require accepting a friend request, just puts em in a "followers" tab.


It's definitely well thought out, and is a lot more sophisticated than the other proposed iphone gaming social networks. It would be fantastic if this is adopted by other publishers. It definitely has that potential. I wonder what the cost would be for entry into this for other publishers... I hope there isn't one!

It seems Apple is completely content with allowing a third party to create a system that could potentially tie all, or at least a vast majority of the games within a single social environment. Their approach to this is in such stark contrast to Sony's and Microsoft's. It is very refreshing to see a company have such an open approach. But, on the other hand, we still keep on reading and hearing of Apple's draconian approach to App Store approvals... The iPhone definitely has a bizarre and interesting ecosystem.
 
Khanage said:
It's definitely well thought out, and is a lot more sophisticated than the other proposed iphone gaming social networks. It would be fantastic if this is adopted by other publishers. It definitely has that potential. I wonder what the cost would be for entry into this for other publishers... I hope there isn't one!

It seems Apple is completely content with allowing a third party to create a system that could potentially tie all, or at least a vast majority of the games within a single social environment. Their approach to this is in such stark contrast to Sony's and Microsoft's. It is very refreshing to see a company have such an open approach. But, on the other hand, we still keep on reading and hearing of Apple's draconian approach to App Store approvals... The iPhone definitely has a bizarre and interesting ecosystem.

While I applaud the approach in many ways I also miss the unified standards that come when a company is directly behind pushing the platform more. I can easily see lots of these little systems popping up like Plus+ instead of having one centralized thing like PSN or Xbox Live. It has its disadvantages and its advantages...
 
Stoney Mason said:
Finally tried one of the apps with built in music support. Pretty nice.

If only they hadn't fucked it up by not allowing read music access. I'm still bitter on that :(

Wait, what did they do?
 
Stoney Mason said:
Get this game. It is easily one of the best games on the platform and it is now even better with the new controls they put in the last content patch. I hope it gets a bit of a bump from this lawsuit thing.
 
dream said:
Wait, what did they do?

Basically in apps that support it, you can go into the ipod music player and set up your music in the in-game options. Easier and more full featured than the old trick method you had to use before to play music in an app as you can set up playlists and easily swap between tracks, albums, etc.

The app has to support it though.
 
Stoney Mason said:
While I applaud the approach in many ways I also miss the unified standards that come when a company is directly behind pushing the platform more. I can easily see lots of these little systems popping up like Plus+ instead of having one centralized thing like PSN or Xbox Live. It has its disadvantages and its advantages...

I hope the advantage of this is that the best community system prevails and becomes adopted, but I fear that as Plus+ gains popularity, every developer will try to mimic Xbox Live in their own way and never back down. I don't want a screen name and profile and friends list for every developer or every different game, and I really hope there becomes a standard, whether it's Plus+ or something better.
 
jonnybryce said:
I hope the advantage of this is that the best community system prevails and becomes adopted, but I fear that as Plus+ gains popularity, every developer will try to mimic Xbox Live in their own way and never back down. I don't want a screen name and profile and friends list for every developer or every different game, and I really hope there becomes a standard, whether it's Plus+ or something better.

The problem is unless you have a 900 pound gorilla standing astride the world, everybody wants to do their own thing and be top dog. I could see EA, Gameloft, Chillingo, etc trying to establish separate services or even worse not doing anything and just dropping the ball on online play or real social gaming aspects. The benefit of Xbox Live or PSN is that you remove that element of developer jealousy and turf wars. Although I have no problem with ngmoco's service and I hope it does pan out for them and other devs (especially smaller ones) hop on board.
 
Not a game but the Sygic GPS Turn by Turn app is out... should I get it >_> Can't find any reviews.
 
Stoney Mason said:
While I applaud the approach in many ways I also miss the unified standards that come when a company is directly behind pushing the platform more. I can easily see lots of these little systems popping up like Plus+ instead of having one centralized thing like PSN or Xbox Live. It has its disadvantages and its advantages...

True... It will definitely not be all roses.

I think this situation has arisen from the fact that Apple doesn't really have a clear picture of what "iphone gaming" really is yet, or what it will become. When that does happen, then I think we will see them take a more dominant role...
 
Khanage said:
WOW!!! That's expensive! I'd wait for some reviews...

Someone from an Aussie forum picked it up;

I'm away from home in a small country town currently so I couldn't give it a full workout, but it looks nice! Works as you would expect. No text-to-speech. No volume control (sure this will be fixed soon – using volume keys changes ringer not app volume)

The display is very nice, GPS gets a lock quickly. Interface is snappy, however it doesn't use common apple standard interface gestures like pinching, panning, flicking (it has scroll bars!) – probably a throwback to its Nokia roots.

You can configure the display and it has a fair few options, fully supports metric measurements. Maps look stunning. Route recalc is fast. POI database is extensive (moreso than my dedicated Navman S150)

I plan on having a couple of GPS apps on my phone (probably Tomtom also when it comes out) but overall I'm very happy.

No volume and no pinching seems a bit odd, any idea when the TomTom one is out?
 
And here is one of the fundamental exact problems I have with the app store which is why I keep hammering on it. 99 cents apps are not the solution for the app store. They are a long term problem that needs a better solution than apple currently has implemented or seems interested in working on. At the very minimum do not use unit sales to implement the top 100. It is overly punishing for apps that cost above 99 cents. Use total revenue.

Over the weekend, “Peggle” on iPhone was lowered from five dollars to just one. (Sorry if you missed it, the price is back up to five.) As I mentioned previously, it wasn’t just PopCap being nice. No, it was just their way of “hacking” the iPhone AppStore, which is overly biased towards best-selling titles, listing those apps with the highest sales right at the top.
The issue with this method is that the top-selling list is determined by the number of times that app has been purchased, not the total amount of money that app has made.
Therefore, more expensive apps are at a huge disadvantage, getting pushed down by the myriad of fart simulators that sell for a buck.

PopCap’s solution to this problem? Go incognito as a cheap app! Before the sale, “Peggle” was hovering around #60 of the top-selling apps. After the sale, which lasted four days? “Peggle” was at number one. Not only that, according to a PopCap spokesman, they sold nearly as many units in those four days as they had in the 3 weeks afters the game’s launch.
While it’s awesome that a solid game is getting the attention it deserves on the AppStore, Apple really needs to take another look at how the store is structured. Discouraging higher priced (and potentially more premium) apps is only going to bring the average quality down
, thus giving the store the reputation that it has (with fart and baby-shaking simulators running rampant).

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/06/15/peggle-iphones-meteoric-appstore-boost/
 
Stoney Mason said:
And here is one of the fundamental exact problems I have with the app store which is why I keep hammering on it. 99 cents apps are not the solution for the app store. They are a long term problem that needs a better solution than apple currently has implemented or seems interested in working on. At the very minimum do not use unit sales to implement the top 100. It is overly punishing for apps that cost above 99 cents. Use total revenue.

I'm not sure I like that either. I'm not sure what the solution is though. Good stuff getting buried is a problem, its a problem with XBLA too. It's probably a problem with all DD systems like this, at least once they get over a certain threshold of apps.

I'm not sure if some kind of magic formula based on sales numbers and average review scores would work any better for instance. Or whether overall 10 top lists should be abandoned by default and instead have something based on ownership/ratings by people on a friends list. Of course that would mean Apple building in a social network.
 
it'd be trivial to implement a bayesian weighted average between number of units sold and amount of revenue generated and if weighted properly it'd definitely be fairer than either metric on their own.
 
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