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The Official iPhone/iPod Touch Gaming Thread

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mrkgoo said:
I don't know too much about the CIv series. I played Alpha Centauri, and remember getting pretty hooked. What is Civ Rev?
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Civ Rev is watered down Civilization. I consider it to be a perfect translation of the game for portable or console play, and it certainly fits the bill if you want a quick 5-10 minute Civ fix. Given the choice between sitting for hours and playing SMAC/Civ IV or this, I'd obviously pick the former, but for something I have in my pocket all the time this works amazingly.

If you liked SMAC and want a lighter form you can crack open whenever, Civ Rev is your game.
 
Cool, Civ Rev. <3 Firaxis
and their enormous 62" no-lag TVs in their break and conference room.
 
I know it's been asked a few times but Simon the Sorcerer....any impressions? Never played it but been playing adventure games and wanna know if it's worth getting?
 
Also, I wasnted to say earlier.. I just bought a shitload of games today.

Spy Bot Chronicles is awesome. It picks up a little slower than Boinic Surfer does in terms of action, but it's still a lot different than the Toy Bot games (a very good thing), and I really like it. The Deep Pinball and the WIld West Pinball update ARE AMAZING! Never thought I'd want to play a pinball game on my iPod, but these games are seriously amazing. I don't think Pinball Fantasies or whatever game people were drooling over could match these. Gomi isn't what I expected, and it's kind of hard to get into. Treasure Grab is really fun and surprisingly addictive. It's got the "just one more game" disease. Electric Box on the iPod isn't fun to me, but I liked the flash game.

All of these games do not matter to me now, because I'm off to play fucking Civilization Revolution!
 
I can get Secret of Monkey Island on XBLA but I would much prefer having something like that to play on the go. How are the controls? How are they messed up if they still are? And do they plan on fixing it?
 
I also picked up some stuff this weekend.

Gomi is great. I didn't think I'd get into it since I was lukewarm on Rolando but this is fun and the art direction/music is perfect for what it is. My wife instantly noted that it was adorable.

Also picked up Dungeon Scroll -- nice little word game with some lite RPG elements and time pressure elements. I like Bookworm more but it's different so that's ok.

Tradewinds 2 I got last weekend and I continue to put some heavy duty time into this weekend. Very excellent modern take on Taipan! one of my favorite games on the Apple ][ when I was a kid.

Pinball remains heavy on my rotation. Playing The Deep and Partyland (from Pinball Fantasies) on the regular. High score on Deep right now is 17M.

I'm about an hour into the campaign in I Dig It and... yeah, I dig it. But with so many titles coming out all the time on iPhone, it's hard to motivate myself to finish this game.

Space Invaders Infinity Gene continues to be impress every time I load it up. I haven't been playing it as much this week, thanks mostly to...

Tyrian. I've been on/off with this game for a month or two but that's because I was stuck on one level. Now I'm way past it and in the middle of Episode 3. Amazing shmup. Hands-down the best one on iPhone. Yes, even better than SIIG.

Minigore. Bah. Oh well, it was only .99 cents.

And now I just picked up CivRev. :P I also want to get Spy Bot, but it just looks so damn generic. Maybe I should get Castle of Magic instead if I'm in a platformer mood?
 
nyprimus2 said:
I can get Secret of Monkey Island on XBLA but I would much prefer having something like that to play on the go. How are the controls? How are they messed up if they still are? And do they plan on fixing it?
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I can see the complaints, and it would be nice if they had an option, but to be honest I prefer the trackpad controls. I don't really see how playable it would be if it had "traditional" controls, having your finger right over the pointer seems like it would get annoying. When I tried a few games in the ScummVM port like that it didn't work too well.
 
Who else died in the last level of Space Invaders Infinity Gene?:lol

"It's moving too fast! I could never get the last one, my brother always got it for me!"
 
nyprimus2 said:
I can get Secret of Monkey Island on XBLA but I would much prefer having something like that to play on the go. How are the controls? How are they messed up if they still are? And do they plan on fixing it?
Click to expand...
People were complaining because it uses a simulated mouse control scheme comparable to how laptop trackpads work. The control scheme is perfectly fine, though, and the game is excellent on the iPhone. Don't think, just buy.™
 
Omg Civ!

Tobor said:
MEGATON!!!!!!!

It looks like it's based on the DS version, but enhanced. I've been begging for this for a year!
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Awesome, in which way is it enhanced compared to the DS version?
 
chespace said:
And now I just picked up CivRev. :P I also want to get Spy Bot, but it just looks so damn generic. Maybe I should get Castle of Magic instead if I'm in a platformer mood?
Click to expand...

I could never get into Castle of Magic on my 3G, and then I tried it on a friend's Touch 2G. The difference is like night and day; the increase in framerate really changes the way the game plays. Something to think about.
 
ShowDog said:
I could never get into Castle of Magic on my 3G, and then I tried it on a friend's Touch 2G. The difference is like night and day; the increase in framerate really changes the way the game plays. Something to think about.
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Got a 3GS here. Yes, losing my iphone by leaving it in a taxi cab in Paris was a mixed blessing I suppose. :lol
 
After 1 and a half games of Civ Rev, I can say that I am disappointed. I am a huge fan of the game owning it on 360 and DS.

The problem I am having comes down to the interface. The game itself is basically the same as the other versions, but I find my hand getting very uncomfortable playing this version. I also find moving units more than two spaces so difficult that it’s a game killer.

There are basically 2 options to move your units:

Option 1 – click and drag them. Works well at first, but because the default zoom level is very close, once you build roads, or have units that move more than 3 spaces, it means dragging the same unit multiple times per turn...or pinch-zooming out to move them further, which can result in mis-moves (also, be careful not to zoom out to far, or the unit will disappear and you’ll need to re-zoom and re-select – more clicks for one move!) It’s very inefficient.

Option 2 - click the unit and click the “move” icon from its action menu, then click the destination. Again problematic because of the zoom level – If you want to move 5 spaces, your unit and destination will not be on the screen at the same time. If you want to zoom out to get a better look at things your unit will de-select. You can click to the edge of the screen and it will re-center where you clicked and ask if you want to move there...since the edge of the screen is basically 3 spaces, you’ll need to click many, many times just to move one unit (which happens regularly in the second half of the game. It gets tedious.

In short, the controls have ruined the game for me, and I can't recommend it.

I’m sorry if I’m not explaining my gripes very well – also, if I’ve made a mistake, please correct me...I want to love this game, and if I’m missing something that makes moving 5+ spaces easy, I would be very happy. If you have any questions or need clarifications, let me know.

One final annoyance. Why do they enable the accelerometer during the leader selection? Totally useless. Not a deal breaker, but why bother?
 
Man, I wish companies would announce upcoming games ahead of time so I can manage purchases better. I literally just bought an airline sim game last night, only to find out about Civ the next morning. And I still need to buy Infinity Gene! Son of a... :lol
 
NFL 2010 Review

NFL 2010 Review
Gameloft's Madden.
by Levi Buchanan
August 7, 2009 - There is one name synonymous with videogame football: Madden. However, Electronic Arts does not have a lock on the NFL for mobile gaming, and so Gameloft fired a direct shot across Madden's bow this week with the release of NFL 2010, a full-featured footballer for the iPhone. While not a perfect answer to the juggernaut, NFL 2010 has more than enough going right that it EA will likely spend the next week or two scouring the title. In the meantime, football fans with iPhones should just be busy enjoying the game.

NFL 2010 contains a full license, so every pro team is in the game. That will go a long way with fans. Each team has individual stats for offense and defense and while I did notice those factoring a little into the game, that is about as unique as the teams get in NFL 2010. There is a singular playbook. No team seems to possess any special play. It is all drawn from the same collection of offensive and defensive plays (approximately 200), so each team plays exactly like the other, save for the ability to catch the ball or avoid a linebacker a little better or a little worse.

NFL 2010 offers a quick play mode to jump right into a game with your favorite team versus a random rival. The Exhibition game allows you to actually select your opponent. Playoffs mode skips the regular season and put you in contention for the championship with a handful of other teams. Most gamers will likely dive into the season, which is composed a full season, playoffs, and the championship.

Football games are typically two games in one: offense and defense. NFL 2010 gets offense right. Moving the ball down the field by snapping, passing, or running is intuitive thanks to the easy-to-use playbook and a virtual stick similar to that found in Assassin's Creed or Hero of Sparta. To pass, you simply tap the receiver. Each receiver has a symbol over its head that denotes how open they are. If the symbol is green, you will likely complete the pass. If it is red, don't even bother. I like this system a lot as it makes the game accessible to anybody. Who doesn't get a color-coded system? And choosing how you want the runner to move through the defense is as easy as tapping on-screen buttons for spins, jukes, and stiffarms.

Defense is much tougher because instead of looking for colors or finding open spots to run, you have to quickly react to on-screen action -- and sometimes it is difficult to really tell what's going on in the thick of the players. Often, I found myself just relying on the plays themselves and hoping against hope that it was the right choice. You can choose how to react during a pass by selecting either deflect or interception via on-screen buttons that are responsive.

Now, I am not the world's greatest football player. I understand the rules of the game but I get crushed if I try to play Madden with a good player. So, thankfully there are three difficulty levels for this game. Be warned, though: Gameloft takes easy very literally. The lowest scoring game I got while playing on easy was 21 to zip. Medium is a much better choice if you want something of a contest, but even then, I was able to sack the QB three times -- in a row.

Gameloft apparently wanted NFL 2010 out before Madden because it has already announced the content of the next update: multiplayer, NFL news feeds, and the ability to upload your best plays to YouTube. Multiplayer is a glaring omission for the initial release. I'm certainly glad it is coming, but $7.99 is a lot to ask for a game that will be "filled in" later.

NFL 2010 is a fine-looking game. The player models are good with different shapes and sizes, just like a real team. The animations are pretty good with a minimal amount of clipping. The game employs a cinematic camera and graphic flourishes to replicate some of the drama of network broadcast football. The sound effects are quite good, with lots of hustle noise.


Closing Comments
NFL 2010 is the first real-deal football game for the iPhone and it shows. The defensive half of the game needs a little work and this first download lacks any sort of multiplayer. However, the offensive game (especially passing) works quite well, the controls are mostly responsive (virtual sticks can be iffy but Gameloft has a good track record here), and the full NFL license will mean a lot to diehard fans. Even with its flaws, Gameloft's first iPhone football game is much better than I ever expected it to be and with some updates will surely be a solid Madden rival.

IGN Ratings for NFL 2010 (iPhone)
Rating Description
out of 10 click here for ratings guide
7.5 Presentation
Pro presentation with a great opening cinematic, full NFL license, and easy-to-use menus.
8.0 Graphics
Good player models, lots of little flourishes, smooth animations.
8.0 Sound
Great sound effects for players, crowds, and music.
7.5 Gameplay
Offensive game is better than the defensive. Passing controls are great. Defensive plays can get messy and tough to control.
7.5 Lasting Appeal
Multiplayer is coming in an update, but it's still a notable missing feature now.
7.5
Good OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)
Click to expand...

http://wireless.ign.com/articles/100/1008368p1.html
 
Flunkie said:
Spy Bot Chronicles is awesome. It picks up a little slower than Boinic Surfer does in terms of action, but it's still a lot different than the Toy Bot games (a very good thing), and I really like it.
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Sold. :D
 
I really wanted to grab Alien Crisis but I haven't updated to 3.0 yet. So to tide me over I went on over to youtube to check out a video or two of the game.

PASS.
 
I bought Air Tycoon this morning, an airline sim-management game. I loved Aerobiz on the SNES growing up, so I had high hopes for this. Unfortunately the game has terrible Engrish and zero personality whatsoever. It is so bland that after I played a one hour campaign this morning I felt very little interest in playing again. Too bad, the game has decent interface and an ok presentation, but the problems I mention completely suck the fun out of the experience. Shame...
 
nyprimus2 said:
I can get Secret of Monkey Island on XBLA but I would much prefer having something like that to play on the go. How are the controls? How are they messed up if they still are? And do they plan on fixing it?
Click to expand...

The controls sucked...... until I learned that you don't actually have to move the cursor with your finger, your finger acts more like a mouse that you can use anywhere on the screen. now I actually like the controls, and they're second nature. Seriously though, if i didn't hear it on a podcast, I might have never figured it out.
Also, you can double tap to perform alternate actions, for example, if the cursor is over a door, a single tap defaults to 'walk there' while a double tap walks there and opens the door.
 
I got Spybot because it's on sale. I've played a few levels. It's a good game and controls pretty well. Pretty charming, I didn't love Toybot but I'm digging Spybot.
 
I must stop looking at this thread; I buy a game every time - it's like an addiction
Though just grabbed SIIG and CivRev; sooooo good!
 
Hey guys.

I just got Civ Rev and Space Invaders Infinity. Civ Rev is great, but moves really slow once you've been playing for a few hours and have tons and tons of people to control. (Then again, I'm new to Civ, so maybe my management just blows.)

Space Invaders is freaking awesome. I love the style, and the gameplay is wicked. Definitely buy it.

Actually, buy both. They're awesome.
 
Dacvak said:
Hey guys.

I just got Civ Rev and Space Invaders Infinity. Civ Rev is great, but moves really slow once you've been playing for a few hours and have tons and tons of people to control. (Then again, I'm new to Civ, so maybe my management just blows.)

Space Invaders is freaking awesome. I love the style, and the gameplay is wicked. Definitely buy it.

Actually, buy both. They're awesome.
Click to expand...

ack, must resist temptation to buy civrev (already bought SI:IG!)
 
HBP said:
Been trying the Lite version of Civilization, never played Civ before wow I have no clue what is going on....
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Yeah, ditto. This is my first version of Civilization anything and I have no clue what's going on or what a lot of the little symbols mean on the map.

The turn ending option seems to come up at random times, or only after I've moved one of my units.

Aaaah, is there a tutorial of some sort for CivRev (pathetic, I know).
 
chespace said:
Yeah, ditto. This is my first version of Civilization anything and I have no clue what's going on or what a lot of the little symbols mean on the map.

The turn ending option seems to come up at random times, or only after I've moved one of my units.

Aaaah, is there a tutorial of some sort for CivRev (pathetic, I know).
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat. I have no idea what i'm supposed to do, what does what, etc.
 
Civ games on the PC always came with a thick manual as well as include an extensive tutorial and Civipedia. Tried out the CivRev Lite and yeah, not very newbie friendly (good luck managing your city resources!). Dunno if the full version has better tutorials.
 
Can't wait to get home to my wifi so I can try out Civ and find out if it will be the first iPhone game I spend more than $1 on. This is a day of excitement.

Even having thoughts of starting Civ4 again but oh no that will not be good for anyone in my life especially me.
 
radiantdreamer said:
Does anyone have a good recommendation for a free memory clearer app?
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I have MemoryInfo it's 3GS compatible, not sure if it's the best one but it works fine, no complaints.
 
You know what I always thought was weird about the App Store? Why don't they have video previews of the Apps alongside the screenshots? I'm sure it's not a technical limitation, but surely there is a good reason for this?
 
B!TCH said:
You know what I always thought was weird about the App Store? Why don't they have video previews of the Apps alongside the screenshots? I'm sure it's not a technical limitation, but surely there is a good reason for this?
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Because the just sort of shoe-horned the app store in Itunes. I'm sure stuff like that will eventually be done.
 
lawblob said:
Played the Civ Rev demo for about 30 minutes. At no point did I ever have any idea what was happening. Demo convinced me to not buy it.
Click to expand...

I bought the full version because it's Civ Rev but yeah, I have no clue what I'm doing or how the FLOW of each turn is supposed to work. Looks wonderfully deep though, even for a hacked down console version.
 
B!TCH said:
You know what I always thought was weird about the App Store? Why don't they have video previews of the Apps alongside the screenshots? I'm sure it's not a technical limitation, but surely there is a good reason for this?
Click to expand...

There's no video recording for the iPhone at the moment, as far as I know (as in recording the screen). The appstore would look ridiculous with a bunch of youtube camcorder videos of apps.

I guess it may get there eventually, but I'm not sure if they would be that useful - as interactive software is better off with a demo, rather than a video.
 
B!TCH said:
You know what I always thought was weird about the App Store? Why don't they have video previews of the Apps alongside the screenshots? I'm sure it's not a technical limitation, but surely there is a good reason for this?
Click to expand...

There's no video recording for the iPhone at the moment, as far as I know (as in recording the screen). The appstore would look ridiculous with a bunch of youtube camcorder videos of apps.

I guess it may get there eventually, but I'm not sure if they would be that useful - as interactive software is better off with a demo, rather than a video.
 
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