Amidst the hubbub of updated MacBook Pros and soon-to-be-updated iPads, another event of much spiffiness looms on the horizon: Game Developers Conference in San Francisco from February 28th to March 3rd.
With that in mind, here are ten upcoming games worth looking forward to for the Mac OS X and iOS platforms. And while they may make you forget to pay attention to and feed friends, family, loved ones and pets, they're en route and could be interesting...
The title says it all. In Bravo Game Studios' Volcano Escape, you'll take on the role of Colonel Charlie Bravo who has to, well, escape from a volcano. Jump from ledge to ledge while blasting your enemies with your trusty shotgun and see how you fare against the natives trying to stop you.
It's coming to Mac OS X. It's coming to iOS. And you're going to love being made of meat. Super Meat Boy, developed by the cool cats of Team Meat, has you take on the role of Meat Boy, a skinless, cube-shaped hero who must save his girlfriend from the evil Dr. Fetus. Following a classic platform game style, you must jump from ledge to ledge while avoiding buzzsaws, salt and other dangers while also mastering a wall-clinging ability. The game is expected to include a level editor for the Mac OS X version (slated for release later this year) and the title features unlockable characters and extras that can be discovered along the way.
Sometimes there's just no room for subtlety. Case in point, Demiurge Studios' "Shoot Many Robots", slated for release on iOS this year in which your character must fight the robot apocalypse while battling bosses, upgrading your weapons and maxing your stats. A cool multiplayer mode looks interesting and this could be among the finest wastes of time since your parents gave you your first Slinky and you spent the next 37 hours walking it down the stairs…
Perhaps one of the more ambitious ideas on the horizon for the iOS platform, Blackstar looks to bring a massively multiplayer online title to the iOS and Android platforms. The title features combat between four alien races as well as networking over 3G, Edge, 4G and Wi-Fi connections.
If shooting zillions of robots or avoiding random chainsaws isn't your thing, Flick Buddies might be a good middle ground. A cool co-op title, Flick Buddies works as a simple physics-based game for iOS in which up to four players can compete on one device and work to propel objects against each other, complete with power-ups, power-downs, upgrades and a variety of play modes.
It won't help defeat the robot apocalypse, but it looks fun and that's got to count for something.
Look, you've always wanted to be a pirate. Or a canine. And now you can be both in Brawsome's Jolly Rover, an adventure game for Mac OS X and iOS in which you take on the role of Gaius James Rover as he attempts to remedy the death of his father, start a circus, battle pirates, find true love, handle voodoo priests and gather considerable amounts of loot.
And although the iOS version has yet to be completed, take a gander at this demo for Mac OS X and see what you think…
Even if you never wanted to be a canine pirate, there's a part of you that always wanted to be a DJ. With this in mind, Booyah will release Nightclub City: DJ Rivals, an iOS game in which players must compete in epic beat battles and fade, tap and scratch along to music tracks while a geo-location system shows who you might be competing against in your local area.
Even amidst the trailers and previews for the latest mind-blowing games, there's still a chunk of you that doesn't mind sitting down with a cup of tea and a good historical war simulator for Mac OS X and figuring things out. With that in mind, Paradox Interactive (Virtual Programming) is releasing American Civil War, a civil war simulator in which you can play as the United States of America or the Confederate States of America, engage in 16 scenarios or five campaigns and move your divisions around via land, sea, river and rail maneuvers.
We all love root beer, but at the heart of every human being lies the desire to serve root beer to others. That being said, Warner Brothers will be rehashing the 80s Root Beer Tapper arcade game for Apple's iOS devices, wherein you must serve delicious root beer to customers while collecting empty glasses to an ever-growing horde of customers.
Finally, Shadow Cities, an interactive location-based massively multiplayer online game is en route for the iOS. Here, you'll take on the role of a magic-using warrior battling others within your city or town, the app tracking your location, placing you against other players within your vicinity and letting you battle it out.
A picture's worth a thousand words and that's why they created preview trailers...
That's all for now and stay tuned for additional coverage from the Game Developers Conference as it unfolds over the next few days.
