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Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies Arrives on App Store

Cory Bohon — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:55:19 -0600

Touch Arcade is reporting that Activision has released Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies for the iPhone and iPod touch.

The game, adapted from the console version, is a zombie survival mode that allows you to shoot endless waves of Zombies right on your iPhone!

COD: World at War: Zombies comes equipped with only one map, but others will later become available as add-on purchases. The game has single player and multiplayer support over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. In the online match, you can pair up with 3 other players and shoot Zombies to your heart's content.

The game is now available on the App Store [iTunes link] for $9.99.

GTA: Chinatown Wars and Beaterator - Heading to an iPhone Near You

Christine Chan — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:21:40 -0500

Developer Rockstar has announced that they are bringing a port of the popular Nintendo DS title Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars to the iPhone/iPod touch. Players will take up the role of Huang Lee, a Triads gang member who travels to Liberty City after the suspicious death of his father.

The gameplay of this port will resemble the style of the first two GTA games, which is driving, shooting, and running around with a top-down perspective. Chinatown Wars does add a series of mini-games, the main purpose of which is to increase storytelling through 2D panel art.

There is no price announced for the iPhone/iPod touch port of the popular DS game.

Rockstar is also releasing an iPhone/iPod touch port of Beaterator, which allows players to create their own music by using samples from Rockstar and famous producer, Timbaland. It is claimed to contain "thousands" of sounds and loops, all packaged in a nice and simple UI. Players can even create their own songs with vocal inserts as well as use the provided song templates. Again, there is no price announced yet.

via iPodNN

5 Things Mac Gamers Need To Know About Quake Live

Andy Salisbury — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:29:39 -0500

As you may or may not know, Quake Live is making its debut for the Mac today. And, as a Mac user with a sweet tooth for PC gaming, I thought I’d take it upon myself to show you the ropes before you get thrown into the cutthroat world of Quake Live. But worry not, with a little bit of know-how and a steady hand, you’ll be fragging from your browser window before you know it.

So, grab your mouse, and let’s get started!

1. You work around Quake Live, Quake Live doesn’t work around you

While initially Quake didn't play well with WebKit browsers, the newest incarnation of the service works with both Firefox and Safari.

Quake Live supports: OS X 10.4 or higher, Safari 3.0 or higher and Firefox 2.0 of higher

2. Quake Live takes minimal setup time

Getting started in Quake Live takes only a few minutes (depending on your Internet connection). In order to do so, you have to head on over the Quake Live website (duh) and register for an account. Once you’ve done so, you’ll be prompted to download some software. Don’t worry about it though, this software is pure of heart – its purpose is to install all required plug-ins to play the game, and nothing else.

Once you’ve taken care of that, you’ll go through a small installation process, and boom – you’re set to go!

3. Quake Live will only let you play with those as good (or as bad) as you

Quake Live comes with a clever skill placement system, which pits you against a low-level bot to test how efficient you are at killing. If you manage to pound the bot’s brains straight into the ground, you’ll be placed against players of a higher caliber. Should you end up losing to the bot, which turns only using its virtual keyboard, you’ll likely be placed in the playpen with others of the same skill level.

This system can be easily abused, though. So don’t always expect to come up against other players of similar skill level. After all, if you’re a semi-pro that deliberately lets the bot kill you time after time, you’ll play against other players that pose no threat.

4. You can play Quake Live from just about any Mac

Quake III Arena was released all the way back in 1999 – a year that introduced to us the Graphite PowerMac G4. So know that even if you’re on a low-end machine, you’ll be able to play with the other boys and girls. Now, I can’t say for certain that the PowerPC chip architecture is supported along with Intel (after all, EVE Online won’t let a PowerPC user like myself play), but if it does, you’ll be able to run the game smoothly.

So, what if you’re on a tangerine clamshell iBook and the game is chugging along? First of all, congrats on keeping that baby up and running for so long, but secondly – hop into the graphics settings and notch it down! That’s right, just like any other desktop game Quake Live comes with it’s own built in graphics settings. Everything from antialiasing to screen resolution is at your fingertips.

5. You can play Quake Live with friends – easily!

On top of placing you in a class with your peers, Quake Live makes it easy to team up with friends. The built in friends list lets you easily add players by their account name, email address or last name.

Once you’ve got a friend added to your friends list, you’ll always be able to keep one eye on them, thanks to the list’s constant presence. No matter what screen you happen to be on (with the exception of the game itself), your friends list will show up on your browser window.

So, what to expect?

As I’m sure you already know, Quake Live is a free to play, browser-based port of the extremely popular first person shooter Quake III Arena. And, like Quake III, Quake Live offers countless hours of great gameplay that will likely keep you coming back for more. Whether you like Deathmatch or Capture the Flag, there’s something for you.

Thanks to Quake Live’s easy to use server browser, it’s easier than ever to find a game near you, see how many people are in it, what game mode it’s playing, and how much time is left until the map switches.

But, bear in mind that Quake Live is a beta. There will be bugs, there will be errors – just be sure to enjoy the game for what it is! A free, high quality shooter brought to you as a labor of love.

Happy fragging.

Apple Cutting Into Handheld Game Market

Christine Chan — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:41:04 -0500

With the continually growing App Store, which is filled with tons of games, how does Apple's iPhone and iPod touch fare in the world of handheld gaming against the kings, Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP? The answer: very well.

Both Nintendo and Sony have sold 70 and 35 million units, respectively, and both have their dedicated gamers that yearn for the high-quality franchises and system exclusives. But these apparently still aren't enough to keep Apple away from cutting into the market. Micheal Pachter, managing director at Wedbush Morgan Securities and a top game industry analyst, says it's a "fait accompli."

According to Pachter, "iPod touch game sales are already cutting into the handheld market, particularly at the low-end," he wrote to a writer at The Apple Blog. “The iPod touch’s market share will continue to grow, I suppose to around 10 percent to 15 percent of all handheld game sales."

The iPod touch market share will continue to grow to about 10 to 15 percent of all the handheld game sales, according to Pachter. He sees the iPod touch as much more of a competitor in the handheld market than the iPhone since prices for the device will drop and parents will see them as viable substitutes for a DS or PSP. He doesn't think the iPhone will grow like the iPod touch in the gaming market though, since it requires an expensive data plan, which most parents are hesitant to pay for a child younger than 18.

The main challenge for the iPod touch gaming market though, is the pricing for games. “The sticking point is whether we’ll see these games offered at $9.99 or at $29.99. If at the lower price, the developers/publishers would take a profit hit; if at the higher price, the popularity of the iPod touch as a gaming device will suffer," claims Pachter. It should be noted that currently top-selling games in the App Store, even from the major publishers, sell for even under $10.

Still, Nintendo and Sony have the better games and exclusive first-party titles that we will most likely never see in the App Store. This seems to be the only advantage they have over Apple in the portable gaming market, but only time will tell if that will change.

Portal Being Ported....to your iPhone?

Christine Chan — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:40:54 -0500

This video shows off Portal being run on Unity on an iPhone 3G.

No one is clear on what this video, or project, will eventually turn out to be. We're not even sure if Valve is planning on porting the game over to the iPhone platform. Valve does seems to have a unexpected responses to spinoff projects, which this may actually be.

TouchArcade quotes Portal Prelude, a fan-made Portal prequel blog:

Yesterday, we got our first contact with the french community manager of Valve. Yes, Valve. The marvellous company that brought Portal and so much more to us for years. Don't take me wrong, I'm not trying to seduce anyone, but believe me, it was huge. I was so happy and so scared at the same time. For your information, they don't seem to bother about us doing a prequel for Portal. They're even sending us their congratulations and they seem to enjoy what we're doing.

So, all we need now is a response from Valve about this project. In any case, we hope it's true and can be on the iPhone - then our productivity can drop to zero forever!

Spore Creature Creator

Zack Stern — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:07:43 -0500

The snout took a few tricks--it’s a modified arm segment--but we otherwise created Sharpton in minutes.

Don’t just be a god, play god, sculpting a planet’s-worth of creations. Spore Creature Creator slices the species-designing part of the full Spore game--due September 7, 2008--into its own nursery. Redesign actual creatures, such as adding a horn to a human shape; or invent something new, like a walking plant with eyes for hands. You can build an amazing array of animals by manipulating dozens of body parts and adjusting basic shapes. While there’s little to do with a creature after you build it, Spore Creature Creator entertains as a preview of the full game.

Spore Creature Creator distills the power of a 3D design program into an accessible interface. Players begin with a randomly assigned lump for a body type and can then change the length and shape of the spine by just clicking and pulling. These curves slump and alter the basic body. From there, players drag over features from a roster of eyes, mouths, legs, antlers, and many more parts. Those connection points snap anywhere on the body. And then creators reposition joints and lengthen appendages with simple dragging movements, while grabbing other guides can tilt the orientation and direction of parts. Spore Creature Creator’s complexity scales well; we were instantly engaged with the basic tools, but we eventually added advanced techniques to create multi-jointed tentacles and other oddities.

After building the creature’s shape, players add textured, colored skins. We initially picked from stock designs. But after learning the basics, we adjusted many variables to tweak several layers of color and pattern.

Creatures can play with their offspring, but otherwise have to wait for the full game for much else to happen.

But once you complete a creature, there’s little else to do other than begin again. We sent our animals trotting around a circular playpen, watching them come to life with playful animations. But we wanted a few more ways to connect--such as a way for different creatures to interact--without waiting for the full version of Spore. (Gamers will be able to import these creatures then, exploring a universe full of their favorites.)

The Tuttles Madcap Misadventures

Omaha Sternberg — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:13:44 -0500

Barbara Tuttle, voiced by Jamie Lee Curtis, jumps through one of the colorful levels.

The Tuttles Madcap Misadventures has a lot going for it: big-name character voices, gorgeous graphics, several top awards. Plus, half the retail proceeds are donated to charity. But if you strip all of that away, you’re left with a pretty standard side-scrolling platform game. Then again, why would you strip all of that away?

The Tuttles are going on vacation to the Alamo, but their flying van keeps steering them wrong. In each level, one member of the family must locate several objects that will help the van fly again. Each family member can jump, swim, and defeat enemies with a special ability.

But this is no fly-by-night casual game. Developed by Legacy Interactive in conjunction with the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation, The Tuttles is a first-time attempt at utilizing casual games to raise funds for a nonprofit. Fifty percent of the proceeds from game sales will go to help seriously ill children around the world. Some big-name voices contributed, including William Shatner, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Bob Saget, and the game was named the 2007 GameTunnel Kids Game of the Year, and won the 2008 Silver Honor Award from Parents’ Choice Foundation.

The 2D graphics are stunning. Between-level scenes are simple, animated, comic-book style cartoons. The objects and characters you interact with are vivid and colorful, and the lighting brings the whole game to life…especially underwater. Several layers of background imagery scroll at different rates, so you feel as though the environment is 3D, even though it’s not.

Unfortunately, this layering effect brought about early bug issues. Objects sometimes shifted into the wrong layer, preventing players from moving forward or using required objects. We encountered a couple of bugs ourselves: On one level, several required objects were invisible. Another level refused to load. Legacy assured us that these issues have been addressed in the Mac/PC hybrid disc. One other annoyance is that you can’t turn off the in-game dialog—a snippet plays every time your character jumps for example—and you jump a lot.

The bottom line. The Tuttles Madcap Misadventures lets you jump through fun and colorful worlds with a hilarious family, all in the name of helping out sick kids. We’re happy to play.

COMPANY: Legacy Interactive

CONTACT: www.tuttlesfamilygame.com

PRICE: $19.99

REQUIREMENTS: Intel Core Duo or faster processor; Mac OS 10.4.10 or later; 1GB RAM; ATI X1600, Nvidia 7300 GT, or Intel integrated graphics chip

Beautiful visuals with great lighting effects. Humorous character dialogue. Half of the proceeds go to the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation to help sick kids

Intel Macs only. Annoying character sounds that can’t be turned off. Bug issues that still seem prevalent.

Eschalon: Book I

Omaha Sternberg — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:36:11 -0500

Twelve hours of rest? Your character must be a teenager.

Eschalon: Book I, the first title from indie developer Basilisk Games, is branded as a traditional RPG, a stereotype fulfilled here with a vengeance. Unfortunately, problems with skill choices and movement, and an uninspiring story line may turn that vengeance into slaughter for anyone who might not be a hardcore RPG fan.

You wake up in Eschalon with no memory of who you are, clutching a strange letter about some type of conspiracy. Hours of play later, you’ve followed a bread-crumb trail of letters, notes, and side quests, but feel no closer to learning what your part in the world is and no real connection to the people around you.

Eschalon is all about the numbers. When creating a character, you roll as many times as you like for your basic statistics (Wisdom, Intelligence, Strength, and so on). When you’re happy, you choose a class; each comes with a predetermined skill. Your place of origin and Axiom (morality) can have positive, negative, or neutral impacts on your stats, so choose wisely.

After you’ve created your character, you can only upgrade skills when you level up. Unfortunately, you can’t see how much each skill costs until you’ve picked them, and worse, if you don’t have enough points to gain a new skill or stat level, the game doesn’t tell you how many points you need to get. Finally, there’s no in-game tutorial, so when starting out you have to read the manual and learn from your mistakes.

Eschalon is a turn-based game, so nothing happens in real-time. Even walking is completely mouse driven. Combat is based on an initial assumption that everyone has a 50-50 chance of hitting something, after which the game applies your attack-based stats and bonuses and subtracts the enemy’s defensive stats and bonuses. This system is strange, since we can pretty much guarantee a better than 50-50 chance of hitting a rock.

For a tile game, Eschalon’s 2D graphics are quite beautiful to look at. So is the level of detail, with torches, rugs, and wall-hangings decorating every room. The game world has many people to interact with, some with little to provide and others who will spill information or be willing to trade items. The music is standard, yet creates a beautiful fantasy atmosphere, with immersive in-game audio featuring tweeting birds and the sound of water. If you like what you hear, you can import the game’s music into iTunes and listen to it when you’re not playing.

The bottom line. Eschalon: Book I tries to be everything to the hardcore traditional RPG fan, but problems with its character creation, story line, and movement keep it from appealing to everyone.—Omaha Sternberg

COMPANY: Basilisk Games

CONTACT: www.basiliskgames.com

PRICE: $27.95 download/$39.95 CD

REQUIREMENTS: 1.8GHz or faster CPU, Mac OS 10.3.9 or higher, 256MB RAM (512MB recommended), 3D accelerated graphics card

Beautiful graphics and music. Game world has dense, interesting history. Universal binary.

Story line needs to draw player in better. Mouse movement only. Character-creation inconsistencies.