Suspiciously Similar is a new feature where Astrosaurus looks at an iPhone game that is shamelessly inspired by an already existing game. Sometimes they're blatant, sometimes they're not, either way we get a huge kick out of seeing these land in the App Store. See our first installment of Suspiciously Similar where were compare Call to Arms to World of Warcraft.
You smell that? It's the sweet, sweet smell of profit off of someone elses hard work. It's like we have our own little digitally distributed version of
Chinatown on iTunes these days.
The App Store proves that no matter what you create, if
you're successful people will copy your formula and will try to
capitalize off of all your hard work.
First we have Flight Control, the game everyone knows and loves, has been a top seller on the App Store since the day it launched and helped catapult Firemint as a developer to keep tabs on. There have been plenty of other Flight Control inspired games, but none quite as shameless and disgraceful as this one. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with iFlighter Control (99¢) by Meson Networks.
The opening screen isn't so bad. But I love the fact that the name is inconsistent. On the App Store it's iFlighter Control and in the actual game they call it iFlight Control. Good work guys! A+ for quality control.
Anyone who play Flight Control knows how closely the above artwork resembles, or at least tries to resemble, its inspiration. It's not quite the same, it's like a much cheaper, poorer quality, bizzaro world version of Flight Control. You think that's bad? Take a look at the screenshot of the actual gameplay.
Holy hell! They're not even trying to differentiate themselves. Just how close is it? Take a look at the real deal below.
I hereby grant Meson Networks honorary degrees in, god, I don't know what. What degrees do you give to shitty developers who are so talentless they rip off the exact formula of a game, try to pass it as their own and attempt to trick consumers by naming it something similar? Well whatever it is I grant them that.
I have to hand it to them though, they're wizards at marketing. One great way to convince people to by your title is through user reviews and testimonials. Meson Networks understand the value of this and decided to put a user review section on their official site. Great idea! Here's an actual screenshot of what some of their devoted fans had to say.
Hey guys, got a quick recommendation for everyone out there who's a miniature golf fan and has a few bucks to burn. I picked Mini Golf Wacky Worlds ($2.99) last night and have been having a pretty good time with it. The visuals are bright and appropriate, the physics handle as expected and it's a takes all but a match to get used to the controls. Having just gotten off of a brief stint with Let's Golf ($1.99) I was initially let down with the mechanics, but in a matter of no time you'll become assimilated to them. Of the miniature golf games I've played from the App Store this has go to be my favorite. Pick it up if that sounds like your sorta thing.
This week's episode of Ngmoshow, Ngmoco's weekly video diary, is centered around their upcoming first person shooter, FPS, previously known as Kill Test and before that as Live Fire. Ngmoco, pinky swear to us this will be the final name change, yeah? The show is largely filler material and doesn't unveil anything too new, but they did manage to squeeze in about 15 seconds of previously unseen footage from the game. Hint: It looks great. If you want to skip right to the money shot fast forward to the 3:50 mark.
It's hard for me to get excited over most 3D games for the iPhone, especially first person shooters, but FPS, so far, has made me a believer. If the game comes across as well as their preview footage does they might very well be the first FPS on the App Store I spend a significant amount of time with. The mechanics look nailed down and it's not trying to over do it with the visuals, something that always concerns me. Color me excited.
Aside from reruns of Small Wonder and Homeboys in Outer Space (don't tell me how it ends!) I'm pretty out of the loop with television. When I do watch it's Tivo'd and I'll be damned if I actually watch any of the commercials. Last night was one of those rare occurrences where I'm watching live television and was unable to fast forward through the ads. I was a little caught off guard when I saw a commercial for Adult Swim's iPhone version of Vending Machine Champ ($1.99).
Adult Swim being what it is gives them the perfect platform to advertise their games on television, but even then I was pleasantly surprised. Then I started thinking, is this the first nationally televised iPhone gaming commercial? With the App Store being as popular as it is I wouldn't be shocked we start seeing more of these pop up. This is the first I'm aware of, have anyone out there seen any others?
Quick note! How would YOU like to save a couple of dollars? You can now pick up Defender Chronicles, the App Store's 'first 2D tower defense platformer', for a buck. The game launched a couple of months ago and has gained a pretty dedicated fan base. If you've had your eyes on it now is as good of a time as many to get it on the cheap.
