Money. I love it, you love it and developers really love it. Namco thinks one strategy to making more of the green stuff is to ramp up the amount of games they have coming to the App Store. They plan to blitz the iPhone with not only existing franchises but newer ones as well. They're gearing up to focus a lot of their efforts towards the device in hopes to make it one of their cash cows. Kotaku talked to Namco about the prospect.
"In the past Namco's been known for its depth of arcade experience,
games like Pac-Man, Galaga, Soulcalibur and Tekken," he said. "I'm
excited to be here and see a lot of those franchises come out on the
iPhone. I'm here to champion new things, new IP, to discover what the new Pac-Man is for the iPhone."
They also touched a bit on pricing.
"If you are going to play a very casual light game for an hour, that's
worth a dollar," he said. "Games that are bigger, that have
peer-to-peer play, that are expandable, that are maybe four to five
hours to play, that's a $5 price tag."
And there you have it. Namco is taking the iPhone seriously and pulling out their big guns to prove it. Let's hope they're able to conquer that whole "control method" thing and make some worthwhile experiences. Tekken for the iPhone? Yes please.
Treyarch has released a companion app for Call of Duty: World at War for free this afternoon. The app will keep you up to date with all of the latest Call of Duty happenings including personalized stats, news updates, friend info, etc. The details are as follows:
-In-depth stats tracking gathered from the Call of Duty: World at War
HQ website. View detailed breakdowns of your weapon usage and track
your online career as you reach for the highest prestige rankings.
-Stay connected with friends by tracking their progress and compare their stats with yours to see who's the better gunner.
-View leaderboards to see where you stack up against the competition and see whom you have to overtake to make it to the top.
-Visit the Intel portion of the app to read up on Call of Duty news.
The Intel section provides you with the latest and greatest news
concerning Call of Duty: World at War so you never have to worry about
getting left out of the loop when the next Double-XP weekend arrives!
I hope this is a trend that continues to pop up. There are plenty of console games I would love to have a companion app for. Now if I actually played World at War I'd say something like "Pretty cool!" but instead I'll have to reserve my reaction to just "nice".
Until now I've been fairly familiar with all of PopCap's roster of casual games. I've spent my fair share of time with Peggle, Zuma, Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies, etc. They're all highly addicting and fantastic in their own way. One game that has gone under the radar for me is Bookworm. I'll admit that it always looked the least interesting to me so I just never gave it a shot even though I've loved everything else PopCap has mustered up.
It wasn't until a few days ago was I able to get my hands on it through their 99¢ sale (down from $4.99). Ever since I got it I've been absolutely hooked. This has got to be one of the best game I've played for the iPhone to date, I can't get enough of it. Even if word puzzlers aren't your thing (they certainly aren't mine) you owe it to yourself to give this one a shot. I can't recommend this one highly enough, get it now while it's only a buck.
I gotta admit, when I found there was a Guinness World Records game coming out I got mildly excited even though I had no idea what it would entail. Would the world's tallest man come into play somehow? What about the genius who put 8 rattlesnakes in his mouth? Or the guy who lifted 24lbs of weights with this tongue? SURELY the furthest nasal injection would come into play, right?
While none of those things (to my knowledge) made it into the game I was pleasantly surprised to see the title be reviewed so favorably. It currently has a 4 star average rating on iTunes and is a compilation of mini-games, which actually makes perfect sense. I was still intrigued but couldn't part with it's debut asking price of $4.99. What I CAN part with, however, is 99¢. As of today, for a limited time only, you can pick up Guinness World Records for the bargain bin price of only a buck. Count me in.
Shark themed game released during the sharkiest weeks of all weeks, Shark Week? Happy coincidence? Or a calculated effort? Regardless of intention, it's timely! Gameprom adds another fantastic pinball game to their roster with the release of The Deep Pinball. You might remember Gameprom from their previous effort, Wild West Pinball (99¢), which hit the App Store back in early April.
Wild West Pinball, of the pinball games I've played from the App Store, is at the absolute top of my list. The physics are great and the overall package has a nice authentic feel to it. The Deep looks to carry on same formula with another high polish simulator with emphasis on realism. If you're a pinball fan you can pick this one up for only a buck. Oh yeah, and if you haven't seen it yet be sure and check out their pretty snazzy trailer they released last month:
