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Posts tagged with "games"

Fruit Ninja Lite, N.O.V.A. 2 for iPad Now Available

Together with an update to Infinity Blade, two other popular games for iPhone and iPad were updated last night. First off, Gameloft finally released an iPad version of N.O.V.A. 2, which as you can guess is simply called N.O.V.A. 2 HD. The app isn’t universal, but at least it’s sold at the same price of the iPhone counterpart. The features are the same (improved graphics, new weapons, better AI, new multiplayer mode) and the game, like the first N.O.V.A., is “just” bigger on the iPad.

Your call if that’s a good thing or not – I personally can’t play first-person shooters on the iPad so well.

Also, Halfbrick Studios released Fruit Ninja Lite for iPhone and iPad (Fruit Ninja HD Lite), two free samples of the smashing mobile hits. The “lite” versions offer most of the game modes of the paid apps, but come with limitations (for example, only a few achievements) so you can try before you buy.

Check out Fruit Ninja Lite and other discounted Halfbrick Studios on the team’s App Store page.

Secret of Mana for iPhone Goes Live Internationally, Coming To The U.S. Tonight

Secret of Mana, also known to the Nintendo nerds among us as Seiken Densetsu 2, was an action RPG for the Super Nintendo release by Square in 1993. I remember playing this as a kid on my SNES, and I remember the pleasure of playing it again a decade later on a modded PSP through a SNES emulator. Secret of Mana is considered one of the best games ever released on Nintendo’s 16-bit consoles, or one of Square’s finest action RPGs, period.

The fact that Secret of Mana still holds up to most similar games 17 years after its original release says a lot about the current status of role-playing games and the excellence of Square’s team back in the golden days. Still, let’s focus on yet another comeback of SoM, this time on the iPhone. Which is the same Secret of Mana you know and love, only with a couple of virtual buttons on screen to move you character, attack and change weapon. Yes, the Ring Command menu system from the original game is still there. Nothing else seems to be different.

The game is now live in most international App Stores and will likely become available in the US in 3 hours.

Back to the Future: The Game Coming To The Mac This Week

Great news, Back to the Future fans and Mac owners: you’re getting a BTTF game for the Mac this week. Telltale Games announced the release date of “Back to the Future: The Game” last week, and it looks like the BTTF franchise will get a series of games for Mac and PC that will be made available as “episodes” from December through summer 2011. The first episode called “It’s about time” is coming out this week, on Wednesday. Just in time for Christmas.

First off, those who pre-ordered the game will get a free copy of Puzzle Agent and will also contribute a 1 dollar donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. As for the game, it seems like it’ll be based 6 months after the ending of BTTF 3, and it will be an adventure where you’ll control Marty in his effort to go back in time and find Emmett Brown. Telltale says the game has been developed with the fans of the movie in mind, it will feature alternate timelines and will be the first game for Mac and PC where space and time continuum really matters.

Sounds exciting to you? I’m just worried about the episodic nature of this game series – I never liked games released in episodes. Still, this is Back to the Future we’re talking about and Telltale is well-known for creating sweet gems. Which means I’ll be waiting eagerly for the game to come out on Wednesday.

Backflip Games: 20 Million Monthly Active Users

Backflip Studios is a profitable game development team. In the past two years they pulled out hits like Paper Toss and NinJump, and they’re making half a million dollars per month through in-game advertising. That’s a remarkable result, especially considering that when the app’s free, most developers struggle to find a sustainable business model.

Clearly that’s not the case with Backflip which, according to a report from Mobile Ent, has now ninjumped to 20 million active users per month. Active users, not just people who open the App Store to download apps.

Mobile game developer Backflip Studios says it has now racked up more than 65 million downloads of its games across iOS and Android.

The company had more than 20 million monthly active users last month, and more than two million daily active users.

Backflip isn’t stopping anytime soon. The company has recently started porting its portfolio of iPhone games to Android devices, with NinJump already available in the Marketplace. Backflip released another game today, Backflip Slots, which is another take on the classic slot machine game with fancy graphics and the usual Backflip style.

Who’s going to buy Backflip Studios?

Invaders Corruption Mutates Invaders With Geometry Wars

I like to hunt down different indie games that fulfill the ever growing desire to feast my eyes on well made, yet simple titles that are available on a variety of platforms so that even our Windows readers can take part in all the fun. But mostly I’m just looking for some casual pixel love for my midnight Mac gaming cravings. Last week I came across Invader Corruption, where a unique name creates an individual gaming experience so that no two games are quite the same. What starts off as a boring and possibly mundane shooter ends up being compelling and totally addictive. Shoot past the break to learn more about this frantic free title.

Read more

Sony Announces Official PlayStation App Coming To The iPhone

Good news, PlayStation fans and Marcus aficionados: there’s an official PlayStation app coming soon to an iPhone near you. As Sony reveals on the official European PlayStation Blog, the app will be available soon for iPhones and iPod touches running iOS 4 and Android devices running 1.6 and above.

The app will let you check on the PSN for your trophies and friends’ status updates, read news about games and hardware for PS devices, get the latest updates from the official PlayStation Blog. It will also have Facebook and Twitter sharing built-in.

The first version of the app will be released in UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and The Netherlands. The next version, already in the works, will support more countries and languages.

If you’re looking for something more than a simple app to check on the PlayStation Network, the PlayStation Phone is still real.

Firemint Releases Flight Control Free, Updates Real Racing With Game Center Support

December 16th has been a day to remember for the folks at Firemint. Not only did they release Real Racing 2 for iPhone (which is collecting rave reviews from all the major game blogs), they also updated the original Real Racing with Game Center support and released a free version of Flight Control.

Real Racing for iPhone, available here at $4.99, now comes with full Game Center integration: the app now comes with 4-player online multiplayer (instead of Real Racing 2 16-player mode), leaderboards, achievements, random matches and in-game results. Considering that Real Racing has been around for months, it’s great that Firemint is still giving its previous customers support and updates. Of course, if you want the real multiplayer you’ll have to go with Real Racing 2, which is available at $9.99 here.

Flight Control Free for iPhone is basically a version of the popular game with less maps, achievements – less everything. It’s cool if you’ve never tried Flight Control in your lifetime, but I’m usually not so excited about free versions with limitations. Still, it’s available here.

Lots Of Great iOS Games Coming Out Tonight

Today’s a great day for iOS games, just like last week when Infinity Blade and a bunch of other big names came out in the App Store. And it’s no surprise that right ahead of Christmas iOS users get to download the best gems of the year – who doesn’t want to spend the holiday season relaxing and playing games on a possibly new, shiny iPad?

Most of all, tomorrow will be the last Thursday before the iTunes Connect holiday shut down, when developers (from Dec. 23 to Dec. 28) won’t be able to submit apps and updates or change the price of their existing apps in the Store. Basically, everyone is rushing to get games approved and available before the 23rd.

Already available in the New Zealand store (time zone differences, you know) and coming out in about 14 hours in the U.S. App Store, the following games will be ready to be installed on your devices tomorrow morning. The links you’ll find in this post point to the New Zealand, but you’ll be able to find these games in the U.S. store later today. Read more

First Infinity Blade Update To Drop Next Week→

First Infinity Blade Update To Drop Next Week

Work started on new content the day after the game’s five-month development ended, so Chair already has some goodies on deck. Next week’s addition, as well as another planned for January, will include more “booster packs,” as Mustard describes them – some additional content to keep things fresh and help entertain us sad sacks who’ve mastered all the gear.

Next week’s pack includes five new weapons, five new shields, five new helmets and a new armor set; enough equipment to increase the level cap to 45.

Also: new areas to explore (dungeons), more details about the God King, new enemies for experienced users. Multiplayer mode won’t be available in next week’s update, and the developers didn’t provide a release date. I think January would be perfect.

Don’t expect free-roaming to come anytime soon.

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