Recently there has been quite a buzz flying around with news of a new NIntendo DS. This time it seems that it isn’t just a new color or making it slimmer, but actually getting different functions.
Nintendo has announced that it will release an upgraded model of its popular handheld, the Nintendo DS. Featuring a camera, music playback and more modernized features, it will come to market in Japan this year at a price not far above the current mode.
Looks like Nintendo is looking ot push their DS into the forefront of handheld gaming even further. Was Nintendo worried about the new iPhones gaming capabilities? I doubt they were trembling over the PSP since they have been consistently beating them out. The price point is also looking attractive, I may see a new DS in my future.
The upgraded DS will be released in Japan this year at a price of “under 20,000 yen” ($189). For reference, the current DS sells in Japan for 16,800 yen ($159).
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was, well, unleashed on every platform known to man. With the iPhone gaming scene catching fire, it’s only natural that the new title would drop over onto Apple’s little device. This handheld edition takes a different approach to the title, moving away from the action/adventure style of every other version and going with a game where you just draw on the iPhone touchscreen.
Graphically, the game is impressive for the platform. The artistic backgrounds look fantastic, although you provide a stark contrast to the block-ish character models. Animations are great though, especially when you’re throwing enemies around with your Force powers. From a sound perspective, The Force Unleashed is just okay. The background music fits in with the genre, but there is zero voice over in the game. I guess that’s what we’re going to have to expect from iPhone titles.
Spore is all the rage right about now. The PC/Mac game came out to a range of media attention, from varied gameplay to DRM issues. EA is extending Spore’s reach by releasing Spore Origins for the iPhone. In this mobile version, you get a chance to make and evolve your creature, but only through the early stages of the game.
For an iPhone game, Spore Origins looks terrific. The graphics and textures are all done very well. Some of the cut-scenes will show some signs screen tearing, which is something I haven’t seen on the iPhone before. Sound-wise, Spore does a pretty good job. The background music is nice and the sound effects work well for the game. I’d recommend using headphones since the iPhone speaker isn’t the loudest and clearest.
EA is dropping a ton of new content on the iPhone. I’m pretty excited for most of these titles. Yahtzee Adventures, EA Mini Golf, Lemonade Tycoon, Mahjong, Monopoly: Here & Now The World Edition, SimCity, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09, Need for Speed Undercover, and The Sims 3 were all announced.
To go along with that, EA confirmed that Spore for the iPhone should be shipping September 7th along with the retail release of the game. Works for me.
The rumor mill is twirling with this little piece of information, it looks like Belkin is busy working on a JoyPod. It looks to slide over an existing iPhone and act as a controller, which would strengthen the already growing presence of the iPhone in handheld gaming. The fact that it is being developed by Belkin means that it will be supported by Apple, which is big since any other controllers we have seen until this time have all been from knock-off companies.
The ad copy promotes using the Joypod to squeeze the most out of your iPhone or iPod Touch to play App Store games in the easiest way. Other features listed include:
- 8 buttons total (6 on the front)
- Audio output
- Dock connector for power and syncing
I’ve been intrigued by de Blob ever since the first Wii videos and info were released. When I heard the game was coming to the iPhone, it seemed like a logical step. The iPhone’s tilt and touch controls fit the game’s style and theme nicely. de Blob looks to be a solid hit for the Wii, but does it translate well to Apple’s mobile device?
I sort-of knew about this, but I thought it was corrected with the announcement of Scrabble Bonjour, where users can play against other iPhone Scrabblers over WiFi. Well, it turns out, Apple has no implementation in their SDK to allow for gaming over the internet. You will only be able to play locally on the same wireless network.
Everyone is talking about the iPhone being better than the DS or PSP in terms of mobile gaming. Until Apple allows online play in the SDK, there is a big hurdle for larger games to try to make their way to the iPhone. For a device that is always connected to at least a cellular network, it’s shocking that Apple isn’t allowing this. Hell, you could probably play some of these games against other players using 3G data and not WiFi.
Here is a look at the ever growing lineup of EA inspired mobile games for the iPhone. Their lineup continues to look impressive and EA will make some decent amounts of money off of these games just like they did off Super Monkey Ball, hopefully making it more accessible for others to jump on board to this medium.
Perhaps one of the funniest comments I have seen in a while:
“THEY INVADED!!!
aww crap iphone revolution is here…R.I.P. PSP”
User garc4475 commented and there may be some truth in his jest.
Pokemon on your iPhone is pretty interesting, but I think that this game is a bit silly seeing as the people that own an iPhone are not in the right age group to enjoy Pokemon. Typically Pokemon is for a younger crowd that can not afford or does not have access to an iPhone, but still very cool to see more and more games being brought over to this medium. One thing Apple will need to improve quickly is the battery life on the iPhone, that thing does not even last a day if you use it moderately let alone try to play a game on it.
The iPhone continues to show off some interesting games and Spore: Origins is no different. The iPhone version of Spore lets you take full control of your creature and use the accelerometer to move it around the environments to eat and attack enemies. The creature creator portion looks to be fairly in depth and take advantage of the touch screen very well. Looking forward to seeing more of this title and possibly seeing how it can link tot he full PC title.
We're like Spaceballs... we're making Loot Ninja everything. Coming soon we'll have hats, shirts, hoodies, possibly banana hammocks if one Editor has his way...
Check out the shirt prototypes here and the hats here
