iGame Radio

To get your Indie game fix, you can’t beat a sale. Shrapnel Games has extended their holiday games sale till December 20. Right now you can get the following deals:

• $8 off Dominions 3: The Awakening.
• $4 off Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space.
• $3 off of Brainpipe: A plunge to Unhumanity.

Yeah, I’m in a posting bonanza today, ain’t I? The Chronicles of Inotia sequel, A Wanderer of Luone was launched on the App Store last week. The iPhone/iPod Touch RPG game continues a heroic journey through a land of magic, companionship, and a never ending battle against evil. Choose from five different classes, control up to three members in your party, customize your characters, and enter into multiplayer battles. Over 200 single-player quests have been included in the game.

Com2uS has also added two types of controls to the game. The touch controls familiar with many iPhone games that utilizes the iPhone touch screen, and a new Virtual Pad, which offers a more familiar approach with a directional pad and action buttons. Perhaps some traditional RPG players are still getting used to touching their game screen to play the game?

Lastly, take advantage of the online Match-up mode, which matches you up against other players on the Com2uS server. I don’t yet have any info on the determining factors for match-up, but I’ll find out when I review the game.

You can get the game right now in the App Store for $7.99.

Popcap’s mysterious game for the iPhone that Corey and I mentioned a couple of week’s ago has been released. Chuzzle for the iPhone is available on the App Store as of last Tuesday. And now that it has been released, I can talk a little more about it. The graphics are very true to the original game on the PC/Mac, and the gameplay was very smooth. It’s quite natural to slide the rows and columns on a touch screen. Fun details include that you can tap a chuzzle repeatedly over time, and some of them will respond annoyed, or do interesting things because of that.

The game is currently available for $4.99.

Freeverse has released a new iPhone game, taking the game of hangman to the extremes. Hanged merges the traditional game of hangman with a storyline, some really terrific graphics, and haunting music to create something much more than a puzzle game about words. How much more I’m not sure, as the video doesn’t give you really any indication about where the gameplay and art begin and end, or if they do. Are there cut scenes? Is there interaction other than choosing the letters? Guess I’ll have to review the game and find out, eh?

Just this morning, EA has announced that Dragon Age: Origins is coming to the Mac! The game will be released on December 21st as a standard or digital deluxe download version only. The game is being ported via Transgaming’s Cider technology. The download will include The Stone Prisoner and the Blood Dragon Armor DLC. The deluxe version includes a collection of wallpapers, in-game bonus items, the game’s soundtrack and the Warden’s Keep additional content.

In Dragon Age: Origins, players take on the role of a Grey Warden, one of the last of an ancient order of guardians. Now, as an evil blight threatens to destroy all life, it is up to players to unite the shattered lands and slay the corrupted dragon known as the Archdemon.

Minimum specs are already available on the Bioware website:

• Mac OS X 10.6.2 Snow Leopard or higher
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
• 2 GB RAM
• ATI X1600 or NVIDIA 7300 or greater
• At least 17 GB of hard drive space for installation
• This game will not run on PowerPC (G3/G4/G5)-based Mac systems, or Intel GMA class of video cards.

This game will run on an Nvidia 7300?? Um…I’m gonna have to see that to believe it.

ETA: My emails to all current PR contacts within Aspyr ALL BOUNCED. This seems to back up the large layoffs story. More as I get the info.

Big Download posted on their website on Wednesday that they had been alerted by unnamed, but still “reliable sources”, that large layoffs have occurred at Aspyr Media several weeks ago. Once source was quoted as saying over 50% of the staff had been let go, and only a small team now remains to hold down the fort. Most Mac gamers know the Austin, Texas based developer and publisher as the source of many ported Mac games, including Neverwinter Nights 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and the Civilization IV series.

Last month, Aspyr released Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Ultimate Edition for the PC with a planned Mac edition. Now there is a big question whether that Mac version will ever see the light of day. If this news is true, it will be a very sad day for all Mac gamers.

I’ve emailed Aspyr Media to confirm or deny this rumor, and I’ll update this story as I get more information.

ETA: Just got minimum system requirements. See below for details.

Hemisphere Games announced the release of Osmos for the Mac. The award-winning Indie game in which you play a mote (look it up, dudes) that grows by absorbing others around you. The physics-based gameplay requires that you eject bits of yourself to move, thus shrinking, so you have to balance your desire to grow with your need to move.

Come to think of it, that’s actually pretty parasitic and gruesome. Let me rewrite that appropriately:

In Osmos, you play a mote, a parasitic being that consumes those around you to grow to monstrous size, but to attack, you must eject your insides for the world to see! Bwahahaha!!!

Ahem.

Anyway, the game includes some wonderful soundtracks by Loscil, Gas/High Skies, Julien Neto, Biosphere, and more. Which, of course, means I have to get samples to play on the show.

System Requirements for the game:

• Mac OS X 10.4 or newer, Intel and PowerPC
• Processor: 1.0 GHz
• Memory: 512 MB RAM

You can download a demo for the Mac directly from the Osmos homepage, or purchase the game for a mere $10. And considering that the game includes 47 levels, randomly generated content (for potentially unlimited play), bonus content to unlock, and buying the game gets you both the PC and Mac versions, as well as the Linux version when it comes out (so you can play it on any computer), that’s a load of awesome for just $10.

 

What’s inside this episode:

• A review of Spikey’s Bounce Around by Donut Games. Help Spikey break open all of the jars and free his butterfly friends. An fun and surprisingly strategic arcade game.
• Also, a review of Yumsters! 2 by G5 Entertainment. The Yumsters love to gather their fruit. And they are looking to get musical instruments for a show. Whether it’s a match 3 arcade game, or a music game, this one has it all.
  
• Plus, a review of Samurai: Way of the Warrior by Mad Finger Gaming. A great hack ‘n slash iPhone game that matches simple storytelling with satisfying death and destruction!
  

 

What’s inside this episode:

• A review of Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power by Virtual Programming, an average turn-based strategy game with an interesting storyline that tries to take over the gameplay, and a tutorial that isn’t.
  
  
• Also, a review of the tower defense game, geoDefense Swarm for the iPhone by Critical Thought Games. In a genre filled to the brim, this game stands out from the crowd with cool graphics and good gameplay. But beware, the lucky charms may kill you!
  
  
• Plus, Omaha gives a brief report on her foray into the PopCap Games studio here in Seattle, to discover what’s new with their iPhone games. Can you guess what the mystery iPhone game is?

Show Notes:

• Oooh, hot gay elf on Grey Warden action! Or not…
• Is Apple getting into the iPhone game development business for real?
• The ECA debacle. Corey and Omaha discuss it at length, but the real decision is yours.

So, I know that the response to this one will either be “huh??” or “Aren’t they dead?”. Which is a real pity, because REO Speedwagon isn’t, and they are still going strong. Their latest move is to release a game concurrent to the release of a new album.

Find Your Own Way Home — The Game is a hidden object game that places you, the player, as a Hollywood reporter. You have been following the band REO Speedwagon on assignment as they gear up for the debut of their new album. The night of the debut, the lead singer, Kevin Cronin, doesn’t show up, and you have a mystery on your hands to solve.

But there’s not just the game! Nope, you have cool prizes to win inside as well. Everyone who buys the game will get a discount coupon to purchase REO’s new album, Not So Silent Night – Christmas with REO Speedwagon. Also, hidden deep within the game are “Golden Tickets.” Players who find a Golden Ticket will be eligible to win two real tickets to an REO Speedwagon concert, and a backstage meet-and-greet with the band.

The game is only $8, and you can check out a short demo as well.