iGame Radio

The iPad games lineup is getting long and luscious, so we thought we’d post about some interesting titles that you can get your hot hands on come April 3, otherwise known as “Saint iPad’s Day”.

• Plants vs Zombies HD: PopCap’s fabulous casual zombie tower defense game munches its way onto your iPad. PopCap promises exclusive features and functionality for this version, including the Buttered Popcorn mini-game wherein players touch zombies to “butter them up” for attack and four new achievements. The game will go for $9.99. Enjoy our tongue-in-check exclusive preview of Plants vs Zombies HD from yesterday’s podcast!
• Pangea Software Five Game Line-up: Pangea Software is releasing five of their iPhone games for the iPad, including Enigmo Deluxe, Cro-Mag Rally for iPad, Bugdom 2 for iPad, Otto Matic for iPad, and Nanosaur 2 for iPad. Game improvements include more enemies, improved graphics, customization of controls, and improved physics controls. Enigmo Deluxe includes a level editor and over 400 extra free levels. Each game will be available for $9.99.
• Ace Omicron: The survivalist space shooter by ProRatta Factor that will be available for both iPhone and iPad. A 3D update of Asteroids, complete with 3 modes of play and upgrades to your ship. The game is $2.99 for both platforms.
• We Rule: ngmoco’s city-building MMO for the iPhone/iPod Touch now comes to the iPad. Hopefully, the server problems won’t come too. But hey, it’s free!
• CastleCraft: Freeverse’s city-building MMO for the…wait, what? Hey, doesn’t this sound like We Rule? Didn’t these guys merge recently? What’s going on here?? Well, regardless, we reported that CastleCraft was coming to the iPhone/iPod Touch because, well, that’s what info we got, but we also mentioned on the podcast that the site only listed iPad on the screen above (despite the trailer saying otherwise). Today the developer now says “exclusive to the iPad”. And it’s…free.
• Warpgate HD: Freeverse announced Warpgate months ago, even had a contest about naming a planet in the game’s systems. Then we heard nothing. It was always assumed that the game would come out for the iPhone, but suddenly we have the announcement and it’s coming out for the iPad first. The iTunes blurb does say that the game will be coming out for iPhone/iPod Touch later. But there’s no indication of whether there is any multiplayer functionality to the game. The game runs for $7.99
• PartyPad: a new twist on the classic game of marbles from GameHouse. Three modes to choose from, including Space Mania, the classic game of marbles, Table Tactics, which involves more strategy, and Monster Picnic, a more fast-paced game involving feeding a marble munching monster. The game features real-life physics and up to four players can play. $4.99
• Hangman RSS HD: As if the news headlines aren’t damaging enough, now you can hang someone while reading them. Introducing Hangman RSS by Finger Arts, wherein you try to guess the headlines of your RSS feed before you hang the dude. We say that there’s no better analogy for reading the daily news. The iPad version automatically updates the newsfeed over WiFi, then allows the player to access either a summary or the original webpage of the news article when the puzzle is completed. The game sells for $3.99.
• Mirror’s Edge: This is the first of several Electronic Arts titles that are coming to iPad. Mirror’s Edge for iPad will include exclusive head-to-head gameplay in split-screen PvP mode with friends. The price is heftier than any of the other titles mentioned so far, coming in at $12.99. We’ll see if the game lives up to the price.
• Need for Speed Shift: Need for Speed Shift needed to swing large things farther, so the price is $14.99. For that, we’d better be getting a significantly awesome racing game, EA. So far, the screens bear that out, as well as the exclusive features like 8 cars on the iPad you don’t get on any other platform; physics-based, accelerated graphics; and the ability to utilize and access controls and mirrors in the car.
• N.O.V.A.: Gameloft’s highly anticipated game (certainly anticipated since everyone saw a preview of the game on the iPad at the device announcement last year), this SciFi FPS follows the story of the Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance as it seeks to protect Earth from evil invaders. The game utilizes the iPad’s touch-screen technology with 2-finger throwing for grenades and multi-touch targeting for multiple kills. The screens look great, the price lower than I would expect (especially considering EA’s intro prices), at $9.99.

One thing to note is the variation in pricing. They are all over the place. Expect that the pricing will continue to fluctuate for the first month or so as companies feel their way around what the right kind of pricing is for apps on the iPad. Those prices will rise or fall depending on consumer purchases. We will be interested to see where that pricing bottoms out, but don’t expect it to be anywhere close to the iPhone pricing.