iGame Radio

Yesterday, shortly after the Apple September 1st Keynote event, I appeared on the MacJury to discuss and adjudicate the revelations Steve Jobs made. Hosted by Chuck Joiner, I appeared alongside Dave Hamilton of the Mac Geek Gab, Chuck LaTournou of Randomaccess, and Don McCallister of ScreenCastsOnline. We had great fun chatting up this content filled keynote and all the implications therein, including the importance of Apple streaming the thing. Yeah, every little detail is important. ;-)

I, of course, had a lot to say about Game Center, and the lack of information still provided in the keynote, what the new iPod Touch will mean to gaming (and Job’s comments about it being the #1 mobile gaming platform now), and the gaming possibilities that AppleTV 2.0 will represent.

Go, listen. It’s a fun-filled hour of Mac geeks chatting about their favorite subjects.

The Apple event today was all about the music, as could be inferred by the invite with the guitar in the background. But game treasure could be found all around if one knew where to look. Jobs gave us more information about Game Center, we saw a wonderful demo of an Epic Game in development on the new iPod Touch, and we discussed the possibilities about the new AppleTV.

First up was the announcement that iOS 4.1 would be released next week. Read more

It’s been a couple of weeks since the historic announcement from Apple revealing the iPad, and the reactions have been an interesting mix of heavy criticism and excitement. The heavy criticism stems mostly from the geek community, that seem to feel that they have been betrayed. Months of hype that at sometimes felt like the inevitable return of the Messiah (or the Jobsiah?), the iPad was far less than many of us perhaps fantasized, though in fact really not that far off the mark from what most analysts and the geek community in general had expected.

Meanwhile, many developers are crowing about the potential the iPad has to offer. For example, former Facebook iPhone developer Joe Hewitt believes that the iPhone’s OS still has a huge amount of potential that hasn’t been tapped. “I felt strongly that all Apple needed to do to revolutionize computing was simply to make an iPhone with a large screen.”

But, to quote one of my all-time favorite movies, “I didn’t make him for *you*!!”

Yes, indeed, Steve Jobs did *not* make the iPad for you and me, fellow members of the geek community. But for your mom, your dad, your grandfather, and my stepdaughter who most decidedly wishes to identify as anything but a geek (while she gleefully texts and gmails her way through life), this is the perfect device. These are the media consumers that will be attracted to the iPad. To quote iShoot developer Ethan Nicholas, “The iPad is a computer for people who don’t like computers…if you have managed to convince yourself that the iPad is a useless, locked-up DRM-laden failure of a ‘computer’ before even touching one, I have two words for you: My mom.”

And, hopefully, they will be attracted to the games that the iPad has to offer. We’ve already seen a few offerings of those possibilities in what both EA showed with Need for Speed and Gameloft showed with N.O.V.A. Many more have already piped up with me-toos of games that they intend to show up on the iPad as well. Others have listed out games that they want to see on the iPad, or speculated on games that would work well for the platform.

Remember that quote of Joe Hewitt’s? That bigger screen really does make a bigger difference. Aspyr Media put out a game early in the iPhone game rush called Buggled. It was a cute little game about trying to touch all the ladybugs on the screen in order, and you could play two person. Unfortunately, the iPhone screen is so small that what could be challenging fun ended up being frustrating. Not to mention how many times the phone kept falling from their hands. My kids got tired of it after a while.

This game on the iPad, however, would be a blast. With a larger screen, it will be easier to find where you need to place your fingers, and easier to expand the number of levels to include. Most importantly, the biggest frustration of the game, the threat of dropping your iPhone, would be removed. Place your iPad on your lap or table top. Include more players. FTW!

But, what about online games? Many are Flash based, and as we well know from the presentation last week, the little blue lego tells us that Flash has been banned from the sacred iPad screen. Ain’t Adobe pissed (enough to use the pr0n card, no less).

Or is it? Adobe had already announced an iPhone tool that would allow developers to create native iPhone applications using Flash. They are in the process of expanding this tool for multiple screen sizes to use on the iPad as well.

Then there’s HTML5. The next version of HTML seeks to reduce the need for proprietary plug-in based internet applications, such as Java and Flash. There are even some preliminary HTML5 platform games that have been created, although they are very rudimentary. These show the potential and power of this new version of the web’s basic markup language.

But none of this means the end of Flash, or Flash-based games. Even if more online games will be using Adobe’s iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad tool and even if more online games start using HTML5 with javascript for the foundation of their game development, you can be sure that Flash will be around for quite a while at least.

So, what’s the conclusion that we can reach? The iPhone has proved that you don’t need Flash to have a healthy mobile game scene. And Facebook has proved that Flash games are extremely popular online. Both can coexist, and I’m sure we’ll see a hell of a lot of great games to come from both sides.

Got a trailer for the new Chronicles of Inotia sequel, A Wanderer of Luone. 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 (I suspect that the developer has suspended the affects of gravity on the large assets of the female gender choices), 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.

The game has been submitted to Apple and the developer, Com2uS is hoping the game will pop up onto the App Store in early December.

Com2uS has announced that their latest iPhone game, Sniper vs. Sniper: Online, has hit the AppStore. A first-person shooter, Sniper vs. Sniper features both a single-player and multi-player mode. You can engage in players from around the world head to head, or work in teams in Alliance Attack mode against terrorist groups. The single-player mode features a six mission campaign, including upgraded weaponry and achievements.

In the game, you locate your enemy using the tilt function of the iPhone, then tap to shoot. A missed shot will alert your enemy to your location. Interestingly enough, you can shoot more than just human enemies in the game…aliens, and even cats get targeted. Though that last one is part of an effort to round up starving cats for the pound, and you are shooting them with a tranquilizer gun.

The game is available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, OS 2.2.1 or later, for $4.99.

Scoreloop announced today a new set of social gaming features available for iPhone and iPod Touch games. Core Social is Scoreloop’s white-label solution that integrates social gaming features directly into the user interface of the game. Players can, for example, review high scores online, compare achievements, and throw challenges at each other without exiting the game. Developers can choose which of the many features available to integrate into their game, then create a consistent experience, so that these social features feel part of the gaming experience.

Developers can also take advantage of Scoreloop’s Premium Integration Services, which will do the analysis and integration work for them. Developers that have already taken advantage of this tool include the studios behind Parachute Panic, Astro Boy, and Pee Monkey Jungle Fire (wait, what??).

For more information, pop on over to Scoreloop, or check out the games that have tried out the services.

 

What’s inside this episode:

• An interview with John Graham of Wolfire Games about their game in development, Overgrowth, and their use of the Open Development method.
• Also, a review of Zuma’s Revenge by PopCap Games, a match-three arcade shooter. Zuma’s Revenge hits the sweet spot of fast-paced arcade action and casual relaxation.
• And a review of Lifeboat, Fuel Games’ light-hearted iPhone game pitting you against the dangers of the deep.

Freeverse has released a new iPhone game, but be warned…the fairies are watching. Fairy Trails takes advantage of the iPhone OS 3.1 features to provide an augmented reality game for young and old alike. Your job? To locate the fairies and other magical creatures all around you. Find them, tap on them, and store them in jars. Using iPhone Edge, 3G and iPod Touch, access the accelerometer-based vertical movement and camera support features. If you are lucky enough to have a 3GS, the game takes advantage of the compass by providing full AR and range of motion. For iPod Touch users with no built-in camera, a forest setting is rendered within the game.

Fairy Trails is available on the iTunes App store for only $0.99.

 

What’s inside this episode:

• An interview with Michael Agustin, CEO of Gendai Games about the iPhone Early Access Program for GameSalad, a series of iPhone development tools for using GameSalad to publish your games for the iPhone.
• Also, a review of Sprouts, a lite Sim game by Reflexive Entertainment. Or is it a fast-paced time management game? You decide.
• And a review of Rainbow Web II for the iPhone. Sugar Games’ sequel for the Mac hits the iPhone, courtesy of Big Fish Games.

Back in March, Gendai Games launched GameSalad, a game creation tool for non-coders who have a mind for design. Now, Gendai has taken a step further with the iPhone Early Access Program, putting that power towards the development of iPhone games.

The iPhone Early Access Program includes a two-tiered membership system, Indie and Pro. Both give creators unlimited access to the system that exports their games for publishing to the App Store, but Pro gives access to advanced game development features and customized branding. However, access to the iPhone development tools are not available in the Basic (and free) GameSalad membership…Indie starts at $499/yr, and Pro is $1999/yr.

Gendai Games also released two iPhone games using the Game Salad iPhone Engine, to show some of the abilities of the engine:

In Spark of Life, players take control of the Spark that protects and guides newborn planets, helping them build life and civilization as they traverse the hazards of space. Spark of Life utilizes GameSalad’s support of the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer to control the gameplay in a fun and challenging way. In Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Movie: The Game, players take the role as the mysterious Nameless Master who must do what he vowed never to do again: wield the three ancient weapons of battle and seek vengeance against the Deadly Dragon Clan. This game features stylized hand-drawn art that demonstrate GameSalad’s support for rich graphical interfaces, sprites, and animations. Both games are now available on the iPhone App Store.

You can check out a trailer of GameSalad, or listen to an interview about the iPhone Early Access Program with Michael Agustin of Gendai Games later today.