Payback brings a GTA clone to the iPhone
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Grand Theft Auto isn’t out for the iPhone, but Payback is –it’s basically a 3D version of the old top-down GTA gameplay, improved with better rendering and lighting. You control the game by pressing “buttons” on the screen, and tilting the iPhone around, and Touch Arcade says it works well. Some missions are apparently tough, but in terms of what GTA is really about — driving around and generally causing mayhem — Payback will deliver.
Unfortunately, textures (both visual and audio) are rough, as are the actual physics, so it seems Payback is more of a “GTA could work on the iPhone” demo rather than an actual game (though of course you can play it, it probably just won’t be as fun). Still, we’re in favor of any game reaching high on the iPhone, and this one definitely does.
Payback is out in the App Store now, for a substantial $6.99. But it’s worth it, especially if you’re a big GTA fan, just to see such a complex game on Apple’s little handheld. Video on the next page.
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TUAWPayback brings a GTA clone to the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ng:moco’s Young aims to create an early EA for the iPhone
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, iPhone, App Store
Touch Arcade has an interview up with Neil Young. Just like you, I was only slightly disappointed to learn that it was the Neil Young formerly of EA who recently formed ng:moco, quickly becoming one of the most high-profile iPhone game houses, not that other one. But only slightly, because also like many of you, I’m looking forward to Rolando and the “over a dozen” other games ng:moco is releasing on the App Store, and I’m interested to see what ng:moco has to say for themselves about the little iPhone game empire they’re building.
Unfortunately, TA didn’t get a price or a strict release date out of Young for Rolando, but he does say that the game’s shaping up well — he even says creator Simon Oliver “could be the first Miyamoto of the iPhone,” which, even if an exaggeration, is an interesting idea. They also discuss the plan behind ng:moco, a company which, like EA in the earlier days of PC gaming, aims to bring together publishers, designers, and promotion and sales all under one big roof. And the volatile issue of iPhone App pricing comes up, but I agree that the big balance on price always seems to be quality — looking at a system like the Xbox 360’s marketplace, you can justify almost any price for a game, as long as the user has an experience that feels worth what they paid.
And finally, they hit on the iPhone’s competitors, and it sounds like Young thinks Android phones have a ways to go — the difference is not in the hardware (touchscreen, size, and so on), but it’s in the usability and interface, and in those arenas, Young says, Apple still has the edge. Very nice interview with a company that seems destined to play a big part in the iPhone gaming market.
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Line Rider coming to iPhone
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, iPhone
I thought Line Rider kind of “jumped” the shark (so to speak) when they sold out to McDonald’s, but apparently the little sandbox physics game is still kicking around. InXile, the company that makes it, is working on a version for the iPhone. There was a version available for jailbreakers, but apparently the company put the kibosh on it when they found out.
Not much else to say about this — Line Rider is currently available for free online, and if you like it there, you’ll probably like it on the iPhone, too. Personally, it’s more fun to watch than to play — whenever I try to make a run, my little guy always dies on the first curve. But maybe with a little more iPhone-based practice, I can finally get him to do that loop-de-loop I’ve been wanting.
[via Touch Arcade]
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Line Rider coming to iPhone
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, iPhone
I thought Line Rider kind of “jumped” the shark (so to speak) when they sold out to McDonald’s, but apparently the little sandbox physics game is still kicking around. InXile, the company that makes it, is working on a version for the iPhone. There was a version available for jailbreakers, but apparently the company put the kibosh on it when they found out.
Not much else to say about this — Line Rider is currently available for free online, and if you like it there, you’ll probably like it on the iPhone, too. Personally, it’s more fun to watch than to play — whenever I try to make a run, my little guy always dies on the first curve. But maybe with a little more iPhone-based practice, I can finally get him to do that loop-de-loop I’ve been wanting.
[via Touch Arcade]
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Belkin JoyPod plans sneak out
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Hardware, Apple, iPhone, App Store, SDK
I guessed that we’d see a more official iPhone controller sooner or later, but I didn’t think it’d be this much sooner — Touch Arcade has unearthed this photo of a Belkin-branded game controller/case for the iPhone and iPod touch called the JoyPod. Looks pretty slick, though as Engadget points out, the ratios don’t really work out — odds are that the final product will have to be a little longer to fit the iPhone in there.
Very interesting, though — now I’m curious to see if Apple really will support stuff like this. Supporting a third-party controller would seem to go against His Jobsness’ suggestion that a multitouch screen could be used for anything (even typing on an awkward non-tactile keyboard), but clearly there’s a demand, from consumers if not from devs themselves, to move game controls off the screen and onto buttons you can feel while pressing. How else will you be able to “exprimir al maximo tu iPhone o iPod touch”?
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