Gamecenter Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Borderlands 2 for Mac gets a multiplayer update

by Mike Schramm (Apr 5th, 2013)

Borderlands 2 arrived on the Mac late last year, but unfortunately the publisher, Aspyr Media, wasn't able to get the multiplayer working in time for the release. Today the company has released a patch that enables multiplayer co-op through Game Center, along with leaderboards and ...

Securing your iOS device for your children, Part 3: removing apps, limiting social features and other safety options

by Kelly Hodgkins (Mar 29th, 2013)

There has been a string of high-profile cases where children have racked up thousands of dollars in credit card charges through in-app purchases. In these cases and others like them, the iOS devices used by the children have not been properly locked down by the parents. In the first post of ...

Firaxis' Haunted Hollow combines monstrous fun with some serious strategy

by Mike Schramm (Mar 28th, 2013)

Hearing that Firaxis Games (the famous studio behind great games like Civilization and XCOM -- which itself is coming to iPad very soon) is making an original game for iOS is very exciting. That game is Haunted Hollow, and I got to see it in action this week at GDC. Lead designers Will Miller ...

Pocket Frogs getting a big update this week

by Mike Schramm (Oct 29th, 2012)

NimbleBit has had two big freemium hits now with both Pocket Planes and (before that) Tiny Tower, but my favorite of the company's titles is still Pocket Frogs, where brothers and developers David and Ian Marsh first cut their teeth on the generous freemium gameplay they're now known for. And ...

Mountain Lion 101: Game Center

by Mike Schramm (Jul 25th, 2012)

Yes, with the arrival of Mountain Lion on the Mac today, Apple has finally extended its Game Center iOS gaming social service to the desktop. The easiest way to find Game Center on your Mountain Lion-equipped Mac is to jump on over to the Launchpad, where Apple's already set up an icon for you. ...

Amazon announces GameCircle, similar to Apple's GameCenter

by Mike Schramm (Jul 11th, 2012)

Amazon has announced a new service for its Kindle Fire platform called GameCircle, which is akin to Apple's own GameCenter service. It's set to provide a series of APIs for leaderboards, achievements, and other socially-centered game-related features. GameCircle has already been tested with a ...

Notifications, AirPlay, Game Center all coming to the Mac with Mountain Lion

by Mike Schramm (Jun 11th, 2012)

We knew these were coming to the next version of OS X already, but Apple has just demoed all three of them at the WWDC Keynote in San Francisco today. As you might expect, all three of these famous iOS features look pretty much the same on a Mac (especially now that the sweet MacBook Pro with ...

Astronut for iPad available, use iPhone as controller

by Kelly Hodgkins (May 10th, 2012)

If you enjoy casual games and have both an iPhone and an iPad, then you'll want to check out Astronut from The Iconfactory. The planet hopping game has been available on the iPhone for a few years, but an updated iPhone and a new iPad version now lets you use your the iPad for the game and the ...

Kard Combat, Spy Mouse, more push big updates

by Mike Schramm (Nov 3rd, 2011)

Hothead Games' great freemium card game for iOS, Kard Combat, has gotten a big update this week in the App Store. The biggest new feature is a new "pass-and-play" multiplayer mode, which allows for two players with one iOS device in the same place to play their cards out, and then pass the ...

Another World coming to iOS this month

by Mike Schramm (Sep 7th, 2011)

Eric Chahi's classic game "Another World" (also known as "Out of this World," from its US release) is finally coming to iOS at the end of September. BulkyPix will be publishing the title, and controls will come in two flavors, either as full touchscreen controls or through a virtual D-pad. Fans ...

Daily iPhone App: Quarrel

by Mike Schramm (Aug 31st, 2011)

Quarrel is yet another word game for the iPhone, but this one is actually worth taking a look at. Instead of another Scrabble clone, in Quarrel you're also playing a metagame where you control an empire of warriors trying to take over territories by fighting battles with word scores. It ...

Daily iPad App: HowStuffWorks for iPad

by Kelly Hodgkins (Aug 4th, 2011)

If you love learning the details that explain how things work, then the HowStuffWorks app for the iPad is perfect for you. The app takes the best of the How Stuff Works website and packages it into a convenient, tablet-friendly format. It's chock full of content and features and will keep you ...

Developer frustrated over Game Center use by pirates

by Michael Grothaus (Jul 15th, 2011)

The developer of an iOS game that offers Game Center support is frustrated with Apple over their apparent inability to block pirated games from the Game Center leaderboards. GAMEized developer Luís Fonseca said in a blog posting that he had high hopes for his FingerKicks soccer game when ...

Apple announces Game Center changes at WWDC

by Dave Caolo (Jun 6th, 2011)

iOS 5 will introduce a number of exciting changes to Game Center, including profile photos, game discovery (and purchasing), achievement points and more. Here's a brief look at what's new. Apple's 50 million Game Center customers (!) will find achievements supplemented with points. The bragging ...

100 Cameras in 1: Amazing effects, incredible integration

by Steven Sande (May 31st, 2011)

Trey Ratcliff of Stuck In Customs Media is one of those photographers who constantly amazes people with his photos, and then explains his skills with High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography and the artful application of filters and textures. Back in December, Stuck In Customs came out with a US$0.99 ...