multiplayer posts

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Odds and ends, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, Music

Rock Band coming to the iPhone

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Oct 9th, 2009

It's true -- as leaked earlier this week and confirmed yesterday, EA is bringing Harmonix's Rock Band to the iPhone, and it's about what you'd expect: notes come down the screen set to popular music, you tap in certain places in time to the beat, and get a score based on how well you do. Truthfully, I'm a huge Rock Band (and Harmonix) fan in general, but this doesn't excite me much -- the big draw of Rock Band is actually playing with those instruments, and while yes they're plastic and tiny, when you get four people in the same room together playing them, it actually feels like you're jamming in a band.

Fortunately, the iPhone version will have both online and bluetooth multiplayer, so you will be able to jam with people, but the gameplay is simply reminiscent of Tap Tap Revenge, which you probably already know about and/or have. It looks like they've gotten most of their songs from the actual Rock Band game; twenty songs with the purchase (no price yet), and then there will be 99 cent packs of two songs each coming out soon. The app's been submitted and it should be out in the store next week.

Tags: content, ea, gaming, harmonix, in-app-purchases, instruments, iphone, multiplayer, music, notes, packs, rock-band, tap-tap-revenge

Filed under: Gaming, Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Galcon Labs in the App Store now

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Oct 3rd, 2009

Galcon (App Store link) was one of the most popular games of last year -- it presented a fascinating mix of strategy and real-time arcade gameplay onto the iPhone just as it was starting out, and along with games like Fieldrunners and Flight Control, really cemented a place for the platform in the gamer's arsenal. It's been described as "real-time Risk in space." The basic premise is that you can drag little ships around from planet to planet, conquering planets of various sizes and thus producing more and more ships to take over with.

And now it's back. Galcon Labs is available now on the App Store, and it's pretty much exactly what you want in a sequel to a game you love: updated graphics and sound, more game modes, more online multiplayer, and just generally more of the same great gameplay, in a nice new package.

So yes, odds are that if you sunk quite a few hours into Galcon, Galcon Labs is a no-brainer. Just in case you don't want to make any financial commitment at all, there is a trial available for the original game, but given that Labs is just 99 cents right now, if you have any interest at all in dragging little ships around to fight wars between planets, it's probably worth the buck.

Gallery: Galcon Labs for the iPhone

Tags: buck, fieldrunners, flight-control, galcon, galcon-labs, gameplay, gaming, multiplayer, real-time, risk, ships, space-battles

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Odds and ends, Apple, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Worms for the iPhone submitted to Apple

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jul 10th, 2009

Everyone's favorite battling invertebrates are coming to the iPhone and iPod touch very soon -- the game was actually announced a little while ago, but Team 17 now says the game has been sent off to be examined by Apple's eyes, and so, as long as it doesn't have any objectionable content (you can't object to exploding sheep, right?), we'll see it up for download very soon.

Exciting. Unfortunately, I'm coming off of a Worms 2 purchase on Xbox Live, so I'll probably be passing on this one, but if you haven't had a Worms fix in a while, the video on the next page shows what Team 17 is saying over on their Facebook page: it's "a full console-style experience," with extra options, including probably the ability to play your own music as you play. Multiplayer will only be pass-to-play to start with (bummer!), but they're hoping to add in both Internet and Bluetooth local multiplay at a later date. And there's no official word on price yet, but we should know it soon: look for Worms on an iPhone near you.

Continue reading “Worms for the iPhone submitted to Apple”

Tags: bluetooth, developer, exploding-sheep, iphone, iphone-3.0, ipod touch, IpodTouch, multiplayer, pass-to-play, price, sdk, team-17, worms, worms-2

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Freeware, Internet, Developer, iPhone, App Store, SDK, iPod touch

Aurora Feint devs share their social code in OpenFeint

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Feb 18th, 2009

The folks behind the popular Aurora Feint series of iPhone games have decided to share their work creating a "social MMO" system on the iPhone with other developers. They've just announced a system called "OpenFeint," which other devs will be able to license and use in their own games. OpenFeint will supposedly allow a developer to put together a multiplayer community in an iPhone app, complete with profiles, news boards and chat, in under an hour. They're also providing a server for developers to use, so devs won't have to host their own server software -- they'll just have to make their client work with the existing system.

Wild. It sounds like they're just making the systems they've already developed in their own games available to anyone who wants to use them. Right now, they're looking at a private beta (interested devs can sign up on their site), and eventually the service will be free for a limited number of users, with certain costs as the userbase grows.

The cynical side of us wonders if there's a catch in there somewhere -- presumably, all of the users in OpenFeint will keep their information on the Aurora Feint-owned server, so we'd guess there's a chance that at some point in the future, they could use that list for less-than-honorable actions (Steve Demeter's Onyx Online plan is another service that aims to be platform-wide, which seems to have similar risks). But that's just us being paranoid -- taken at face value, this just seems like one team of indie developers opening up what they've already done to help other devs. Very cool.

Tags: aurora-feint, client, development, iphone, ipod-touch, mmo, multiplayer, openfeint, plans, profiles, sdk, server, software, system

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Deals, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Slotz Racer now in the App Store

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jan 18th, 2009

Freeverse Games has released their latest iPhone title, Slotz Racer, and it looks like a good one (I've been having a good time lately with their bowling game as well). Despite the name, it's not another tilt-to-turn racer -- this one has you playing slot cars instead of real cars, those little cars and tracks that you got for a birthday once when you were a kid but have never actually had the patience to set up since. The game features a "unique" control system that even allows up to four people to play on one iPhone at a time, and the big draw here is a track editor -- for a 99 cent introductory price (headed up to $2.99 in 72 hours, we're told), you can assemble as many tracks as you like, and you don't even have to buy any those gigantic boxes from KB Toys.

Looks like fun. Freeverse is only publishing here -- the game is developed by a company named Strange Flavour and they've put a nice manual together, along with plenty of tips and tricks to try out. The game is available in the App Store right now for 99 cents, but as we said, the price is heading up to $3 soon (which is still cheap, really, but if you're interested in the game, you might as well save two bucks now). Maybe this is your big chance to finally live your old slot car racing dreams out virtually on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Tags: app-store, control-system, freeverse-games, iphone, ipod-touch, kb-toys, multiplayer, nostalgia, slot-cars, slotz-racer, strange-flavour

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Humor, Software, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

SnOwned tries multiplayer snowball on the iPhone

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Dec 19th, 2008

I kind of like the idea behind snOwned, a new wintry app on the App Store that claims to be a "multiuser, online snowball fight." I think there is some great multiplayer gaming to be had with the iPhone, and, if enough people are interested, there might be some in snOwned.

You download the app from the App Store (it's 99 cents, which is cheap but maybe not cheap enough for what it is), and then sign your email up along with a username. Once you've activated, you can then "throw snowballs" (which consists of three little fun minigame steps) at anyone else with the app installed on their iPhone or iPod touch around the world. And they can throw them back at you, you can play a short game to defend, stats are kept on the site, and so on. As with most social games, it all depends on who's in the game with you -- if you've got friends along to keep up rivalries with, it could be fun. But just throwing random snowballs at random people around the globe, as I did (my ingame name is "toucansamurai") isn't really worth the dollar's admission.

Still, it's a start -- the game can also track your location when you throw, so you can see where your snowballs are going on the globe, and who's throwing at you. I think there will eventually be a runaway game of this kind, where we're all playing with each other socially on our own phones in different places all over the world (Loot Wars is another game that's interesting in this vein, even if it's not quite there yet). And snOwned is another step closer to that. But as any MMO company will tell you, the only way to make a social game great is to have everyone playing it, and I'm not sure there's enough going on in this one to pull in a lot of really interested players.

Tags: app-store, casual, gaming, iphone, ipod-touch, mmo, multiplayer, multiplayer-gaming, multiuser, online, snowball-fight, snowned, social

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Freeware, iPhone, iPod touch

Aurora Feint II: The Arena adds asynchronous multiplayer, in-game messaging

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Nov 26th, 2008

Our good friends at Massively got an opportunity that turned us green with envy -- they got to sit down with the devs of Aurora Feint, one of our favorite iPhone games, and see how its fulfilling the "MMO" promise they've been offering up since it first debuted on the App Store. The new game is called Aurora Feint II: The Arena, and while it doesn't exactly offer real-time MMO gameplay, it does let players compete with ghosts -- the game will record what you or your friend plays, and then offer up that re-play as an opponent. There's also a new "Tavern" feature which will let players leave messages to each other from right in the game.

And the goals don't stop there -- they're working on a third version of the game, which will eventually feature an offline MMO mode, as well as a very, very deep experience for a fairly casual iPhone game. "Warcraft on the iPhone" -- it's not a phrase I'd use to describe Aurora Feint yet, but it's one the creators will happily use for the future.

The early MMO features are in the App Store right now -- the app will normally be priced at $9.99, but it's currently in there for $7.99 during the holidays (the free, non-MMO version is still there as well). Pretty amazing -- this was one of the games that jumped to the forefront in terms of presentation and quality right when the App Store opened, and it doesn't look like the creators have any plans to slow it down.

Gallery: Aurora Feint 2 - The Arena

Aurora Feint: The Arena - Where you spent most of your time

Tags: app-store, asynchronus, aurora-feint, aurora-feint-2, gameplay, gaming, guide, hands-on, iphone, massively, mmo, multiplayer, tavern, the-arena

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, iPhone

Multitouch, multiscreen iPod touch Pong

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on May 29th, 2008

Oh my. Still need convincing that the iPhone/iPod touch is the greatest gaming platform ever made? Then check this video of a couple Japanese researchers playing a game they claim to have put together "in about an hour": multiscreen, touch-based Pong.

On first glance, it looks like the game is even checking orientation of the iPods, but if you watch it a little further, when things go faster, you can see that it's actually just pushing the ball from screen to screen as it leaves. Still, if nothing else, a quick demo like this shows that multiple Touches (via a certain website, or on the same WiFi network, maybe, or -- hopefully -- just in close proximity to one another through Bluetooth or another protocol) can easily be made to connect multiplayer gamers.

As a demo, very nice (and it seems fun as a game as well). Can't wait to see a full-featured game that takes advantage of all of the iPhone's connectivity options.

[Via Waxy]

Tags: demo, game, gaming, iphone, ipod-touch, ipong, japan, multiplayer, pong, programming, researchers

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