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pac-man posts

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

Namco's iPhone division considering... Tekken?

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Aug 5th, 2009


Actually, I'd play that. Namco recently announced that they were forming an Apple Games division to head up game development for Apple platforms like the iPhone, and in this interview, a producer for them who used to work for Apple says that they're excited to work on bringing great games to the handheld device. Like, for example, Pac-man, Galaga, and... Soulcaliber and Tekken. You heard that right -- fighting games haven't exactly made a splash on the iPhone, as they're primarily a button-based genre, and the iPhone, of course, has no buttons.

But that won't stop Namco's guy from putting the old head gears into motion: "It's just the controls that are a challenge. We are thinking about that." Think away, crazy man -- I'd love to pull out Yoshimitsu for a few rounds while waiting at a bus stop. Obviously, the easiest way to try and port these would be to put overlaid buttons on the screen, but that doesn't leave a lot of room for the fighting (and not having the tactile feedback would probably be a problem as well). Maybe some gesture-based accelerometer movement? Sky's the limit, right?. Your call, Namco -- can't wait to see what you come up with.

[via Joystiq]

Tags: buttons, challenge, controls, design, development, fighting, fighting-games, galaga, game, gaming, iphone, namco, overlay, pac-man, producer, rumor, soulcalibur, tekken

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

I Love Katamari in the App Store, optimization not included

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Dec 15th, 2008


Can't believe we didn't think to ask of this before Namco gave it to us, but here it is -- there is already an official version of I Love Katamari (otherwise known as Katamari Damacy) right there on the App Store and playable on the iPhone. What a perfect game to put on the iPhone -- it's casual, it's easy to pick up but tough to master, and the analog controls, while perfect for a pair of analog sticks, work great on a touchscreen as well.

Unfortunately, it's not quite perfect yet -- the game slows down fast, and quickly becomes unplayable with all the stuff on the screen. But lots of people are hoping for an update from Namco, and while that hope might not quite be justified (is Namco really going to commit to making this game great, or are they just taking advantage of a hot property?), you never know. Pac Man has been a winner for the company for sure, so maybe they will make sure that Katamari plays as well as its console versions. As much as we appreciate original games on the iPhone, there's nothing wrong with quality ports of console gems as well, and if Namco can patch out the bugs to everyone's satisfaction, there's no question that's what this will be.

Tags: app-store, apps, breaking news, BreakingNews, buggy, bugs, damacy, games, i-love-katamari, katamari, katamari-damacy, namco, pac-man

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