Skip to Content

Free TUAW iPhone app -- try it now!
AOL Tech

thq posts

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, iPhone, App Store

THQ's Pass the Pigs in the App Store

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

Our friends at THQ have sent word that their latest iPhone game, Pass the Pigs, is in the App Store right now. You may have already played this one (and if you haven't, there's an online version to check out for free). Apparently you toss pigs in the air, and get points for however they land, like a strange porcine form of two card poker.

Can't say it appeals much to me, but as a game to distract the kids while waiting somewhere with only an iPhone to entertain, it might do the trick. There's even a "Pig's Life" story mode, where you can earn extra disguises for your pigs, and hey, it might even be worth the $4.99 just to see how they tacked a story on to a game of throwing plastic pigs around.

Then again, it probably isn't. But apparently the soundtrack is pretty good.

Tags: gaming, iphone, online-version, pass-the-pigs, pig-tossing, pigs-life, store, thq

Filed under: Gaming, Retail, Software, Odds and ends, Apple

Apple to show off THQ's De Blob at Apple Stores

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Oct 4th, 2008


The good folks at THQ just dropped us a note that they've signed a pretty big deal with Apple -- their game, De Blob, which I played at E3 and previewed for Joystiq (and talked with the creator for TUAW), will be installed on in-store iPhones as a demo game. They say that the game's use of the accelerometer and solid 3D graphics (you use the accelerometer to bounce a little blob around a 3D world and paint various buildings in the environment) was what brought Apple to choose the game as a software demo for their handheld.

The good news is that De Blob is a quality game, but the bad news is that it's from a large developer like THQ -- Apple has shown a bias in their official outlets for larger companies like EA, and it's disappointing to see that when lots of the best games on the store are coming from much smaller developers. On the other hand, to their credit, Apple has occasionally passed the spotlight to smaller devs, so hopefully this won't be the only game to ever see a demo in the brick-and-mortar stores.

And the other good news here is the Apple seems to finally be giving gaming a space in their marketing, if not in their culture as a whole. For a long time, gaming has had to take a backseat at Apple, but the recent push behind the iPod as "the funnest iPod ever" and these in-store displays point to an Apple that finally recognizes how widespread especially casual gaming has become and how important it is to selling computers nowadays.

Tags: apple, de-blob, demo, display, ea, free-demo, gaming, instore, instore-demo, joystiq, marketing, the-funnest-ipod-ever, thq

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

Lightsaber Unleashed returns to the App Store, with ads and dialogue

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Sep 27th, 2008

Yes, in case you haven't grabbed it yet, Lightsaber Unleashed has been rereleased into the App Store. Originally it was called Phonesaber (and it was one of our favorite freebies), but of course Lucasfilm wasn't going to let an unofficial app fly, and now they've passed it off to THQ and rereleased it as a tie-in with The Force Unleashed, a console game that came out last week.

The first rumors we've heard about it say the app isn't quite as awesomely spare as the old one -- there's a splash screen ad for the new game, as well as fewer saber choices and even some dialogue and music sounds (part of the charm of the old one was that all it did was make lightsaber sounds, in our humble opinion).

But fortunately it looks like creators Alex & Duncan are still aboard, so the core of the app is still there, even if Lucasfilm has dictated a few changes. Better to have an officially licensed lightsaber than no lightsaber at all, right? What kind of uncivilized fighters would we be if we just carried around those inelegant blasters all the time?

Tags: blasters, game, lightsaber-unleashed, lucasfilm, noises, sounds, the-force-unleashed, thq

Tip of the Day

Reply in the Mail.app with a specific quote.
Select the text you want quoted and then hit the reply button.
Only your selected text will copied to the reply email.

Learn More

Follow us on Twitter!

TUAW flickr Pool

www.flickr.com
 TUAW [Cafepress]

Featured Galleries

DNC Macs
Macworld 2008 Keynote
Macworld 2008 Build-up
Google Earth for iPhone
Podcaster
Storyist 2.0
AT&T Navigator Road Test
Bento for iPhone 1.0
Scrabble for iPhone
Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer Briefcase
Apple Vanity Plates
Apple booth Macworld 07
WorldVoice Radio
Quickoffice for iPhone 1.1.1
Daylite 3.9 Review
DiscPainter
Mariner Calc for iPhone
2009CupertinoBus
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D
MLB.com At Bat 2009
Macworld Expo 2007 show floor

 

Most Commented On (7 days)

Recent Comments

More Apple Analysis

More from AOL Money and Finance

AOL Radio TUAW on Stitcher