I blogged on Pet Puppy, and thought on virtual pets in general, over on DIYGamer this morning:
I think there’s a lot of potential in a cute virtual pet game for the iPhone. A good one would blend all the adorable options of a Tamagotchi (remember those?), with the ease of an iPhone interface and touchscreen, and a great game would let users exchange items or let me bring my virtual pet to play with your virtual pet if we were in the same place.
It got me thinking about another virtual pet game for the iToy. Pocket Creatures is a cute virtual pet, the video reminds me of making a monster in Black & White or training a Sims pet.
Chinese iPhone devs Mo-Star release Princess Fury:
Inventive developers Mo-Star today announced the release of their new fantasy battle game for iPhone, Princess Fury. This gorgeously illustrated action game boasts a combination of classic arcade action style and a creative, real-time strategic battle system.
As Princess Fury, players strike down enemies with the combined power of servants and soldiers. With stunning swordplay and magic, players can combat over 100 enemies at once in epic battles that rely on collaboration with friendly forces as much as one’s own competence and courage.
“Most of our developers grew up playing arcade and console games, so our goal with Princess Fury was to provide a console quality gaming experience, suited to the mobile player,” said Qin Yi, general manager at Mo-Star. “We spent lots of time making the controls sharp, the battles fun and exciting, and fine-tuning the sound and graphics effects; and now we have created a game that we enjoy playing, and we hope fans will enjoy it too.”
A princess-y RTP with Chinese characteristics? Sounds great to me. Can’t wait to check it out!
I do a weekly trivia night with friends, and when we can’t come with the answer, we always use Sonic the Hedgehog. Which actor won an Oscar for playing another Oscar-winning actor? Sonic the Hedgehog! Which US president had the largest shoe size? Sonic the Hedgehog! With the new Sonic 4 for Xbox and iToys, it might actually be the real answer.
SEGA® is incredibly happy at the overwhelmingly positive response to Sonic The Hedgehog™ 4 Episode I from both press and fans around the world. SEGA wants to ensure that we’re delivering the best Sonic experience possible.
With this dedication to quality and the Sonic experience in mind, SEGA has decided to extend the development of the game and will now release Sonic The Hedgehog™ 4 Episode I in the latter half of 2010. The additional time will allow the Development Team to focus on keeping the game high quality, continuing tuning and balancing of levels and interface and overall maintaining the kind of polish that an important game like this demands, ultimately providing fans with an unrivaled classic Sonic feel.
SEGA is also pleased to confirm that Sonic The Hedgehog™ 4 Episode I will be coming to the iPhone and iPod touch via Apple’s iTunes App Store.
Sonic The Hedgehog™ 4 Episode I is developed specifically for the download market and will be available via Microsoft Xbox LIVE Arcade, Sony PlayStation Network, Nintendo WiiWare and the iTunes App Store in late 2010.
New iPhone dev studio Bee Appi officially launches their first creation today. CyberWord is a candy-colored Bejeweled-meets-Boggle, built for whiling away time on the train or in the waiting room, but with an addictive blend of match-3 mechanics and wordplay.
“Most word games simply ask the player to look at the screen,” developer Karen Jirak says, “but CyberWord adds a more interactive dimension by asking players to touch letters, swipe words, and shake the phone.” CyberWord offers different playmodes, each with a slightly different twist on the swap and swipe mechanic. Challenge mode asks players to create 12 words before time runs out, with increasingly difficult levels. (Try the Easy setting for a particularly niece-friendly game, Jirak used her first-grade niece as a beta tester for the simpler vocab and easier goals.) Infinite mode adds a bomb, a familiar mechanic from match-3, and Puzzle is an untimed mode, requiring players to use up all the letters on the screen without replacement letters. Although you’ll spend most of the game rearranging the bright letter tiles, CyberWord also has adorable anime-eyed creatures cheering your successes and decorating the margins, for a sweet bit of character without falling into the pink trap.
Future updates include tying CyberWord in with Facebook Connect to share scores for a competitive wordsearch element. Don’t worry if you’ve been annoyed by the status-update barrage from friends playing FarmVille or recruiting mobsters, Jirak promises players can choose how frequently to share their scores on Facebook, and sharing on Facebook isn’t a requirement for progressing in CyberWord.
The BeeAppi team is downloading and playing a wide variety of iPhone games as they consider their next project, but we can expect this to be the first of many adorable BeeAppi games.
For more on Karen, BeeAppi and CyberWord, check out my full story in the next issue of Indie Game Mag.
Chicks on the Loose is an arcade style game for the iPod Touch and iPhone. The goal of the game is to reunite the baby chickens with their Moms. Players know which chick belongs to which mother by the color of the chick. The chick needs to be reunited with the same color mother. Players reunite the babies and their mothers by dragging the baby chicks to their mothers.
Chicks on the Loose is an arcade style game for the iPod Touch and iPhone. The goal of the game is to reunite the baby chickens with their Moms. Players know which chick belongs to which mother by the color of the chick. The chick needs to be reunited with the same color mother. Players reunite the babies and their mothers by dragging the baby chicks to their mothers.
