Microsoft on Friday revealed the list of the first 40 games, some of which will be available on the October 26 launch of Windows 8 and Windows RT. The majority, or 29, of the titles are from Microsoft Studios and some of these are exclusive to the platform. Freshened up classics like Minesweeper, Solitaire, and Mahjong are back, but so are some more advanced games.
Many Android phone owners are accusing mobile gaming provider Gameloft of using a bait-and-switch scam with its new The Adventures of Tintin HD game. Many users who have downloaded the game claim that it is rendering in 2D and not 3D as advertised ($0.99, Android Market). The problem mainly appears to be affecting gamers running the Ice Cream Sandwich version of the Android OS.
Publishers Gameloft and Electronic Arts have announced their annual holiday sales for iOS games. EA in particular has dropped prices on over 100 titles, including both iPhone and iPad games. Some high-profile offerings in the collection include Dead Space and Tetris for the iPad, and NBA Jam for the iPhone; in all cases, apps are temporarily 99 cents.
AT&T on Thursday set out launch details for its promised version of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. Now called the Xperia Play 4G, it expands on the original both with 14.4Mbps HSPA (technically 3G) and the inclusion of Sony Ericsson's own DK300 media dock and a music cable for RCA-equipped speakers. Gamers also get a better game loadout on the PlayStation phone, which brings in Dungeon Defenders, The Sims 3 and Tower Bloxx to existing titles like Crash Bandicoot, Madden NFL 11 and Gameloft titles.
AT&T on Monday put to rest questions of when the LG Thrill 4G would ship. The carrier confirmed rumors and said that its take on the Optimus 3D will ship on September 4. It still wouldn't commit to a price, although the Thrill 4G is presumed to sit at $200 or less on a contract.
LG, as part of its marketing launch for its Thrill 4G smartphone, will be broadcasting recorded excerpts from a concert from the group Jane's Addiction. LG will give 100 ticket holders from tonight's live concert its new phone and have them take videos in 3D. LG will then create a 60-minute documentary from all the footage and air it on the "LG Thrill YouTube 3D" channel starting August 4.
AT&T this morning gave further details of the LG Thrill 4G that included a handful of first for the carrier. The 3D Android phone better known as the Optimus 3D will be AT&T's first to come with Qik preloaded and, like devices from the past year, will have two-way video chat out of the box. Unlike at other US carriers loading the app, though, AT&T's service will be at least officially relegated to use on Wi-Fi.
Sprint on Tuesday confirmed plans for the HTC Evo 3D to ship with 3D content both on and ready for the phone. The dual-core Android hardware will come with the recently hinted 3D version of Green Hornet and tap into 3D movie services as well. Both Blockbuster and HTC's own Watch will be onboard with 3D movies as an option to buy or rent from either store.
Sony Ericsson as promised tonight unveiled the Xperia Play. The Android 2.3 flagship is the first to support PlayStation Suite and is designed to not only run PS1 and original games with PSP-style controls but to run them well. A 1GHz Snapdragon with an Adreno 205 graphics core runs many games at the full 854x480 resolution at 60 frames per second.
Gameloft has announced that it has now exceeded 20 million paid games on the the iTunes App Store since it opened in July 2008. Of the 100 games that they have developed for the iPhone and iPad, 25 have reached the number one position. Since January 2010, they have added another 18 iPhone games and 29 iPad games.
(Update: Facebook disputes the figure) Apple is rapidly widening the gap between its app platform and Facebook, new data from Flurry found today. Although the gap was relatively small about five months into the app portals' respective lifespans, by the 1.5 year mark Apple now has more than twice as many apps. The iPhone App Store's 140,000 confirmed apps easily outweigh the 60,000 web-based apps of Facebook's social network.
Palm today acted on promises from its CES keynote and launched a public beta version of the Plug-in Development Kit, or PDK. The previously limited release lets developers write webOS apps that include C or C++ code embedded inside, giving them the hardware access and speed to create 3D games. Its design is simple enough that Palm touts it as a quick way to port games made for the iPhone or other rival platforms.
Gameloft today revealed that it has scaled back development of games for Android phones. The French software house made the move as just a fraction of its sales come from the Google platform: it sells 400 times more iPhone games than Android titles, the company's financial head Alexandre de Rochefort said.
Entertainment publisher Gameloft has announced sales surpassing the 6 million mark for titles sold at the App Store. The iPhone OS is said to be the company’s leading sales platform, with over 35 games, 18 of which have made the worldwide Top 10 Paid Games list at some point in time. A few of the top-selling titles from Gameloft in 2009 include Terminator Salvation, UNO, Real Tennis 2009 and NFL 2010. The publisher plans to launch an additional 15 to 30 iPhone games throughout the year.
Gameloft, currently one of the major publishers of games for the iPod classic, nano and 5G, has announced its intentions to both develop and publish for the iPhone platform. The news follows Apple's preview of the App Store and SDK, and announcements from other game companies, including Sega and Electronic Arts as well as Freeverse. Development teams at Gameloft are already said to be at work on some 15 titles, taking advantage of features such as the touchscreen, accelerometer and 3D processor.
Gameloft today unveiled Bubble Bash, a Bust-A-Move-style game for the iPod. Players choose between Malia and Kale in a tropical treasure hunt, and use multicolored bubbles to pop their way through 100 colorful levels. By joining together three or more bubbles of a certain color, players will slowly dismantle large clusters of other bubbles. Gameloft is selling Bubble Bash for $5, and it is available through the iTunes store.
Gameloft may have unintentionally let slip about the first downloadable iPhone game during CEO Michel Guillemot's keynote at the GDC Mobile conference. According to UK-based Pocket Gamer, the device was seen in several slides during the keynote presentation, featuring what the publication thinks is a game based on Sega's NiGHTS, or alternately an enhanced version of Pop Superstar. While the news is unofficial, Gameloft is a likely choice as a launch partner for iPhone games, due to the company's success with games on the iPod.
Apple has added two new additions to its iPod games lineup: Pole Position Remix, and Block Breaker Deluxe. Pole Position Remix is a redesigned version of the arcade classic racing game where players compete for first place on any of five three-dimensional tracks. Obstacles like oil slicks, puddles, and other cars will get in the player's way as they race through four game types. Billboards contain art based off a user's music selection, with additional themes, cars, and courses ready to be unlocked. Pole Position Remix is available from the iTunes Store for $5.
