Don't forget to update Hearthstone so that you can play the first part of the Naxxramas expansion. We'll be back soon with a post about it. Meanwhile, go kill the spider queen.
That being said, I like — not love — Civilization Revolution 2. The original game was also bug riddled to begin with, but the developers have supported it fairly well over the past five years, and I see no reason to not expect the same of its successor. Thus I’m optimistic, if not ecstatic, of the promise the launch of Civilization Revolution 2 entails. I do wish they’d polished the AI since your competing world leaders are often fairly daft, and I really hope there’s multiplayer coming soon, along with tweaks for the game interface. There’s too much tapping and holding, too much waiting around right now. The game does look good (when it’s not glitching, which mainly happens when you’re talking to your advisors or other world leaders), if not spectacularly so.
The three first Made for iOS controllers, the MOGA Ace Power, the Logitech Powershell G, and the SteelSeries Stratus, have all been available for some time now. In Q3 and Q4 this year, they'll get some (possible) serious competition, so we're gearing up for that by publishing a piece on the available three.
Read The iOS Gamepads Are Here — Again in our Medium collection.
Did you enjoy the essay on premium iOS games posted to our Medium collection? Don't worry, there's more where that came from. Next up is a review of all the available MFi controllers that we've been sitting on for ages. Expect it in the coming days. For now, just make sure you follow and recommend our App Arcade Medium collection, alright?
We regret to inform you that we will cease distribution of this app on 08/28/2014 (Thursday).
On this date, the app and all associated services will become unusable. This includes In-App Purchase items already purchased and save data.
Furthermore, sale of In-App Purchase items will conclude on 07/29/2014 (Tuesday).
We apologize sincerely to all of our customers for this inconvenience, and hope you continue to enjoy our products and services in the future.
Namco Bandai is pulling Tales of Phantasia from the App Store, making it unplayable and screwing everyone who spent money on in-app purchases. This is why you should be wary of spending money on games that requires an internet connection and online developer support.
We regarded it as extremely likely that players would reach a position where they would be unable to take any further meaningful or progressive action in the game until a timer had finished or been skipped, and that these periods would become longer and more significant, and the cost of skipping increasingly higher, as the player progressed.
From the information available in the ad, players would expect the gameplay progression and their ability to advance to be unhindered by unexpected and excessively onerous delays, and we therefore considered that the length and frequency of these countdown events was beyond that which would be reasonably expected by players.
Everyone hates the Dungeon Keeper reboot, and that includes Advertising Standards Authority, who are ruling that the game isn't even allowed to call itself free to play anymore.
If you're worse than free to play, what are? Besides evil garbage, I mean?
Quote nabbed from VG247, who've got more harsh words to say about the matter.
For now, all essays will be published in our Medium collection. Be sure to follow it, it's good stuff. And yes, we'll change that header image sooner or later. It was mandatory...
OK, so let's start from the beginning. Games are fun to play.
There was a time when all the games I played sat on a Nintendo or Sega device, connected to a TV set. Simple and durable control pads gave access to living the most amazing adventures on the screen. Running fast, driving fast, stomping deadly mushrooms and so forth. Super Mario and all that.
Video games grew up. We got the PlayStations and Xboxes and Wiis and online play and PC gaming and MMOs. Most of these things were extensions of the gaming experience I had as a kid.
The first thing that happened was mobile devices entering the fray. I'm not talking about your Game Boys or PSPs, I'm talking about mobile phones capable of something slightly more advanced that Snake and Tetris. I found myself playing a game on my mobile phone while waiting for the bus, and sometimes it was actually enjoyable to such a degree that I wondered, however briefly, if the portable game devices were in trouble. That moment always passed though.
Enter the smartphone. Enter the iPhone. And most important of all, enter the App Store.
The App Store changed everything.
Mobile gaming has gone from crappy Java thingies on Nokias, to impressive 3D games on your iOS device. Gaming as a whole has changed too, not only because of mobile gaming but because indie developers are more important today. There are huge indie hits, like Braid or Super Meat Boy, and these games are just as important as the next Call of Duty game. Even more so for a lot of people who're looking for a deeper experience rather than just big explosions and impressive graphics.
This all fits so nicely with the App Store. Indie games are exploding there, alongside traditional games publishers trying to figure out how to monetize this new platform where $1 can bring you hours of fun.
That's where the devolving remark comes in, with free to play and timers and coins and all that crap that can make a great game unplayable.
The games industry is in a state of change. There's no telling if there'll be another Nintendo console (spoiler: there probably will), Microsoft is currently struggling to sell as many Xbox Ones as Sony cranks out PlayStation 4s. PC gaming is alive and well, much thanks to Steam (let's not forget the SteamOS and Steam Machines here too) and the indie gamers who've no doubt found a strong platform there. Google Play houses a ton of Android games, and then there's Amazon's Android fork, and a possible upcoming app powerhouse in Samsung's OS Tizen and whatever store and marketshare that'll bring.
All of this is dwarfed by the App Store.
Some iOS gaming experiences are just as good as their equivalents on traditional formats. Most games that try to be traditional games aren't however, they're lacking due to being confined to the touch screen inputs. Sometimes buttons are better, which is why the Made for iPhone program for controllers is such a big thing for hardcore gamers. However, the games that need controllers to be great on iOS are in a minority. Most games these days are designed for the touch screen, and work perfectly well. Some are contenders for Game of the year awards, no matter what platform, such as Threes for example. Others are cross-platform, like Hearthstone, or have excellent ports, like the Baldur's Gate remakes and the crowdfunded Shadowrun Returns.
Not all iOS games are great, or even ideal for the format. The same can be said about any gaming platform.
It matters little. iOS gaming is not only here to stay, it's evolving. That's what App Arcade is all about.
Blood Bowl is on its way to iOS (and Android if you're so inclined). The game's launching in July, which happens to be the month we're in at the moment, and will feature Humans and Orcs in the base game, other teams'll be in-app purchases. Might be reasonable, depending on the pricing of course.
There's a hotseat multiplayer mode if you want to huddle around your iPad, but more importantly you can play against players on other platforms.
Groundbreaking pricing isn't it? Snide remarks aside, these are pretty good games, although there are some timer stuff in the third game, revolving around potions, which ruined it for me.
This is a soft launch. We've got content lined up for you guys, here on this very site, as well as elsewhere. App Arcade is, for the time being, an experiment and will be treated as such.
For starters, we published a short essay on premium iOS gaming over at Medium. You might've seen it in the feed already. If not, pop over and read it, and be sure to follow the App Arcade collection on Medium too. We'll be publishing more over there. Again, it's an experiment. It'll lead somewhere in the end.
Follow us here on Tumblr. You're here now, so just do it.
Our Twitter account is @AppArcadeFTW. You might want to follow that too. It'll probably have a role to play somewhere, somehow, in the end.
The past few weeks have seen quite a few premium priced game releases on iOS. Just yesterday we got Civilization Revolution 2, a game that I’ve personally looked forward for quite some time, and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. Both these games are priced at $15, far from the $1-2 that a lot of gamers have come to expect for games on the iOS platform. The games, among the more expensive ones available at the moment, might just be a sign of things to come.
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