App-reciation Reviews

Promo: Appy Entertainment App Giveaway

2010-04-05T21:57:00.000+08:00

If you have an iPhone or iPod touch, chances are, you've played at least one of Appy Entertainment's innovative apps - or at least heard about them. Serving pizzas to hungry undead customers, punching opponents with customized faces (using an enemy's picture is especially satisfying), drawing tunes with your finger - they all sound extremely fun, right? We have the following codes to give away:

2 CODES -- Zombie Pizza | Review Link | iTunes Link

2 CODES -- FaceFighter| iTunes Link

2 CODES -- Tune Runner Fusion | iTunes Link

Please refer to the standard App-reciation Reviews Twitter contest rules below to get started:

- Follow @fireverse and @Appy on Twitter and wait for updates.

- RT contest tweets. The more you retweet, the better your chances are of winning. By doing this, you're also helping us spread the word - and we love you for it!

- Contest winners are usually picked in three ways: by randomizer, by number of retweets, or by order of retweet (i.e. first people to retweet get copies of apps).

- There's usually a period of time in which contests are held, 24 hours per 2 giveaway apps being the norm. All retweets during this period count as valid entries.

- All relevant information are included with tweets by @fireverse, but if you have any questions, you can e-mail us or post a comment here.

Thank you to Appy Entertainment and Paul O'Connor for sponsoring this giveaway, and thanks to everyone who participates. Please don't forget to leave an iTunes review if you win!

Press Release: Princess Tulipdancer

2010-04-04T23:40:00.007+08:00

SeremeresGames Launches New Product to Broaden the Gaming Audience

SeremeresGames Announces new IP “Princess Tulipdancer”

for iPhone and XBoxLive

April 1st, 2010, London, ON - We are proud to announce Seremeres Games newest project; Princess Tulipdancer's Magic Love Harmony Adventure (PTMLHA).

"I'm really excited for this project. Tulipdancer, Princess of Unicorns, is a character that really connects with our core iPhone audience and adds to the iconic line-up of the Seremeres brand,"says Kai Hutchence, Seremere's Chief Creative Officer and developer of the Tulipdancer character. Seeing a big future for the IP he explained "I think we'll really see a deep connection with the character when people play through the story."

Beyond iconic character design PTMLHA revolutionizes adventure gaming with a focus on emotion. Multiple characters are managed through the "Our Special Friendship" system highlighting dynamic ability and action linking between party members. As well spell-casting is done through the "True Feelings" system that allows characters to explore their character's emotions and ambitions as a source of power for their magical powers. "We feel it's important to shift the dynamic in video gaming and provide a way forward to more personal, existential storytelling, and the focus on exploring feelings and relationships in PTMLHA I think will be remembered for years to come as a truly influential development" Kai mused.

The project is promising a great future for Seremeres games, massively expanding their potential audience by being their first release on XBox Live. "We're thrilled to finally have a product on the system and we're sure that our core iPhone audience and our new fans-to-be on XBox Live will really latch on to this heartwarming adventure about discovering the meaning of true friendship," exclaimed company CEO Serena Samborski. Princess Tulipdancer: Magic Love Harmony Adventure has begun its final production cycle as is expected out in Fall 2010.

For more information check out the project's webpage at: http://games.seremeres.com/?page_id=449

About SeremeresGames

Seremeres Games is a small independent game development company based in London Ontario. Started by two game professionals wanting to pursue their own game ideas and without the influence of outside investors, Seremeres Games is committed to producing compelling quality games. Their philosophy is outlined here: http://games.seremeres.com/?page_id=2. They released their first game, SpinPuzzle for the iPhone and iPod Touch in February 2010 and are looking for a mid-2010 release date for the first episode of their flagship episodic action-RPG Ruby Rust.

Press Release: Monster Madness

2010-04-01T16:50:00.005+08:00

Chillingo Signs Deal with TapPlay to Publish "Monster Madness"for iPhone/iPod touch!

SNEAK PEAK: Character Design

The game is still in production, however these detailed "Monster Trading Cards" below allude to what the characters are shaping up to be.

Storyline:

- In a full moon night, some thing will be happen in the dark side.

- Monsters cannot bear their boring life anymore. They want to have a revolution!

- With their powerful abilities, all monsters UNITE to escape from their hometown – "The Mystery Graveyard."

- They plan to invade our city and continue their monster party.

- You play as the gate keeper -- Your goal is to prevent those crazy monsters from escaping the graveyard.

- ARM YOURSELF, TRAIN YOUR FINGERS and FIGHT BACK the monster force!

More details will be coming soon. The game is slated to launch this Spring 2010.

Press Release: Vampire Origins

2010-04-01T16:46:00.004+08:00

The thrilling bloodthirsty-combat shoot'em up was just submitted to the App Store

~Gamers Beware~

Storyline:

After his bride is murdered by a vampire, Vincent, (a dangerous hunter for a secret organization) sets out for revenge against the monster that killed his wife. Poisoned by hatred and driven by rage, Vincent wages war on the plague of vampires that has infested and destroyed all that was good in the world.

Game Features:

- Take control of Vincent in the most intense survival horror ever to hit the iPhone and iPod touch.

- Dark gothic atmosphere with exquisite 3D environments.

- Detailed character models and gripping realism.

- Four weapons available to fend off the vampiric hordes.

- Thrilling boss fights based on actual sword fighting techniques.

- Multiple control methods: Dual-stick or touchscreen interface.

- Three stages of detailed story-driven gameplay, or try your luck in Survival Mode.

- Full Crystal integration including challenges, achievements leaderboards and social networking.

Feast your eyes on the Vampire Origins game trailer:

Review: G.Blacksmith

2010-03-28T21:25:00.000+08:00

Category: Games

Seller: Crazy Carpenter

Price: $ 2.99

Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, OS 2.2 or later

Version: 1.1

What's good: Since the success of casual gaming phenomenon Diner Dash on the PC, game developers have been churning out hundreds of titles that utilize the same concept across a variety of platforms. The iPhone, of course, is no exception, and after playing through dozens of apps in this genre, we can confidently say that Crazy Carpenter's G.Blacksmith tops the list in terms of innovation and art design.

The game looks nothing like traditional time management games, which are usually shop-based progressive stories with colorful illustrations more suited for female players. Instead, the entire app is rendered in shades of olive and army green, making for a unique and visually pleasing experience. Meanwhile, the characters and animations are detailed and excellently done in a fun cartoon style, and coupled with upbeat yet somewhat mysterious background soundtracks, G.Blacksmith manages to strike a perfect balance between elements that makes it appealing to gamers of all types and ages.

The gameplay itself is complex and fast-paced, as it should be. You are a goblin, and, shrewd as you are, you venture to make a living out of digging for treasure to be sold to various customers. Starting with a simple underground mining camp with only a single drill, a voracious troll useful for disposing unwanted goods, and a straightforward processing machine to turn items into more refined products, you slowly expand your business as you serve customer orders as fast as you can to earn the required amount in order to unlock the next level. Find rough-hewn obsidian, lapis lazuli, pyrite, and crystals, then turn them into an assortment of tools and weapons items that include shurikens, spears, lances, shields, helmets, and breastplates. As you progress, your machines likewise become more powerful and efficient, giving you the ability to mine more gems at once as well as create new and more expensive items for sale. You will also get a storeroom to stock goods, a siesta room for quick naps, engraving equipment to produce high-quality jewlery, and a makeshift barbecue grill to cook rats and keep customers happy in order to stay on top of the increasingly hectic and complicated demands.

After every level set, a mini game needs to be successfully completed in order to move on. Your mission here is simple: stop thieves from stealing your hard-earned gold by throwing your weapons at them before they get too close. Many of these dishonest characters sport head or body shields, so it's up to you to quickly spot and target their weak spots.

With so many things to manage, players need to be quick and coordinated. Dally or make too many incorrect moves and unhappy customers will give you fewer tips or eventually storm away in anger. On the other hand, planning carefully and serving orders in chains earns you combos and more points to boost your score, which is a necessity if you want to hit the expert mark after a hard day's work. Apart from all that, there are tons of features and surprises packed into the game, but we'll let you discover them on your own. This polished content-packed title is currently priced at $ 2.99 on the iTunes AppStore, and we're positive you won't regret it if you check it out.

Suggestions for improvement: One major thing we found missing that's basic to all time management games is a status bar of some sort to show players customer happiness and the rate at which it declines. The way items are stored and/or retrieved from the storeroom is also rather confusing, which results in a moderate amount of unintended action that sets players back.

Breakdown:

Graphics - 5/5 Creativity - 4.75/5 Gameplay - 4.75/5 Controls - 4.75/5

App-reciation - 4.75/5

Learn more about G.Blacksmith

Click to buy this application

Press Release: Fearless Records Music on Tune Runner

2010-03-27T00:06:00.006+08:00

Fearless Records Joins Forces With Appy Entertainment

For iPhone Game

Breathe Carolina And blessthefall Latest Bands Featured By Tune Runner

Fearless Records is the latest music partner to join micropublisher Appy Entertainment to use the new iPhone game, Tune Runner, as a discovery platform for promoting new music and bands.

Starting today, "Hey Baby, Here's That Song You Wanted" by blessthefall, and "Hello Fascination" from Breathe Carolina are featured atop Tune Runner's Hot List. "Part of the joy of Tune Runner comes from discovering new music through our Hot Tunes list, where we feature tracks from exceptional bands we know our players will love," said Appy Entertainment CEO Chris Ulm. "These songs aren't just great Tune Runner levels -- these are great tracks, and we're pleased to showcase this music to the hundreds of thousands of fans playing Tune Runner."

Released last month for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch, Tune Runner is the musical shape-drawing game where every song you own creates a unique game level. The game has been downloaded over 200,000 times, and thousands of fans around the world have posted their scores for songs by artists across the musical spectrum, from contemporary pop hits to classic rock.

"Fearless Records is very excited to work with Tune Runner," said Nate Matzelle of Fearless Records. "Music applications are such an important part of music discovery because they bring a new level of interactivity to the fan and we feel Tune Runner is just that."

"Tune Runner is a different kind of music game, one where players can experience levels created from any song they own," said Paul O'Connor, Brand Director for Appy Entertainment. "Appy is an independent game developer, and we've found kindred spirits with Fearless Records. We're proud that fresh and original artists like blessthefall and Breathe Carolina have chosen Tune Runner as the vehicle to bring their music to interactive life on the iPhone."

Breathe Carolina got their start recording tracks on Apple's GarageBand in their Denver, CO home before gaining nine million plays of their music on MySpace, setting the stage for their debut album, "It's Classy, Not Classic," in 2008. Their song for Tune Runner -- "Hello Fascination," is the title cut from their latest album, and the band is presently on a North American tour that will see them play three dozen cities before the summer is through.

blessthefall is a Phoenix, Arizona post-hardcore band that's bootstrapped themselves from selling out hometown shows to touring Canada and the United States, playing cuts like "Hey Baby, Here's That Song You Wanted" from their new album from Fearless Records, "Witness." blessthefall is a scrappy and forward-looking band that has endured internal repairs and come out stronger for the experience, and represents the kind of startup spirit exhibited by Appy Entertainment, a new developer entering their second year in the iPhone app marketplace.

"We always dreamed that Tune Runner would be more than a game -- that it would be a way for people to connect with music in a new way, and to discover new bands and new music to change their lives in fundamental ways," said Appy Project Director Emmanuel Valdez. "Now that dream is becoming a reality. With bands like Breathe Carolina and blessthefall getting on board Tune Runner, we're just getting started on an amazing trip, and there's no telling where it will lead."

About Tune Runner

Tune Runner is the musical shape-drawing game for your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Turn any music you already own into a Tune Runner level -- there are no additional tracks to buy. Post scores to worldwide leader boards and send musical challenges to friends. Tune Runner is a free download on Apple's iTunes App Store.

About Appy Entertainment

Appy Entertainment, Inc. makes games as personal as your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Founded on Halloween in 2008, Appy's first four original games -- Appy Newz, FaceFighter, Zombie Pizza, and Tune Runner -- have been downloaded over three million times.

Review: ZombieSmash

2010-03-25T23:51:00.000+08:00

Category: Games

Seller: gamedoctors

Price: $ 1.99

Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, OS 3.0 or later

Version: 1.0

What's good: If you played the fun casual game Knights Onrush published by Chillingo in June of last year, you will no doubt recall the sheer fun of flicking little knights to their death. But imagine using a similar concept and replacing it with a much more interesting theme - one where it's always nighttime and zombies are out to get you.

Coming at your little house right and left, these hordes of hungry undead are deathly committed to one single goal: to break down your walls and eat you alive. There's your average Zombie Joe who moves at a normal pace and possesses no special abilities, screeching Zombie Lucy with her incredible speed, gun-wielding sharpshooter Zombie Tom, bomb-clutching ex-Redneck Zombie Dewey, and more. They sound horrifying, but if there's one thing that can defeat them, it's your finger. There's not much time to lose though, so swipe, flick, drag, and tap at the screen as quickly and accurately as you can to send these invaders flying all over the place before they get too close to your doors and windows.

When you make a kill, you'll earn stars that you can use (in accumulated quantities) to buy house and weapon upgrades, and you'll also periodically get cool items to use against your foes, including stones, rifles, mine blasts, grenades, giant concrete blocks, and huge wrecking balls. Apart from utilizing these awesome tools to blast, sweep, shoot, rip, and tear zombies into bloody pieces, you can also freeze them into stiff ice statues or burn them to a crisp. Use defenses in combination and discover effective killing techniques as you progress through thirty one nights of horror and humor filled scenarios.

Apart from Campaign, there's a fun Sandbox mode where you get to pick the zombie line-up, the number of groups that rush at you, and the type of weapon you want to experiment with. An unlockable endless mode is also available for those who are curious to know just how long they are able to survive against continuously approaching mind-eating minions of evil. Needless to say, ZombieSmash promises long hours of intense action that expertly combines elements of tower defense and god game genres. Add to that an amazing original soundtrack, great graphics, and realistic physics, and you've got yourself a real winner. If you don't believe us, why don't you check it out for yourself?

Suggestions for improvement: Campaign mode could use more levels, and we'd love to see more scenarios as well as new zombies and items.

Breakdown:

Graphics - 4.75/5 Creativity - 4.75/5 Gameplay - 5/5 Controls - 5/5

App-reciation - 5/5

Learn more about ZombieSmash

Click to buy this application

Promo: An Assassin in Orlandes App Giveaway

2010-03-24T20:13:00.002+08:00

If you're a choose-your-own-adventure gamebook fan, you'll love the iPhone version! There's no need for dice, papers, or a pencil, because now you can do everything just by swiping and tapping the screen with your finger. We have the following codes to give away:

15 CODES -- Gamebook Adventures 1: An Assassin in Orlandes| iTunes Link

Please refer to the standard App-reciation Reviews Twitter contest rules below to get started:

- Follow @fireverse and @TinManGames on Twitter and wait for updates.

- RT contest tweets. The more you retweet, the better your chances are of winning. By doing this, you're also helping us spread the word - and we love you for it!

- Contest winners are usually picked in three ways: by randomizer, by number of retweets, or by order of retweet (i.e. first people to retweet get copies of apps).

- There's usually a period of time in which contests are held, 24 hours per 2 giveaway apps being the norm. All retweets during this period count as valid entries.

- All relevant information are included with tweets by @fireverse, but if you have any questions, you can e-mail us or post a comment here.

Thank you to Tin Man Games for sponsoring this giveaway, and thanks to everyone who participates. Please don't forget to leave an iTunes review if you win!

Review: Six-String

2010-03-22T01:20:00.000+08:00

Category: Games

Seller: Universal Music Group Recordings Inc.

Price: $ 4.99

Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, OS 3.0 or later

Version: 1.0

What's good: With so many music apps in the AppStore, you wouldn't expect there to be too much innovation when it comes to that particular category. Titles like Tap Tap Revenge, Guitar Hero, and (recently) Thumpies seem to have developed on most of what there is to a good rhythm game, and to that end, countless game studios have tried to imitate these originals.

As the biggest and most successful music company in the world, Universal Music Recordings naturally upholds a certain standard, and while at first you might think their newly released app Six-String simply copies off others' ideas, you'll think differently once you play the game.

Simply put, Six-String combines some of the most realistic guitar mechanics we've ever seen on a mobile device with fun and challenging gameplay.The rules are simple enough - anticipate as color-coded notes move towards the guitar's pickup (these are coils located on the Tailpiece near the bottom of the instrument) and tap, swipe, or hold appropriately as soon as the cues cross directly overhead. Pluck virtual strings when you see green dots, hold until the end of yellow lines, and strum your finger(s) across blue or green arrows. Medium and difficult levels will require you to occasionally change chords as well, and to do this, simply tap on the blue button that appears at the bottom of the screen. If you're too early or too late at any point of the game, the resultant music will sound a little off, and you'll lose any streaks you were building as well as decrease your accuracy percentage. On the other hand, hitting notes perfectly will increase both a health and a multiplier meter that (when full) lets you shake your device to multiply points by eight for a short period of time. Your level, progress, scores, track variety, and game sessions contribute to something called the 'Shred Cred' as well as a 'Hall of Fame' score.

There are several licensed music tracks that come with the app, including Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name," Orianthi's "According To You," and Fall Out Boy's "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs." Apart from these, you can browse through new songs at the in-game store, preview them, and buy what you like for $ 0.99 each. The continuously growing library will ensure that you never get bored with the content, while two game modes (Practice and Studio) and a moderate level of difficulty provide a fair amount of variation and keep things challenging for even the most hardcore of players.

Finally, the developers have also decided to integrate Six-String with social gaming platform Plus+, allowing customers to earn achievements and points, compare scores over the online leaderboard, and even challenge other players to a music match. From the amount of features to the overall level of polish, it looks like rhythm app veterans have met their match. Needless to say, we highly recommend this game to fans of the genre!

Suggestions for improvement: For $ 4.99, we'd like to see more free tracks and maybe music bundles for purchase instead of individual songs at an additional $ 0.99 each. The game is also a little too difficult at times, even on Easy.

Breakdown:

Graphics - 4.75/5 Creativity - 4.75/5 Gameplay - 5/5 Controls - 5/5

App-reciation - 5/5

Learn more about Six-String

Click to buy this application

Promo: Jailbreak - Voice Onrush App Giveaway

2010-03-20T01:07:00.005+08:00

If the idea of frenetic maze escape games, retro-style graphics, and heart-pounding action sounds appealing to you, then you would be missing out on one of the best titles that incorporate all three if you didn't hear about this game. Lucky for you, we're doing a promo for it! We have the following codes to give away:

5 CODES -- Jailbreak: Voice Onrush| Review Link | iTunes Link

Please refer to the standard App-reciation Reviews Twitter contest rules below to get started:

- Follow @fireverse and @OmniXtudio on Twitter and wait for updates.

- RT contest tweets. The more you retweet, the better your chances are of winning. By doing this, you're also helping us spread the word - and we love you for it!

- Contest winners are usually picked in three ways: by randomizer, by number of retweets, or by order of retweet (i.e. first people to retweet get copies of apps).

- There's usually a period of time in which contests are held, 24 hours per 2 giveaway apps being the norm. All retweets during this period count as valid entries.

- All relevant information are included with tweets by @fireverse, but if you have any questions, you can e-mail us or post a comment here.

Thank you to Ignatius at Omni Xtudio for sponsoring this giveaway, and thanks to everyone who participates. Please don't forget to leave an iTunes review if you win!

Review: Jailbreak - Voice Onrush

2010-03-19T21:35:00.001+08:00

Category: Games

Seller: Omni Xtudio Pte. Ltd.

Price: $ 0.99

Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, OS 3.0 or later

Version: 1.1

What's good: Whereas our previous review was on a calm, relaxing flight game, this one is entirely the opposite. Frantic, heart-pumping action keep you on your toes in Jailbreak - Voice Onrush, a retro-inspired maze chase title much in the same vein as gaming classic Pacman.

At the start of the game, you find yourself waking up in a strange facility, with no recollection of preceding events. Your first instinct, obviously, is to get out, and while you quickly find a key card and unlock the door, this is only the first of many rooms to escape from. It becomes immediately apparent that succeeding levels take on a whole new dimension, because you not only have to find objects - colored keys, tools, switches, etc. - to aid in your release, you also have to expertly navigate the twisting paths while eluding a host of swift-footed pursuers within a time limit and with stamina constraints. Use either the accelerometer, touch controls, or virtual joystick to direct your character through various unique environments that range from sterile hospitals with empty beds to tiled grocery shops to full parking lots to underground corridors. This may sound simple enough, but we have to warn you that even playing on the first difficulty level, this game is by no means easy. There are, of course, options that help keep things on a challenging but manageable level: you can sprint to escape imminent capture, use your sense radar to steer clear of opponents, and even equip power-ups that grant you amazing abilities for a short while.

Featuring a story mode as well as unlockable survival and free mode levels, Voice Onrush promises long hours of gameplay and a fair amount of replayability. The deliberately pixelated graphics add a unique touch, while a hectic and rather unnerving soundtrack keep you fully immersed in the game as you try to maneuver your way out of a disconcerting situation. Will you fall into the hands of your persistent and mysterious enemies or find your way to freedom?

Suggestions for improvement: Navigation is rather difficult, even with three control options available (for example, the joystick is not as responsive as it could be whereas swiping covers a sizable amount of the screen and is not ideal for moving around). The environments and the app icon are a little too dull and could use some work to make things more appealing.

Breakdown:

Graphics - 3.5/5 Creativity - 4.5/5 Gameplay - 4.5/5 Controls - 4/5

App-reciation - 4/5

Learn more about Jailbreak: Voice Onrush

Click to buy this application

Press Release: FaceFighter Premium Content

2010-03-19T02:30:00.004+08:00

Appy Entertainment Adds Premium Content To FaceFighter

Following on the heels of a promotion that saw them give away over one million copies of their best-selling iPhone game, FaceFighter, Appy Entertainment has added premium content to their fast-paced punching game for in-app purchase. "Even after a half-dozen free updates adding new weapons, enemies, and finishing moves to the game -- as well as two player mode -- our fans still asked for more," said Appy Entertainment Brand Director Paul O'Connor. "We're listening ... so we added a fist-full of content for players to download. Now there are even more ways to beat the living crap out of your best friend."

The premium content was introduced in a FaceFighter update appearing in the iTunes App Store earlier this week, and so far, sales have been brisk. "This is further evidence of FaceFighter's power as an emerging game brand," said Appy CEO Chris Ulm. "We'll be following-up this new content with a deluxe version of FaceFighter for Apple's new iPad -- called FaceFighter Face 2 Face -- and we have another big surprise for our iPhone and iPod touch players coming this summer. We've only just started to explore everything FaceFighter has to offer."

The new content is divided into three packages.

The Character Pack has three enemies -- the wise Kung Fu expert Master Ho, glam rocker Rikki Dixx, and angst-ridden vampire teen Deadward, who is the special favorite of FaceFighter Project Director Emmanuel Valdez. "Deadward is just too tortured for his own good. I love giving him something to be genuinely gloomy about," said Valdez.

The Legendary Fury Pack offers three comical FaceFighter weapons (a ping pong paddle, ukulele, and a spiked heel shoe), while the Immortal Judgment Pack lets players finish off their foes with a speeding train, a UFO abduction, or even a set of demonic hands that drag their opponent down to the infernal realm.

Each pack is available separately for .99, or all three can be purchased together for $1.99. So far, sales of the bundle are outdistancing the individual packs by about two-to-one, but there is still plenty of interest in the single packs.

"The App Store is a new market that seems to change overnight," said Ulm. "Companies need to be alert to trends and continue presenting their games to the widest audience possible. FaceFighter has been downloaded nearly three million times in all its forms, and this new premium content allows us to reach all of those fans with follow-on sales. This is just one way among many that the App Store is offering unprecedented opportunities to micropublishers like Appy Entertainment."

About FaceFighter: FaceFighter is a fast-paced and funny first-person fighting game where you put a beat down on anyone you like. Unleash punches, kicks, and combos while defending yourself with blocks. Discover hidden finishing moves and whack bad guys with a monkey wrench. Import photos of friends or famous celebrities then take them on in martial arts combat. Battle friends in Bluetooth head-to-head mode (www.appyfacefighter.com)

About Appy Entertainment

Appy Entertainment, Inc. makes games as unique as your iPhone. All four of Appy's original games -- Appy Newz, FaceFighter, Zombie Pizza, and Tune Runner -- have been featured by Apple on the iTunes App Store.

News: Gameloft Spring Fever Sale

2010-03-18T12:31:00.003+08:00

Ah, spring is here! Little birds chirping in the trees and video games blooming everywhere… It’s time to celebrate!

To enjoy the new season Gameloft offers you 5 hot iPhone and iPod touch games for only US$0.99 each:

This special offer will expire the exact same day as Winter, so be sure to grab them before this Sunday, March 21st!

Review: How To Train Your Dragon

2010-03-18T11:29:00.000+08:00

Category: Games

Seller: Glu Mobile, Inc.

Price: $ 2.99

Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, OS 2.2 or later

Version: 1.0

What's good: If you are a fan of Glu Mobile's Glyder titles, you will undoubtedly note similarities between those games and the company's newest AppStore offering based on Dreamworks' upcoming animated movie, How To Train Your Dragon. Flight of the Night Fury lets you step into the shoes of Viking youth Hiccup and fly your dragon Toothless across the skies through three extensive 3D locations. Utilizing a flawless flight engine and smooth accelerometer controls, your task is to explore and collect various items scattered through the serene pine-lined plains and rough rocky peaks of Berk, the smooth brown mountains and fresh green plateaus of Dark Deep, the snow-covered caps and pristine landscape of Shivering Shores. Collectibles include three types of insects that range from common to rare, but apart from these you will periodically have to look for objects that are part of your main quest.

Rather than being action-packed and exciting, the game is laid-back and quite relaxing. Although objectives are varied and plentiful, they do not involve fights or anything of the sort. Instead, they mostly revolve around searching for and acquiring tools and things that ultimately serve the purpose of rehabilitating Toothless, who is unfortunately slow and a bit unresponsive at the start due to an injury. Still, there's never a lack of things to do, because this title features a wide array of challenges - locating treasure, catching fish, and performing spectacular dives, to name a few - that need to be performed within a time limit. Achievements, too, keep the game interesting and increase gameplay value, while sounds and visuals are perfectly suited to the storyline and serve to enhance the calm atmosphere and tranquility that characterize the app.

Everything makes for a nice change from the countless (and prevalent) energetic, accelerated genres available, so if you're looking for an adventure to occupy you and help you unwind after a long, stressful day, nothing could be more perfect. For such a quality game, the relatively low price tag will no doubt send it soaring up the app charts in no time.

Suggestions for improvement: Although it's not a major issue, the lack of graphical detail is obvious, especially since other Glu games sport beautifully detailed visuals.There's also a slight depth perception problem - sometimes (when flying very close nearby) it's a little difficult to get an exact idea of where landings or mountain walls are relative to your position, and this contributes to a small percentage of accidental crashes.

Breakdown:

Graphics - 4/5 Creativity - 4.5/5 Gameplay - 4.75/5 Controls - 4.75/5

App-reciation - 4.5/5

Learn more about How To Train Your Dragon: Flight of the Night Fury

Click to buy this application

Promo: A Doodle Flight App Giveaway

2010-03-17T20:55:00.000+08:00

Arcade shooters are fun and fast-paced, but what's even more fun is if you get to draw your own plane and glide through graphing paper backgrounds while firing at a host of wacky enemies brought to life by the developer's creative imagination! We have the following codes to give away:

5 CODES -- A Doodle Flight | Review Link | iTunes Link

Please refer to the standard App-reciation Reviews Twitter contest rules below to get started:

- Follow @fireverse and @PrinceHaHata on Twitter and wait for updates.

- RT contest tweets. The more you retweet, the better your chances are of winning. By doing this, you're also helping us spread the word - and we love you for it!

- Contest winners are usually picked in three ways: by randomizer, by number of retweets, or by order of retweet (i.e. first people to retweet get copies of apps).

- There's usually a period of time in which contests are held, 24 hours per 2 giveaway apps being the norm. All retweets during this period count as valid entries.

- All relevant information are included with tweets by @fireverse, but if you have any questions, you can e-mail us or post a comment here.

Thank you to j2sighte and our good friend Jerry Lee for sponsoring this giveaway, and thank you to everyone who participates. Please don't forget to leave an iTunes review if you win!

Press Release: PandaMania - Legend of the Fu Manchu

2010-03-17T20:09:00.004+08:00

FizzPow Games Announces PandaMania: Legend of the Fu Manchu Available Now for Apple® iPhone™ and iPod® touch!

Colorado Springs, Colorado – March 17, 2010 – FizzPow Games, an independent development studio creating innovative games for the Apple® iPhone™ and iPod® touch, invites you into a world of archery and evil bandits with its latest app, PandaMania: Legend of the Fu Manchu. Breathing new life into the old fashioned castle defense games, PandaMania puts the power of the new genre “bow defense” in the palm of your hands! With original arcade action, PandaMania appeals to both casual and hardcore gamers alike and is guaranteed to have you hooked from the start.

“PandaMania offers endless amounts of gameplay elements sure to keep you playing for hours,” said Michael Stockwell, founder of FizzPow Games. “From upgrades to enemies, power ups to combos, users are continually challenged to build their skill level while increasing their scores in order to dominate the land. So take aim, young bowmaster! Destroy the hordes of baddies to regain your honor and recover your Fu Manchu!”

With your bow and arrow in tow, prepare to set out in search of the evil enemy who has stolen your most essential source of strength, your epic Fu Manchu mustache. Putting your superb archery skills to the test, you begin your journey across the world in the hopes to regain your power. Throughout the lands of PandaMania, you will be challenged by evil bosses while you fight to free all the villages taken captive by the hordes of bandits. Upgrade your arrows, shooting ability and tower, and with each level conquered you move one step closer to regaining your Fu Manchu and becoming the bravest warrior in all the land!

PandaMania features include:

- Intense arcade-style tower defense action with 50 challenging and unique levels

- Progressive storyline filled with hilarious comic graphics

- Levels span five diverse lands from rolling green mountains to towering volcanoes

- Each land presents new and creative boss fights, challenging you to find the enemy’s weakness in order to achieve victory!

- Numerous upgrades will keep you and your bow one step ahead of the advancing hordes

PandaMania can be found on the iTunes App Store for a special introductory price of $1.99. Click here for a direct link. To learn more about the application, please visit http://www.facebook.com/PandaManiaGame. For more information about FizzPow Games, please visit http://www.fizzpow.com/.

About FizzPow Games

FizzPow Games, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was founded in the spring of 2009 by Michael Stockwell. The development and design teams focus primarily on creating new and innovative games for the Apple® iPhone™ and iPod touch. FizzPow’s mission is to create great casual games for people of all ages and hopes to expand to other gaming systems in the near future.

News: Big Blue Bubble Games Sale

2010-03-17T01:46:00.003+08:00

Big Blue Bubble is having a sale! Some of their most popular iPhone titles are discounted for a limited time, so don’t miss out! Now is the time to get these awesome games, at an even awesomer price!

66% off | Was $2.99 NOW -> $0.99 | GET IT

33% off | Was $2.99 NOW -> $1.99 | GET IT

50% off | Was $3.99 NOW -> $1.99 | GET IT

Press Release: Six-String

2010-03-17T01:23:00.001+08:00

UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP LAUNCHES SIX-STRING™

ON APP STORE

Revolutionary New App Enables iPhone and iPod touch Users to Play Along With Their Favorite Songs, Culled From Real Studio Masters

Los Angeles, CA…Universal Music Group (UMG), the world’s leading music company, today announced the launch of Six-String™ on the App Store. Six-String is a new iPhone and iPod touch music app that delivers a dynamic guitar experience and includes chart-topping hits culled from real studio masters.

Six-String™ authentically recreates the guitar playing experience using tracks gathered from the real studio masters. So for the first time ever, players are provided with a truly engaging musical experience as they are required to pluck, strum and change chords. And since no experience is required, anyone anywhere can now play the guitar like a pro along with their favorite songs instantly!

SIX-STRING™ comes with 6 chart-topping tracks, but players can easily add songs from the in-app store as they progress. The tracks included are: Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love A Bad Name”; Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down A Dream”; Fall Out Boy’s “Thnks Fr Th Mmrs”; Peter Frampton’s “Show Me The Way”; and Orianthi’s “According To You.” It also contains The Scorpions “Raised on Rock,” from their new album, Sting in the Tail, being released on March 23rd, which will be the first time a Scorpions’ recording has been included in any of the music game franchises.

The Six-String App also features more than 20 additional game tracks available for In-App purchase, including songs from 3 Doors Down, Angels and Airwaves, Beck, Dashboard Confessional, G.B.H., Gary Go, Hinder, Hollywood Undead, Kaiser Chiefs, Maroon 5, No Doubt, Papa Roach, Rise Against, Robert Palmer, Sum 41, Wolfmother and many more to come! In addition, users can purchase the corresponding song, video and ringtone from iTunes through the app where available.

In Six-String™, there are 2 different play modes: Practice Mode or Studio Mode. Practice Mode lets the player get familiar with a song and Studio mode allow the player to compete, earn points and work up to Six-String’s™ high-score rankings. Moreover, there will be a contest running through the first month of the game’s release, whereby the person with the highest score on the Six-String™ Hall of Fame leaderboard via the Plus+ Network at exactly 6:00 PM PST on April 6, 2010 will be eligible to win a Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster."

The app allows users to play each track at three different levels of difficulty. The sound can be adjusted to hear only the guitar or the guitar against the full master recording. Additionally, the game offers a free, thriving Six-String™ social community (via 'Plus+ Network’) which adds more excitement and competition to the game, allowing users to challenge each other’s prowess on any song. In addition, players may choose to post score updates via Facebook, Twitter and email.

The Six-String App is available for $4.99 from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

For more info about the Six-String App, go to:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SixStringApp

Twitter: www.twitter.com/SixStringApp

MySpace: www.myspace.com/SixStringApp

About Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is the world’s leading music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 77 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, the industry's leading global music publishing operation.

Universal Music Group's record labels include A&M/Octone, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, Fonovisa, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Polydor Records, Show Dog–Universal Music, Universal Motown Republic Group, Universal Music Latino and Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which includes the last 100 years of the world's most popular artists and their recordings. UMG’s catalog is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, its new media and technologies division; Bravado, its merchandising company; Twenty-First Artists, its full service management division; and Helter Skelter, its live music agency.

Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi, a global media and communications company.

Promo: The Nuclear Test App Giveaway

2010-03-16T20:26:00.000+08:00

How well do you know your nuclear warfare? Test your knowledge in a fun and casual quiz game devoted entirely to the topic! We have the following codes to give away:

2 CODES -- The Nuclear Test | Press Release | iTunes Link

Please refer to the standard App-reciation Reviews Twitter contest rules below to get started:

- Follow @fireverse on Twitter and wait for updates.

- RT contest tweets. The more you retweet, the better your chances are of winning. By doing this, you're also helping us spread the word - and we love you for it!

- Contest winners are usually picked in three ways: by randomizer, by number of retweets, or by order of retweet (i.e. first people to retweet get copies of apps).

- There's usually a period of time in which contests are held, 24 hours per 2 giveaway apps being the norm. All retweets during this period count as valid entries.

- All relevant information are included with tweets by @fireverse, but if you have any questions, you can e-mail us or post a comment here.

Thank you to Roe Mobile Development for sponsoring this giveaway, and thank you to everyone who participates. Please don't forget to leave an iTunes review if you win!

News: Gameloft Wins Big At Pocket Gamer Awards

2010-03-16T19:55:00.006+08:00

Gameloft Scores Best iPhone Game Publisher of the Year and Wins Awards for Best Action/Adventure Game for iPhone and Mobile

These three achievements were awarded at the Pocket Gamer Awards, announced during the Game Developers Conference.

Paris - Gameloft®, a leading publisher and developer of downloadable video games, scored multiple awards: Best Publisher for iPhone, Best Action/Arcade Game (iPhone) for N.O.V.A. Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance, and Best Action/Arcade Game (Mobile) for Zombie Infection at the Pocket Gamer Awards 2010.

With the ongoing development and the growth of the iPhone, mobile and smartphone video game industry, Pocket Gamer, considered one of the largest websites for mobile games, inaugurated its first edition of the Pocket Gamer Awards on Wednesday, March 10th. The finalists were selected from among the best mobile games released throughout 2009.

"We’re honored to receive this distinction from Pocket Gamer. Our success can be attributed to our development teams’ constant concern for quality on both rich and traditional mobile gaming platforms, and to our desire to offer games that are both spectacular and popular," said Julien Fournials, senior vice-president of Production at Gameloft, "Our goal is to continue to enhance the gaming experience for our consumers by pushing the envelope in terms of graphics, gameplay and overall experience in all our upcoming games."

About Gameloft

Gameloft is a leading international publisher and developer of downloadable video games. For 10 years, Gameloft has been established as one of the top innovators in its field. The company creates games for mobile phones, smartphones, iPhone and iPod touch. Gameloft games are also available to players on WiiWare®, DSiWare, Microsoft® Xbox LIVE® Arcade and PlayStation®Network.

Partnership agreements with leading licenses such as UNO®, Ferrari®, Shrek®, CSI™, Spider-Man® and Brothers in Arms® allow Gameloft to form strong relationships with international brands. In addition to the partnerships, Gameloft owns and operates titles such as Real Football, Asphalt and Brain Challenge®.

Gameloft is present on all the continents with its own production studios, employing over 3,500 developers, and distributes its games in over 100 countries. Gameloft is listed on Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0000079600, Bloomberg: GFT FP, Reuters: GLFT.PA)

Press Release: RichMine

2010-03-16T00:18:00.004+08:00

RichMine – New Underground Arcade For iPhone

March 9, 2010 - RichMine, an underground arcade game for iPhone and iPod touch, developed and published by Zveno Games (www.zvenogames.com), has been released on the App Store.

RichMine will force player to throw picks, catch gems and fill 20 barrels with riches from the deep. The task is to assist two nice, but clumsy dwarves in obtaining precious stones from the rich mine, where gems are showering down from the arch. The dwarves are controlled by tapping the screen and his fellow worker is moved using the accelerometer. In every cave there are 6 picks to throw. If you catch a falling pick, you can use it again and this increases your chances to win. The deeper dwarves go, the more indestructible the obstacles and enemies they meet. Such underground inhabitances as ghosts, bats, spiders and cobwebs love to steal picks. The level lasts until you bring down the last gem (you win) or use your last pick (you fail).

The game has a useful tutorial and a high score system besides. In summary, RichMine for the iPhone and iPod touch can surely fill whatever free minutes you have during the day!

Availability and Requirements:

RichMine is available at the price of $0.99 only at the App Store in the Games section and is compatible with iPhone and iPod touch, running on OS 2.2.1 or later.

App Store Link: www.avaloid.com/rich-mine/appstore

Promo: Battle of Puppets $20 iTunes GC Giveaway

2010-03-15T23:54:00.001+08:00

Small Wonders, creators of the charming tower defense game Battle of Puppets, is holding a $ 20 iTunes gift card giveaway through App-reciation Reviews. All you have to do is follow the rules below to be entered in the drawing, which will happen on April 1st, 2010. Easy, right? In the meantime, why don't you check out the links to our app review and the app's iTunes page and keep yourself entertained while waiting? Battle of Puppets is currently on sale for just $ 0.99 - there couldn't a better time to grab a copy!

SPONSOR -- Battle of Puppets | Review Link | iTunes Link

Please refer to the standard App-reciation Reviews Twitter contest rules below to get started:

- Follow @fireverse and @battleofpuppets on Twitter and wait for updates.

- RT contest tweets. The more you retweet, the better your chances are of winning. By doing this, you're also helping us spread the word - and we love you for it!

- Contest winners are usually picked in three ways: by randomizer, by number of retweets, or by order of retweet (i.e. first people to retweet get copies of apps).

- There's usually a period of time in which contests are held, 24 hours per 2 giveaway apps being the norm. All retweets during this period count as valid entries.

- All relevant information are included with tweets by @fireverse, but if you have any questions, you can e-mail us or post a comment here.

Bonus: Comment on our review of the game and/or subscribe to our feed via e-mail to get an extra entries!

Thank you to Small Wonders for sponsoring this giveaway, and special thanks to CEO Juan Diego and external marketing manager Geoff Warren-Boulton. Thank you to everyone who participates, and remember, if you don't win this time, we will always have more contests!

Review: Fly Away Rabbit

2010-03-15T21:17:00.000+08:00

Category: Games

Seller: Jonathan Parsons

Price: $ 0.99

Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, OS 2.2.1 or later

Version: 1.0

What's good: There are so many physics puzzlers on the iTunes AppStore, but even with the amount of contenders already available, more games that use the same general idea are constantly pouring in. Not surprisingly, creative minds always find a way to put a new spin to old concepts, and that is exactly what the developer did with Fly Away Rabbit, a fresh and interesting casual game for the iPhone and iPod touch.

The app welcomes you to the simple and charming moonlit world of a small bunny rabbit, who holds on to the string of a lone red balloon and dreams of reaching the clouds. Unfortunately, his way is blocked by various shapes - rectangles, circles, and irregular blocks crafted in the style of Tetris pieces - some bouncy, some dangerous, some immovable. Your task is to help him by removing the blocks carefully while taking note of the natural reactions that occur with every shift, keeping him safely stable as you do so. Simply tap on a piece and it will quickly float away into the distance while your bunny and remaining pieces adjust according to a smoothly realistic physics engine, the difference being that this one works with a gravitational pull towards the sky instead of the other way around. With practice and a little trial-and-error, you'll quickly get the hang of things and successfully land bunny and his balloon among the fluffy clouds.

All in all, there are forty eight levels of increasingly tricky puzzles spread over three difficulty tiers to solve. While the game reminds us of Tiki Totems and countless similar apps, it turns the physics concept on its head (quite literally) and immerses gameplay in a wonderfully dreamy atmosphere full of twinkling stars and beautifully enchanting music. It's currently priced at a mere $ 0.99, so grab it now and enjoy a truly relaxing experience!

Suggestions for improvement: We're really hoping to see more levels in an update, since everything can be solved in under half an hour. Also, scores based on how quickly you manage to complete a stage and achievements or rewards would make things more interesting and meaningful.

Breakdown:

Graphics - 4.5/5 Creativity - 4/5 Gameplay - 4.5/5 Controls - 5/5

App-reciation - 4.5/5

Watch the gameplay video

Click to buy this application

Review: iHal

2010-03-13T23:27:00.000+08:00

Category: Utilities

Seller: International Language Machines Ltd.

Price: $ 9.99

Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, OS 3.0 or later

Version: 1.0

What's good: It's amazing to discover the things people dream up into reality these days, and Hal, a conversational learning algorithm in development since 2000, is one such modern invention that truly impresses in its ambitiousness and creativity. Recently, the inventors have undertaken to translate their project into a fully functional iPhone version, and its first public release, a software called iHal, has just become available for $ 9.99 on the iTunes AppStore.

Basically, the application lets users train a program into an intelligent personality capable of responding to human language. You'll start with a Hal that knows nothing except to say "Hi mommy" to your "Hi Hal", and gradually shape his character by either accepting his answers as correct or editing them into what you deem as the proper reply. As you spend more and more time with him, he'll quickly learn based on your input and acquire individualism from everything you teach him. Because of this, Hal can be anything from funny to depressing to polished to crude, and he can also speak anything from regular English or French to Avatar's Na'vi and even a method of communication created entirely from your imagination. However you choose your Hal to develop, only your time and effort limit his growth possibilities.

Although the interface is simple and there is little in the way of graphics and visual enhancements, training and conversing with your very own Hal will keep you happily entertained for as long as you're occupied with the app. There is a certain gratification that comes with successfully evolving a virtual 'child' into a mature and conversant machine, and we were delighted with our Hal's progress after only a few sessions. With patience and a little creativity, you can create a truly impressive and substantive character that you can even share with family and friends, so why don't you get started and participate in this amazing experiment today?

Suggestions for improvement: The speaking voices aren't very good and can be improved to pronounce things more accurately and attractively. We'd really like to see a better interface as well, since design contributes significantly to experience.

Breakdown:

Interface - 3/5 Creativity - 4.5/5 Experience - 4/5 Controls - 4.5/5

App-reciation - 4/5

Learn more about iHal

Click to buy this application

Review: Doodle Kart

2010-03-11T22:37:00.000+08:00

Category: Games

Seller: j2sighte

Price: $ 0.99

Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, OS 2.2.1 or later

Version: 1.0

What's good: Like Doodle games? Then you definitely shouldn't miss Doodle Kart, the latest in a line of fantastic doodle-themed apps from j2sighte. Inspired by Sauce Digital's Nano Rally, this game takes the top-down racing concept and places it in a world of hand-drawn rulers, graphing paper, compasses, spilled watercolor, and pencil rocks - giant elements that make up the basic composition and style of five different race environments.

On launching, you'll discover two game modes: Single Race lets you practice your driving skills and explore maps in either solo or vs. CPU mode, allowing you to get a hang of the gameplay and controls before you check out Championship and go head to head with three other opponents in a continuous points-based comprehensive track race. Choose a car color (red, blue, or white) as well as allocate a limited number of points to statistics that include speed, acceleration, handling, weight, and items in order to customize your ride to suit preferences. Use simple touch or tilt controls to steer your vehicle through the curving roads, and gain the upper hand by using creative power-ups or weapons that become available throughout your races. There are seven unique packages altogether, letting you shoot pencils, create gaping black holes, and fire yellow pellets to confuse and deter your opponents, or fly past them with a rocket boost and crush them with the body of your temporarily enlarged vehicle.

Overall, the game comes with various grades of difficulty as well as twenty five unique levels, each carefully crafted and designed. A quirky, somewhat Mexican-sounding music track and strange characters like the floating Super Mary from A Doodle Fly lend the app a humorous and slightly bizzare feel that evokes the developer's personal art style. Fun and highly replayable, it provides great value at the $ 0.99 price mark, so grab your copy now and start driving!

Suggestions for improvement: The car gets stuck when you drive into even the slightest bit of a corner or point, and we hope to see the vehicle moving and negotiating turns more smoothly. More items and levels as well as a multiplayer mode would make great updates.

Breakdown:

Graphics - 4.25/5 Creativity - 4.75/5 Gameplay - 4.5/5 Controls - 4.5/5

App-reciation - 4.5/5

Click to buy this application

Press Release: Cassandra's Journey Lite

2010-03-10T22:27:00.006+08:00

Cassandra’s Journey: The Legacy of Nostradamus Lite for iPhone released

March, 9 2010 - Avallon Alliance continues its collaboration with JoyBits and releases Cassandra’s Journey: The Legacy of Nostradamus Lite - the trial version of an already popular and loved game for iPhone. For absolutely free, users will get 10 levels of adventures from the full version and an opportunity to unlock the rest of content if he or she desires. Game progress achieved in the lite version is saved automatically.

Cassandra's Journey: The Legacy of Nostradamus is an award-winning popular quest, featured as "New & Noteworthy" by Apple and called "a gem" and a "well-rounded game" by the press. It came to the iPhone from PC and quickly grew in popularity because of its sparkling graphics and fairytale-look combined with casual mechanics.

The gamer plays Cassandra and in assistance of Nostradamus' spirit complete the quest in search of the lost ring. The mission of Nostradamus is to direct Cassandra, give advice and entertain her on the way. During their journey through a world of magical trinkets they solve plenty of riddles, image and word puzzles, find hidden objects, match items and meet diverse characters.

Cassandra's Journey has a beautiful graphical presentation and short "how-to play" guides at every level, so playing it is fun, smooth and very attractive both for adults and for kids.

The regular paid version is also available on App Store.

Availability and Requirements:

The game is free and can be found in the Games section of the App Store. It is compatible with iPhone and iPod touch, running OS 3.0 or later.

App Store Link: www.avaloid.com/cassandra-lite/appstore

Game Page: www.cassandra-iphone.com

YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXOSsJ_Uwik

About Creators

Avallon Alliance Ltd. (www.avaloid.com) is a developer and publisher of iPhone and iPod Touch games. Founded in 2008, the company has already grown to become the leading publisher in Eastern Europe. It became possible due to many facts: focus exclusively on iPhone market, firmness of purpose, highly-qualified staff and unique methods of promotion. Their debut product, The Stone of Destiny, became the first hidden object game for the iPhone/iPod Touch platform. The company is known for building its own successful projects (Napsters, Mezopuzzle, Car Troller) and effective collaboration with the best creators of casual games in the world (JoyBits, Voodoo Dimention, URSE Games, etc.).

JoyBits Ltd. (www.joybits.net) is the pioneer in game development on Russian's mobile market and a successful PC-casual developer. Founded in Saint-Petersburg in 2002, the company has released over 40 mobile apps. As one of the leading mobile content aggregators, JoyBits owns IP rights for 800+ J2ME midlets for CIS region. The casual division of JoyBits creates #1 TOP brands from 2007 like Cassandra's Journey: The Legacy of Nostradamus and Cassandra's Journey: The Fifth Sun. JoyBits is currently working on casual PC games for release as well as a couple of titles for the AppStore.

Review: CatchMe! If You Can

2010-03-10T20:04:00.000+08:00

Category: Games

Seller: ODD1 Inc.

Price: $ 1.99

Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, OS 3.1.2 or later

Version: 1.1

What's good: One of the most innovative in an extensive line of casual games for the iPhone and iPod touch, CatchMe! If You Can from ODD1 Inc. combines the developers' trademark colorful graphics, fun cast of cartoon characters, and a joyously frantic soundtrack to create a unique and thoroughly engrossing experience.

The gameplay is startlingly simple, yet provides an interesting twist: you first play the role of thief, during which you have to steal as much treasure as you can while avoiding an encounter with the guards that are constantly patrolling the corridors. As nimbly as you try to navigate the mazelike halls, you will most likely bump into security sooner or later, during which the role reverses and you get to pick one of three guards with different abilities - sprinting, setting traps, or illuminating the entire map - and step into his shoes to try to pursue the fiends running amok and snatching valuables left and right. Use a combination of tactic and speed to try to corner your adversary in the smallest amount of time possible, and once you do, you'll instantly turn back into the very character you caught, the better to take another attempt at gathering goodies strewn all over the place. The cycle ends when the timer counts down to zero, with four players alternately switching roles and each one aiming to claim the gold ribbon for the round by having the largest loot value among contenders at the conclusion of the level. Because of this, winning is based not just on speed and navigating skills, but on strategic planning as well.

Find out if you have both the sneakiness of a master thief and the sharp-eyed efficiency of a top-notch guard needed to triumph in each of fifteen unique levels set in five different locations - the village, gardens, swamps, cemetery, and dungeons. You can even send your loot to the Band of Thieves vault and connect to the community of players to unlock new levels and content, so the fun never stops!

Suggestions for improvement: For a game that is essentially based on speed of navigation, we think the controls somewhat hinder rather than help movement. It might be better if the virtual d-pad is replaced with a swipe-to-move system instead.

Breakdown:

Graphics - 4.75/5 Creativity - 5/5 Gameplay - 4.75/5 Controls - 3.5/5

App-reciation - 4.5/5

Watch the gameplay video

Click to buy this application

Press Release: The Nuclear Test

2010-03-10T19:50:00.003+08:00

Casual quiz games are ideal for short breaks, waiting in line, and entertaining the kids when your attention is needed elsewhere. Roe Mobile Development's latest iPhone application, The Nuclear Test, combines humor and simplicity with a serious topic – nuclear warfare.

“In developing The Nuclear Test, I wanted to bring create a unique quiz game that offers levity and entertainment, and highlights the state of nuclear warhead proliferation around the world.” remarks Ken Roe, the CEO and chief developer for Row Mobile Development. “The Nuclear Test appeals to preteens and teenagers, but has proven to be fun and challenging for many adult users.”

The Nuclear Test consists of 35 questions and simple tasks that test your basic knowledge of nuclear weapons, politics and warfare. The quiz is organized into five levels of increasing difficulty. Simple graphics and bold primary colors along with arcade style sounds for selections and the inevitable explosions enhance the audience appeal. Even those with solid knowledge of nuclear warfare and proliferation are challenged by the quirky questions and surprises that pop up throughout the game. Player's pass or fail results can be shared on Facebook, helping to create social awareness of nuclear brinksmanship.

The Nuclear Test is available through the iTunes Application Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-nuclear-test/id358306918?mt=8. It is free through March 9, 2010. Afterwards it will be offered for $0.99. Additional information is available at Roe Mobile Development (http://roemobiledevelopment.com) and on the The Nuclear Test Facebook group.

About Roe Mobile Development

Roe Mobile Development is an entrepreneurial company dedicated to creating applications for the iPhone platform. The development team at RMD brings over 20 years of experience in programming and application development for business. Other iPhone applications from RMD include Smart Recorder 2.0, a full featured audio recorder and Travel Diary which integrates photographs and location maps for documenting and sharing.

Promo: Makeout Mania App Giveaway

2010-03-09T21:55:00.009+08:00

If you're looking for something cute, silly, fast, and fun, here's a sweet casual game with brightly colored cartoon graphics and hilarious animations that'll keep you and your friends occupied and smiling whenever you have time to spare. We have the following codes to give away:

9 CODES -- Makeout Mania | Review Link | iTunes Link

Please refer to the standard App-reciation Reviews Twitter contest rules below to get started:

- Follow @fireverse and @puppetgear on Twitter and wait for updates.

- RT contest tweets. The more you retweet, the better your chances are of winning. By doing this, you're also helping us spread the word - and we love you for it!

- Contest winners are usually picked in three ways: by randomizer, by number of retweets, or by order of retweet (i.e. first people to retweet get copies of apps).

- There's usually a period of time in which contests are held, 24 hours per 2 giveaway apps being the norm. All retweets during this period count as valid entries.

- All relevant information are included with tweets by @fireverse, but if you have any questions, you can e-mail us or post a comment here.

Thank you to Puppet Gear Studios for sponsoring this giveaway, and thank you to everyone who participates. As always, please don't forget to leave an iTunes review if you win!

Press Release: iHal

2010-03-09T13:52:00.004+08:00

iHal – a new form of life – on your iPhone!

Tel-Aviv, 10 March 2010 – International Language Machines Ltd. ("ILM") today announced iHal, a new platform for the iPhone and iPod touch, available now on the Apple App Store.

iHal is a conversational learning algorithm, trained to acquire any language from a human trainer. Users start with a fresh copy of Hal, and teach him to speak, while shaping his personality. Hal learns from each input, and gets better by the minute!

A Hal personality can speak virtually any language. The only requirement is for the iPhone to have the appropriate alphabet installed. Users can train personalities to speak English, Finnish, Hindu and even Gibberish. Hals can be brought up to become cynic, funny or morbid. The sky is the limit. And just like it is with humans, no two Hals are alike.

The way Hal learns is by trial and error: When Hal reproduces a correct or appropriate response, the user simply goes on with the conversation. Correcting Hal and teaching it a better response is easy – a simple tap on the false response and it becomes editable.

iHal is based on Hal, Ai’s artificial intelligence engine, in development since 2000. While being a fun and addictive language game, iHal enables users to take part in a serious scientific experiment. Since iHal’s brain is located on a remote server, users must be connected to the Internet (either through WiFi or 3G) in order to use it. Trainers that have created a mature iHal personality can share it with other trainers in a public "Hal Nursery".

About ILM

International Language Machines Ltd. (ILM) is the commercial subsidiary of Ai research. ILM mobilizes and pocketizes the ideas and technologies behind Ai, namely artificial intelligence, language and everything in between. iHal is its first public release, with a few other interesting projects currently in the works. For more information, visit http://www.language-machines.com.

About Ai research

Artificial Intelligence Research (Ai), established 2000, is a privately funded research project, focusing on implementing Artificial Intelligence in conversational systems: technology that enables machines to converse with humans in natural language. Ai's research facility is located in Savyon, Israel. For more information, visit http://www.a-i.com.

Press Release: Super Newtronic

2010-03-09T13:42:00.004+08:00

SUPER NEWTRONIC, PHANTOM EFX'S LATEST APP STORE OFFERING, DELIVERS ADDICTING PUZZLE-ARCADE GAMEPLAY AND CLASSIC PHYSICS

Cedar Falls, Iowa – March 8, 2010 – Phantom EFX invites you to bend physics to the will of your fingers with its latest app, Super Newtronic! Combining Sir Newton's physics with mesmerizing electronic sights and sounds and revolutionary controls, Super Newtronic is a new and addictive app for the iPhone and iPod touch that is available now. It's easy to play but impossible to put down!

The premise is simple: Use the metal balls to break all the blocks by drawing energy lines with your finger. The ball will bounce off of them, or tap the screen for a finger-tip explosion that sends the ball flying. Tap and hold to charge up a larger finger blast that will propel the ball further. And although it may sound similar to other block busting games, Super Newtronic uses a cutting edge physics engine that fully incorporates gravity, friction, bounciness, mass, and force. The balls don't bounce endlessly – they can fall down and off the screen, making a game of Super Newtronic feel like a revolutionary new twist on pinball!

Super Newtronic can be found on the Apple App store for $1.99 here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/super-newtronic/id359692884?mt=8

Super Newtronic features include:

- Multiple play modes, including Arcade and Challenge, and different difficulty levels ensure a near endless replay value

- Online leader boards track high scores around the world and allow trash talking between friends

- Endless Arcade levels and 50 unique Challenge levels with 9 possible game endings (depending on your progression path)

- Beat levels in Challenge mode to unlock them in Experimental mode, where you can alter the game parameters (time limit, gravity, bounciness, etc.)

For more information about Super Newtronic, please visit www.phantomefx.com/supernewtronic.

News: Angry Birds Flies Through 500K Barrier

2010-03-09T13:21:00.002+08:00

Chillingo has announced that Angry Birds, its award-winning catapult puzzle game for iPhone and iPod touch, has sold more than 500k units worldwide in less than a month. Released under Chillingo’s Clickgamer brand and developed by Rovio Mobile, Angry Birds has garnered numerous awards and been publicized by celebrities including DJ Chris Moyles and Olympic medallist Anja Pärson.

"Chillingo is really the App Store kingmaker,” said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio. “No other company has managed to repeatedly raise previously unknown titles to the top of the App Store charts, making them into leading game brands as they have done with Angry Birds."

“As soon as anyone plays Angry Birds, they are happy and addicted,” promised Chillingo’s Head of Publishing, Johnny Coghlan. “It has universal appeal to players of any age and experience level, thanks to Rovio’s expert design and development skills."

Anyone who wants to dive into this hugely addictive game can get the full version with over 100 levels and additional Crystal features for just $0.99 on the App Store now. There’s also a free Lite Version available, and the latest hit Angry Birds trailer can be seen on YouTube.

About Chillingo

Chillingo publishes innovative games and software for various platforms. Past hit iPhone and iPod touch titles include Ravensword: The Fallen King, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Minigore, iDracula, and Cash Cow. For more information about Chillingo please visit http://www.chillingo.com.

About Crystal

Crystal is a free-to-use social networking platform/service, offering complete customization, easy integration, Unity support, Facebook and Twitter integration, and a variety of game community features such as leaderboards, challenges and achievements. Or more information about Crystal, please visit www.CrystalSDK.com.

About Rovio Mobile

Rovio Mobile is an award-winning Finnish game developer with a long track record of creating innovative, fun, and great looking games for players of all shapes and sizes. For more information on Rovio, please visit www.rovio.com.

Preview: Doodle Kart

2010-03-08T00:55:00.008+08:00

We've just heard from j2sighte, maker of popular iPhone games Doodle Flight and A Doodle Fly, that their newest title has been submitted to Apple for review. Following in the theme of the previous two games, this app is called Doodle Kart and mixes in a car racing concept with the developer's trademark graphical design and upbeat soundtrack.

Below are some screenshots and a gameplay video:

From the looks of things, this combines elements from Doodle Jump, Nano Rally, and j2sighte's other games which we mentioned previously. We're excited to check this out when it goes live, and will have a full review for our readers soon.

News: Glyder 2 Tips and Tricks

2010-03-07T13:50:00.003+08:00

The Glyder Team compiled a list of tips and tricks to help you reach new heights. If you don't find the help you need here, please feel free to email them!

ARCTASIA:

Pink Crystals: Fly to the top of the highest peak and attempt the green platform trip; there are a few pink crystals along this path.

Lakebed Challenge: We recommend using a set of wings with high power and turning like the energy wings. The trick is to drop one boulder from the top by going behind the waterfall; then fly out and grab the boulders around the lake, carry them back to the waterfall and pull a u-turn inside the cave while dropping the boulder. Grab the last boulder on top and drop it from behind the waterfall; this will put you in direct line of sight with the sunflare.

Snow Cave: To open the ice cave next to the village, fly close with the Phoenix wings!

Opening the Portal: Once you have all six artifacts, fly to the portal in Arctasia. Flying across the six holders will place the artifacts. Make sure you also have all the gold crystals. Once these criteria are fulfilled, a switch will appear in a beam of light; fly through the switch and it will open the portal door. Fly into the portal and Eryn will return home.

Single Gold Crystal: In order to remove the barrier blocking the gold crystal and to activate the fan, you must collect all 125 pink crystals in the game. Once you do this, a cutscene will show the fan activate and will enable you to collect the gold crystal.

Venture to Other Worlds: Keep in mind that you can fly to other worlds right from the start of the game; you don't need to complete everything in Arctasia. We recommend flying to Spiral Heights after Arctasia. Just fly straight off of the gold start platform.

OASIS:

Gathering the Flock: One is right below the challenge platform, another is floating above the small pyramid in the sand, and the last is inside the spinner that has the gold platform on top.

Pyramid Sunflares: To raise the pyramid you must find and place the four sunflares on the surrounding pillars. The sunflares are found in Arctasia, Oasis, Spiral Heights, and Sporelle.

Pink Crystals: Travel inside the giant temple and navigate the King’s traps to find more pink crystals inside his treasure room.

Red Lens: The red lens can be found inside the small pyramid. Once the four sunflares are placed on the pillars, the pyramid will raise and reveal and hidden chamber that contains the lens.

The Fiery Key: The Fiery key is revealed by completing the “Gathering the Flock” challenge. Use the key to open the Fiery Gate in Magma Core.

Where do I find the Spark Housing? The spark housing is located behind the king squeebil statue that is inside the underground section of the giant temple in oasis. You will have to fly into the large temple and get past the moving traps to retrieve the item.

SPIRAL HEIGHTS:

Reach the Top: Reaching the top of Spiral Heights may seem challenging at first, but fly around the base of the world in search of thermals. These thermals will lift you all the way up!

The Wheel Goes Round: Use either the Quetzal or Albatross wings which have good power and lift. Grab the cog inside the cave of Spiral Heights and fly through the bottom exit of the cave. Fly towards the thermals and you’ll quickly be lifted up to the top. Fly towards the water wheel to place the cog.

Red Trip: Be mindful that the waypoints for the red trip are positioned down and to the right, never to the left. If you think you’re slightly off from passing through one of the initial waypoints during the dive, you can circle to the left a bit and then circle right; this trick readjusts your trajectory in the dive so you should be able to pass through any waypoint.

Pink and Blue crystals: Check the spine of Spiral Heights and you’ll find that there are pink crystals and blue crystals hidden in between the roots. Also check the rocks at the bottom for more pink crystals.

Where do I find the Albatross Wings? Fly through the upper tunnel next to the waterfall and follow the cavern bridge to the village in the back corner; these wings can be found sitting near this village.

Where is the Oslanium Sequencer? To reveal the location of the Oslanium Sequencer, there are several goals you will need to complete:

1 - Collect all of the blue and pink crystals in the game. This will unlock hidden worlds.

2 - Retrieve all four "Sun Flare Crystals"

3 - Collect all "Spectral Lenses"

4 - Complete the goal "Raising the Dead"

5 - Place all of the spectral lenses, thus completing the goal "Converge"

Once all of these goals are completed, the location of the Oslanium Sequencer will be revealed.

MAGMA CORE:

How do I open the Fiery Gate? The Fiery key is used to open the gate, and it is located in Oasis. Complete the “Gathering the Flock” challenge to receive it.

Pink Crystals in Lava: It is easiest to use the Energy wings which increases the distance you can grab objects. However, you can also watch the lava movement and correctly time when the pink crystals will be exposed before the lava covers them again.

Where do I find the Phoenix Wings? First complete the Squeebil challenge in Oasis to receive the Fiery key; then take the key to Magma Core and open the Fiery Gate. Inside you will find two treasure chests; one contains the Phoenix wings.

SPORELLE:

Where is This World? Collect all of the blue crystals to reveal its location.

Difficulty Flying Inside the Chambers: Use the Flying Fox wings which can be found on top of one of the mushrooms at the surface. These wings have very good lift for the thermals and tight turning so you can easily maneuver through the smaller areas.

What are the floating green objects? These are spores which can only be grabbed when attempting the “Room to Grow” challenge.

ASCENSION:

Reaching Ascension: Activate the fan in Arctasia by collecting all of the pink crystals in the game. Then ride the fan thermal all the way up into Ascension.

Where are the Three Colored Lenses?

- The bottom of a trench in Sporelle

- Sitting on a rock ledge overlooking the bubbling lava pool in Magma Core

- Inside the small pyramid in Oasis once it has been raised.

MISCELLANEOUS:

Tip for Gaining Altitude: To gain altitude without use of thermals or boosts, perform a procedure called “dolphining”. To dolphin, dive until the speedometer reaches a high speed. Immediately pull back to go straight up. When the low speed warning comes on, dive again and repeat this maneuver. Keep an eye on the altimeter to monitor your altitude gains.

Energy Wings: These can be found at the highest point in Magma Core.

“A Little Longer!” Achievement: From Ascension, fly straight down to the area below. From this height you will have enough time to acquire the achievement.

Phoenix and Albatross Boost Abilities: With the Phoenix wings you can grab up to five boosts and save them for later use. With the Albatross wings you can increase boost power spending time in thermals. Release the stored boost by tapping the speedometer.

This article was reposted from the Tips and Tricks section of the Glu webite.

Promo: Super Juicy App Giveaway

2010-03-07T12:50:00.006+08:00

One of our favorite casual games updated to version 1.7 and finally got featured in Apple's Hot New Games section! If you're a fan of the match-3 genre but wanted to try something a little different, you might want to have a go at this super fun bubble-popping blitz! We have the following codes to give away:

10 CODES -- Super Juicy | Review Link | iTunes Link

Please refer to the standard App-reciation Reviews Twitter contest rules below to get started:

- Follow @fireverse on Twitter and wait for updates.

- RT contest tweets. The more you retweet, the better your chances are of winning. By doing this, you're also helping us spread the word - and we love you for it!

- Contest winners are usually picked in three ways: by randomizer, by number of retweets, or by order of retweet (i.e. first people to retweet get copies of apps).

- There's usually a period of time in which contests are held, 24 hours per 2 giveaway apps being the norm. All retweets during this period count as valid entries.

- All relevant information are included with tweets by @fireverse, but if you have any questions, you can e-mail us or post a comment here.

Thank you to Greg Hielstrom, a fantastic developer and founder Berzerker Games, for sponsoring this giveaway, and thank you to everyone who participates. Please don't forget to write an iTunes review if you win - your efforts will be greatly appreciated!

Press Release: Score Studios Sees 50% Growth

2010-03-07T10:27:00.001+08:00

Score Studios LLC Sees 50% Growth

Tokyo, March 4th, 2010 - Score Studios is delighted to announce that game industry veteran Dimitrios Chamouratidis will be joining Score Studios as R&D Director, taking charge of engine development for Score Studios' multi-platform strategy.

Previously Dimitrios has worked on titles for major IPs like Pokemon, Star Ocean and Destruction Derby, and has extensive experience both in Europe and Japan working for major game development studios. At Score Studios he will take charge of our engine development which will allow us to span more platforms for current and future titles, like PC, Mac, Linux, iPad, and more as we grow.

Work is already underway on our first multi-platform title, which we will announce later.

About Score Studios LLC

Score Studios is a Tokyo-based independent video game development company made up of industry veterans with over 30 years of industry experience, working for major studios in Australia, Europe and Japan on IPs such as Pokemon, Harvest Moon, Star Ocean, Destruction Derby, Tokyo eXtreme Racer and more. Using our own proprietary toolset and data-driven systems we create fun, casual games for a wide variety of platforms striving to bring the best, most polished products to the widest possible audience bringing together both Western and Japanese design sensibilities.

Email us at info@score-studios.jp

For more information visit http://www.score-studios.jp

Follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/ScoreStudios

Become a fan on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tokyo/Score-Studios/107368219253

For art assets, logos and screenshots visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/scorestudios/sets/

For trailers and gameplay footage visit http://www.youtube.com/user/ScoreStudiosJapan

Press Release: Thumpies Zero and iPad Version

2010-03-05T23:42:00.004+08:00

Big Blue Bubble Inc. is proud to release Thumpies Zero, a free demo version of our critically acclaimed iPhone game Thumpies. Come and experience what everyone is talking about, for FREE!

Savvy iPhone reviewers have been talking up Thumpies since it came out, but you may have missed the action, so here are a few reviews you don’t wanna miss . . .

“Big Blue Bubble has created a game so addictive, that even after your fingers wear out, you still want to keep on playing.” ~ appmodo.com

“The entire game is dripping in whimsical charm” ~ toucharcade.com

“Thumpies truly does reinvent the rhythm based game” ~ appadvice.com

“Thumpies is a fresh breath of air… that should appeal to all ages” ~ Appspy.com

Big Blue Bubble Inc. would also like to announce that the iPad version of Thumpies is ready and waiting for the release of the iPad. For more Thumpies iPad action, check out this Thumpies iPad video and these screenshots:

If you want even more Thumpies information, check out http://www.thumpies.com.

iTunes link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/thumpies-zero/id357147859?mt=8

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=294280500678

Video Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN8dFYrq8js

Gameplay Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt1HIiDFguc

Review: Feathers

2010-03-05T22:21:00.000+08:00

Category: Games

Seller: Naklab Ltd.

Price: $ 1.99

Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, OS 3.0 or later

Version: 1.1

What's good: Twitterific, Tweetie 2, Tweetdeck, and other Twitter clients for the iPhone and iPhone touch were all created to make it easy to both tweet and check updates on the go, but what all of these apps are missing is that spark of true innovation that draw the line between good and great. That's probably what independent developer Aral Balkan had in mind when he created Feathers, an amazingly simple yet powerful Twitter springboard from which users can tweet messages that really stand out.

For one thing, the app comes with several different font styles ranging from upside-down to linear to oriental to dotty, which changes the look of whatever text you type on the tweet box with just a single click. There are also over two hundred symbols you can use to make your sentences or phrases interesting - add smileys or hearts at the end of a post, use special characters for grammatical or mathematical purposes, and even create Unicode artwork with a wide selection of lines and curves.

In addition, we discovered that inconspicuously placed at the leftmost corners of the tweet screen are two of the app's most unique and useful functions yet. If you type, say, three periods in a row or a colon with an open parenthesis, you only need to hit the little quotation mark button at the top left and it'll automatically convert to ellipsis and a frowning face, respectively. Meanwhile, the spyglass icon at the lower left lets you instantly turn your tweets into coded messages that can be deciphered by a friend in seconds if he pastes it into his own copy of the app.

The best part about all this? Unlike emojis, these designs will remain exactly as they are, whether you're viewing them from Twitter, Facebook, your e-mail, or your mobile phone inbox. So if you want to spice up the way boring everyday sentences look and feel, this is the perfect app to add a splash of color to your digital thoughts.

Suggestions for improvement: If even minor Twitter functions like user profiles and latest tweets were integrated into the app, it would probably become one of the most used clients for iPhone. We'd also love it if users could quickly change the font style of a particular segment of text by highlighting and selecting it.

Breakdown:

Interface - 4.75/5 Creativity - 5/5 Experience - 4.75/5 Controls - 5/5

App-reciation - 5/5

Learn more about Feathers

Click to buy this application