TouchDown - Issue 7

By Nigel Wood, UK
for www.touchgen.com

Published: January 10, 2010

Welcome to TouchDown issue 7, and the first of a new decade! Today we talk Assassin’s Creed 2, The SIMS, 24 hour game creation, yes! more match three… we also get down and dirty with Animal from the muppets, and get a look at Guerrilla Bob…

The magical appearing and disappearing Assassin’s Creed 2

On friday Ubisoft released Assassin’s Creed 2: Discovery, and then promptly removed it again citing that it wasn’t ready with bugs and some such. Unfortunatley we didn’t grab a copy, waiting instead for the final version before getting our mits on it. Some lucky people did get hold of it… but at a price. For the first time in AppStore history AC2 was released over the $9.99 mark at $11.99. Is this a peak at prices to come from the bigger developers, or a mistake in the submission process. For now… who knows!

Check out gameplay footage from one lucky german gamer here:

Apple’s tablet… the non facts

In anticipation for the long awaiting tablet unveiling at Apple’s event on the 26th of January. I have put together a feature on everything we know (or don’t know!) about what to expect. Check it out here: http://www.touchgen.net/apples-tablet-the-nonfacts

Take to the skies… the real skies!

There wasn’t much iPhone activity at CES, what was on show of interest though was the AR.Drone Quardrocopter. A remote controlled flying machine which you control purely using the iPhone over WiFi. The cool thing though has to be the ability to see through the drones eye via the iPhone screen. Perfect for a bit of recon on the girl next door!!! See it in action below:

On your marks… get set… go!

Can you create a game in 24 hours? Well that’s the challenge that Alex Schwartz and Yilmaz Kiymaz set to themselves. The result? The odd looking and absurdly titled Super Ramon BROTHers. It’s great to see programmers constantly challenging themselves, and using the iPhone platform to do it. Play it for free here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/super-ramen-brothers/id349441191?mt=8

Another team is doing a 72 hour challenge presumably in the hope that an two extra days will make all the difference. You can see their results at http://www.dogtownstudios.com/

Who let the SIMS out?

It’s understandable if you felt a little claustrophobic in The Sims 3 for iPhone. There wasn’t much for your attention starved sim to do… certainly when compared to the PC version.

Well, now EA will let you unleash your sim with ‘The Sims 3 - World Adventures’. Where you will be able to take your sim from the previous game, as well as transfer some of the downloadable content, on outings to world famous destinations.

Key Features
EXPLORE 3 EXOTIC DESTINATIONS
…”Al Simhara,” Egypt… “Champs Les Sims,” France… “Shang SimLa,” China. Each exciting location is loaded with a world of possibilities for danger, adventure, and romance for your Sim.

MEET GLOBAL CHALLENGES
Enjoy an international twist on the Sims-style gameplay you know and love with 52 new goals, 4 new mini-games — plus personas, careers, and quests.

ENJOY MORE CUSTOM CONTENT
Let your Sim sport the local looks of the culture and acquire worldly tastes. There are lots of new clothing styles, furniture selections, and even new face types to choose from.

IMPORT/EXPORT BETWEEN THE SIMSTM GAMES FOR iPHONE^® & iPOD TOUCH^®
Yes! You can transfer your Sim back and forth between the iPhone^® & iPod touch^® versions of The SimsTM World Adventures and The SimsTM 3. So bring your favorite Sim on your adventure.

INCLUDES SIMS-STYLE MUSICAL ACCOMPANIMENT FROM WELL-KNOWN ARTISTS
Travel to the tunes of artists like LeAnn Rimes – singing in Simlish, of course!

Just when you thought it was safe… more match three arrives!

iPlay have ported the popular casual PC game Paradise Quest to the iPhone and iPod Touch, which according to the press release has captivated 5 million online players. The game sees you play as renowned ecologist Dr Evan Finch to restore the majestic island of Isabela to its former beauty. In it you must collect natural resources to revive lush vegetation, restore the animal kingdom, and uncover the ancient artifacts of a lost Galapagos civilization. Unlike most match 3’s Paradise quest includes multiplayer challenges over WiFi or Bluetooth. Check out the trailer below:

Muppet beats

Ever wanted to drum like Animal from the Muppets? Well now you can. Disney Interactive have released Animal Drummer and it’s surprisingly good fun. Unlike most music games like Tap Tap and Rock Band, it plays more like Simon Says, with you repeating the beats that Animal plays to you… which as you can iomaging get harder and harder. A great casual addition is the free play, which allows you to go crazy, just like the hairy browed monster himself.

Bob’s the name and killin’s the game

We hoped to have a hands-on preview of this in time for the TouchDown and the podcast, but it hasn’t arrived. Instead marvel at the great looking screens of Guerrilla Bob, a Mini-Gore meats Metal Slug shooter. The game is created by Angry Mob and like MinGore will be published by Chillingo… look for our hands-on soon.

Three Billion downloads and counting

Looks like the momentum of the Appstore is still speeding ahead, with Apples recent announcement that 3 billion apps have been downloaded since it’s launch… Crazy! If that’s not impressive, Lima Sky said that they sold over 80,000 copies of Doodle jump on Christmas Day, with a December count of over 500,000. Time to get making that game I always wanted to make and become an overnight millionaaaaiiirrre!

Review round up:

Check out some of the reviews you may have missed over the past week

Plushed
A unique platformer that sports an eerily dark fairly tale mood

Avatar
Gameloft venture where many fail, the movie-to-game tie-in

Cocoto Kart Online
Like a store-bought apple pie, it imitates one of life’s great pleasures from a technical perspective but lacks the soul of the real thing

Infinity project
A solid first stab at the FPS genre

Dead strike
Dead Strike is a competent shooter filling a void in the zombie killing genre

Zwirn
A must have for any fan of tactile puzzles in the vein of Zen Bound

Battleship
If you have a friend nearby, this is a good way to settle who is the best commander.. ooh err missus!

Review disclosure: Any games reviewed on this page may have been provided to us by the developer for the purposes of this review. Note: the resulting review score is never impeded by this fact, all opinions are that of the TouchGen reviewer and not the developer. This is in keeping with our O.A.T.S oath. Read more about O.A.T.S here

One Comment on "TouchDown - Issue 7"

Legend.inc on Mon, 11th Jan 2010 11:08 am

Wow!!! And this is just the start of the year.