Rolando 2: Quest For The Golden Orchid Hits Apple App Store

One of the leading creators and publishers of games exclusively for iPhone and iPod Touch, ngmoco has launched a new game for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch – Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid. It’s a wild adventure game which crafted by Simon Oliver’s HandCircus microstudio, and utilizes accelerometer and innovative Multi-Touch user interface of hugely-popular iPhone and iPod Touch.



“ngmoco is excited about this amazing sequel to Rolando. It’s bigger, bolder and more beautiful than ever with huge additions to Rolando’s signature gameplay that fans and newcomers alike are going to love,” commented Neil Young, CEO & founder for ngmoco. “Developed exclusively for the iPhone and iPod touch, Rolando 2 is a classic example of just how deep, polished and meaningful pocket-sized games can be when they embrace the unique capabilities of these powerful devices.”

“We’ve pulled out all the stops for Rolando 2,” said Simon Oliver, Founder of HandCircus. “Since the release of Rolando, we have been hard at work developing all-new gameplay mechanics, a new 3-D graphics engine and much deeper story featuring all new Rolandos. The final experience will surprise and challenge iPhone and iPod touch gamers everywhere.”

Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid game that sports 46 levels and 6 unique chapters is now available on Apple App Store for around $10.

Watch the demo video of Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid below.

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EpicTilt Launches TapStar Rhythm Game For iPhone And iPod Touch

Good news for Tap Tap Revenge fans! One of the publishers of iPhone applications, EpicTilt has launched its new TapStar for iPhone and iPod Touch, the Tap Tap Revenge-like rhythm game which offers gamers an exclusive music content from Sony Music Entertainment’s superstar artists, including Lit – My Own Worst, Enemy Romantics – What I Like About You, John Mayer – Say, Britney Spears – I’m A Slave 4 U, P!nk – Get the Party Started, Sarah McLachlan – Fallen, Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Warrant – Heaven, TLC – Creep and more.



According to EpicTilt, TapStar offers players a natural controller feel to navigate the 4 virtual touchpoints in the corners of the screen, thanks to its unique landscape view layout, featuring powerful gaming engine and high resolution, smooth graphics aimed to deliver an accurate playback experience that never loses a beat.

The new TapStar rhythm game is now available for download through App Store at a special promotional price of $0.99.

Watch demo video of EpicTilt’s TapStar game for iPhone below!

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Sony planned UMD-less PSP all along

In a show of forward thinking stifled by corporate lethargy, it seems that Sony had a PSP Go planned since 2004 but didn’t think the infrastructure was ready for it. Well, Sony, you missed the boat on that one. As usual, you took the low-risk, low-reward path and as usual I’m going to mock you for it. Because you know what else wasn’t ready when it came out? The Wii.

Yes, the MotionPlus accessory for the Wii confirmed to everyone that Nintendo launched the Wii half-baked but still revolutionary enough. Sony, what if you released two PSPs at the beginning, one with a card slot and one with a UMD slot? The infrastructure would have grown (as you must have known it would) to embrace the cartridge-less version, and then there wouldn’t be this ridiculous and awkward changeover time.

At the PSP’s conception, there were ideas of a “NETTOWAKUSENTORIKKUMODERU,” which I believe is a Japanese way of saying “Network-centric model.” And why not?

Sony, don’t talk about the infrastructure not being ready. You are the infrastructure. You could have pulled strings and pushed standards and all that, but no, you hamstrung yourself by sticking with your crappy format and were satisfied with just enough sales to not look like a total chump. Well, Sony, if you’re okay with that, I guess I’m okay with that. Mainly because I’m not one of the loyal customers you could have done better by.

Okay, I’m giving them a bit too hard of a time over this, but seriously, they could have had a revolutionary product (which, if I’m honest, we would have laughed at when it launched), but instead they stuck us with good ol’ UMD. Nobody wins!
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Two new Battlestations: Pacific DLC inbound

My favorite WWII RTS is getting another round of DLC starting with the Mustan Pack today for 800 MS points. The Carrier Battles Map pack drops on the 23rd of this month for both Xbox 360 and Games for Windows Live.

Featuring six new units and 18 new pieces of nose art, the Mustang Pack allows players to customise their battles in both single and multiplayer modes. Amongst the units, players can take to the skies in the legendary US P-51 Mustang bomber escort, a late entry to the Pacific campaign but one which made its mark in Europe as a deadly force; or control the seas with the US Navy’s Alaska Class, giving the upper hand with a large and heavily armed ‘cruiser killer’; or the Super Yamato Class, a huge behemoth of a ship which, had it left the drawing board, would have outclassed the Yamato in every way with the potential to be the most powerful battleship in history.

The Carrier Battles Map Pack gives gamers four new maps, playable across all five multiplayer modes. Take part in a clash of carriers at Midway, do battle at dawn in the mist of the Philippine Islands, experience the fury of Kamikaze attacks in the rocky islands of the Leyte Gulf and take control of your forces amongst the mountain peaks and glacial waters of the icy Aleutian Islands.

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Mother of all game packs: 20 2K games on Steam for $54

If you just want a couple games to get you through the long weekend, today’s X-COM deal should do that for you. But if you need something a little more… substantial, which includes the X-COM games, may I take the liberty, sir, of recommending this 2K games pack? $54 is a substantial sum, to be sure, but consider what you are receiving:

* Bioshock
* Civilization III, IV and all expansions
* Prey
* Sid Meier’s Pirates (actually fun)
* Every X-COM game

Among others. Considering you’re not only getting a ton of games, but a few of the most replayable games in history, this should tide you over for a bit.

The pack is $54 for a week (until July 7), at which point the price reverts to $60. So actually, there’s not much of a hurry. Warning to Australian readers: it doesn’t work for you due to different companies publishing the games down there.
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This week in game releases: June 29-July 5, 2009

The year of the 2D fighter continues with the release of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger. Also coming out this week: Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, Street Fighter IV on the PC, and a whole lot of Harry Potter and Ice Age.

Pick of the week: BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (360, PS3)
2009 has been a great year for fans of 2D fighting games. Not only have we seen the resurrection of the Street Fighter franchise with Street Fighter IV and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, but we're also getting games like King of Fighters XII, which embrace a beautiful hand-drawn art style. Joining that list this week is BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, developed by the same team behind the Guilty Gear franchise. Like its predecessor, BlazBlue will feature beautiful 2D sprites and animations, as well as some crazy character designs. The console versions will also include the addition of online multiplayer and a story mode not found in the arcade version.

Also hitting store shelves this week: summer's Hollywood blockbusters are upon us, as both Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs are released to pretty much every platform out there; Street Fighter IV makes its much belated PC debut; and the sequel to Western themed FPS Call of Juarez hits the PC, PS3, and 360. Read on for the complete list.

PC

* Street Fighter IV
* Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
* Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs
* Grand Theft Auto PC Trilogy

Nintendo DS

* Mega Man Star Force 3 Red Dragon
* Mega Man Star Force 3 Black Ace
* Treasure World
* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
* Ice Age: Dawn of DInosaurs
* Roogoo Attack

Wii

* Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs
* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
* Roogoo Twisted Towers

PlayStation Portable

* Steambot Chronicles: Battle Tournament
* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

PlayStation 2

* Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs
* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

PlayStation 3

* BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
* Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
* Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs

Xbox 360

* BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
* Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
* Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs
* Infernal: Hell's Vengance
* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
For Latest game downloads visit Linkengine.

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New details, gameplay elements of StarCraft 2 revealed

A huge rush of news about StarCraft 2 has hit the gaming blogs today. We break down the news reports and bring you the surprises, the oddities, and the pleasant surprises. The takeaway? The game looks great.

Blizzard is on full publicity mode today, with a number of sites posting preview stories and interviews with the people behind the game. StarCraft 2 is one of the most anticipated games of the year, and with Blizzard promising a new version of Battle.net launching alongside the game and three single-player full-game releases instead of one game with three campaigns, there are many questions gamers have about the product. We've scoured everyone's coverage to try to pick out the surprising, the odd, and the downright cool details from each one, bringing you a gaggle of StarCraft news. Let's get started.
There may not be LAN play, and don't expect a console port

Rob Pardo is the VP of Game Design, and he had strong words for LAN play when he spoke with IncGamers. "We don't have any plans to support LAN," he told the site, also saying, "We will not support it."

The issue of a console port also came up. "We have tried in the past, we actually tried the original StarCraft on Nintendo 64. It works, it's playable, it's just such a different playability gameplay experience than on PC and we really don't want to have it be that different," they said. Pardo said the chances of the game coming to a console are "zero percent."

A lack of LAN play would be a serious omission to fans of the series; StarCraft is still a popular choice at LAN parties and gaming cafes around the world. There has to be some way to link up computers and play against each other without being online... right? StarCraft II lead producer Chris Sigaty and lead designer, Dustin Browder said they were still discussing it. That's not the most reassuring answer.
Expect huge, almost cinematic battles in single-player

"We have missions where the lowest level of the terrain gets flooded by lava every five minutes—if you don't get off low ground, you die. We've got missions where hordes of infested Terrans attack, but only at night," Browder told Destructoid. "You have to hold off at night, and then during the day, it's 'EVERYONE GO OUT AND KILL 'EM WHILE THEY SLEEP!' We've got missions where you're trying to defend an infested colony. We've got missions where you control a single Ghost, trying to change the tide of a war."


Even the units are different in the single player. "Like Medics? I've got a couple upgrades to the Medics that would blow them off the charts," Browder explained. "They'd never last in multiplayer—like it's way too powerful, so we could never do it. But in solo play, we can. That's why we don't have Medics in multiplayer, but we do in solo."

The goal is to use each level as a way to explore the game's mechanics, to create something almost like a minigame, and to feature things you won't see in multiplayer or in skirmish mode. It's this sort of dedication and creativity that will make players more forgiving of the three-game strategy when it comes to the single-player, although there are almost no details about the Zerg or Protoss campaigns yet.
The game will be noob-friendly
"We expect a lot of casual WOW players to go, 'Hmm, I want to check out StarCraft 2,' and we want to help those players." Chris Sigaty told 1up. "We want to cut down on the amount of newbies jumping into a match and getting their asses handed to them as their initial online experience." So what steps have they made to make that happen? The tech tree can now be viewed from within the game, and includes information about what units are used to counter each character or vehicle, as well as what units it's strong against.

Replays will include much more information, with players being able to toggle overlays that detail actions per minute, number of units created, number of units killed, and much more information about how each player is performing. Every time you play a game the replay is automatically saved as a tiny file, so you'll be able to save a huge number of matches and take a look at your performance.

There will also be Challenges that explain certain concepts to players through in-game scenarios, such as how to effectively counter certain units, how to efficiently gather resources, that sort of thing. By playing Challenges, gamers will be able to get their heads around higher-level tactics and strategies, making them better equipped to play online. There will also be casual leagues for those who want a friendly game online.
It's most likely going to completely awesome

With this new rush of information available, it seems as if Blizzard has upped the quality and number of features on damn near every aspect of the game. While there are still more questions than answers when it comes to the new Battle.net system, we're getting close to learning more as the beta looks to be getting closer. Blizzard has promised us four beta keys so we can play inter-office Ars Technica 2v2, so you can expect more coverage as soon as the beta hits. Until then, fiendish anticipation.
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The 50 most-anticipated video games

OTX GamePlan has released its list of the top 50 upcoming games, and each of the three main console platforms — Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony — has a game in one of the top three spots.

Microsoft’s Halo 3: ODST ranks first; Nintendo’s New Super Mario Bros. Wii ranks second; and Sony’s God of War III ranks third. The results are based on purchase intent surveys.


The data was collected from polls taken after the E3 video game conference at the beginning of June. E3 is where all of the upcoming industry games are displayed for the first time.

Nick Williams, head of the OTX GamePlan service, said the chart tracks three key measures: aided awareness of a game, the intent to purchase it, and the intent to pre-order the game from retailers. The data was collected during the last two weeks from a representative sample of about 1,000 U.S. gamers between the ages of 13 and 59. The company conducts the surveys via web offers.

The average score for all three metrics is 100. Since Halo 3: ODST has a purchase index rating of 828, that means the intent to purchase it is eight times higher than it is for an average game. The survey is about as scientific as you can get when it comes to data about what games are going to be popular.

Here are Williams’ comments about one particular game, Activision Blizzard’s Modern Warfare 2.

No matter how you slice it, Modern Warfare 2 is poised to be a massive holiday hit. But just how critical is the Call of Duty brand association for consumers? Up until the beginning of May, OTX had been tracking the title as “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.” More specifically, we asked a representative group of gamers in the U.S. whether or not they had heard of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.” At that time, approximately 40% of all gamers in the US claimed that they had heard of this title. However, once it became clear that Activision was positioning the title as “Modern Warfare 2”, OTX removed “Call of Duty” from the consumer survey, and the awareness levels dropped to 20%. In other words, the Call of Duty brand association essentially doubles the awareness for the game. That is quite a remarkable statistic.

Despite this dramatic drop in awareness, the purchase intent for Modern Warfare 2 remains very strong. In our latest charts based on the last 4 weeks of data, Modern Warfare 2 for the Xbox 360 ranks as the 6th most anticipated title. While there is no denying the extensive reach of the Call of Duty brand, Modern Warfare has a passionate following of its own. The intensity of the purchase intent is particularly impressive, as illustrated by the high levels of Pre-Order Intent, which is the highest of any title currently being tracked.

This data offers up compelling evidence for the importance of the Call of Duty moniker, and also demonstrates the challenge Activision faces as it looks to put together the biggest entertainment launch of all time. That said, there is a passionate and vocal audience eagerly awaiting the Modern Warfare sequel, and even without the Call of Duty association, it is still perceived as a must have title.
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Glu to launch mobile versions of 5 popular Activision games

Glu Mobile said today it will launch five new mobile titles as part of the company’s expanded partnership with Activision Publishing.

The new titles include a mobile version of Modern Warfare 2, Activision’s flagship game coming this fall. The console version of the game (pictured) is considered to be one of the most anticipated games of the year, so the mobile version will likely be a hot seller.


San Mateo, Calif.-based Glu is essentially contracting with Activision to convert several of its popular console game titles to mobile games. The games will be published on the Android, Blackberry, Brew, J2ME and Windows Mobile platforms.

While the iPhone is noticeably absent, the list of platforms shows that Glu is pushing heavily into the smart phone space, growing beyond its focus on traditional mobile phones. Besides Modern Warfare 2, the titles it’s working with include Crash Mutant Island, which will be available in the third quarter, and Blur, Guitar Hero 5, and Tony Hawk Ride, all to be published in the fourth quarter.

Glu Mobile said in January that roughly 30 percent of its resources will be devoted to making games for smartphones. The big challenge for Glu is to continue to maintain its leadership in mobile games even as much of the market shifts toward the iPhone.
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World of Warcraft faces rocky transition to new operator in China

If you take away the drug of the people, you should expect dire consequences. In China, World of Warcraft has been inoperative since June 7. That means that WoW addicts haven’t had their fix for 18 days.

Activision Blizzard announced that it was transitioning WoW to a new operator in China, moving from The9 to Netease. The American game company needs a partner in China because of government regulations that require some kind of locally-based Chinese partner, but also because it helps to have a local operator.


The9 had apparently been making a ton of money from its deal with Activision Blizzard, and the American company apparently made the move becasue Netease was willing to get by with a smaller cut of the pie, according to analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities. But so far the consequences of that decision aren’t looking pretty. WoW players usually pay by the hour at Internet cafes in China. So all of the downtime means lost revenue.

This represents a golden opportunity for rivals to pick off some of WoW’s customers. Blizzard Entertainment said in a statement that the downtime was expected and players were warned. The companies are still working on getting the game up, but they say they are operating on the schedule that they had anticipated.
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Warner Bros. likely to buy bankrupt Mortal Kombat maker Midway Games

The game division of film studio Wmkarner Bros. is expected to buy Midway Games, the once mighty owner of the Mortal Kombat franchise.

The Los Angeles Times reported tonight that Warner Bros. has emerged as the only bidder for the bankrupt video game publisher that was previously owned by Viacom’s chairman, Sumner Redstone. It is expected to pick up Midway for just $33 million.


Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is already a major video game publisher. It showed off big titles at the recent E3 video game conference, including a new Lord of the Rings game, Where the Wild Things Are, and an acclaimed Nintendo DS game called Scribblenauts.

Midway has a storied history, starting as a maker of mechanical arcade games in 1958. It expanded into arcade video game machines and built some of the most iconic arcade games in history: Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Ms. Pac-Man. By 1999, the company had split into different parts, and Midway left the pinball industry behind, focusing instead on home video games.

Redstone took control of Midway in 2004 and sunk more than $700 million into it before throwing in the towel. Midway controlled the Mortal Kombat, a series where superheroes and martial artists fought extremely violent duels. It also owned franchises such as the Blitz football game series, Joust and Spy Hunter. But it just had too many duds, like Blacksite: Area 51, an alien-shooting game. As the costs of making games rose, the consequences of making bad bets became severe.

Clearly, video games are undergoing a consolidation. Earlier this week, ZeniMax bought id Software for an undisclosed price. The Midway deal shows that Hollywood studios see the value of the game business. The profits in games can be huge. Both a movie and a game might generate $100 million in revenues. But chances are the movie cost $90 million to make and market, while the video game cost $30 million. Games also reach younger audiences.

Besides Warner Bros., Walt Disney Co. and MTV Networks are also investing heavily in games. Those companies are expected to eventually take back the licenses to make movie games from game companies and hand them over to their own internal game studios. That’s one of the reasons Electronic Arts has begun to shy away from movie franchises, though EA still has a big Harry Potter game coming on June 30 with the release of the Warner Bros. film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
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Rumors surface of a PlayStation cell phone

Sony Ericsson is reportedly working on a phone that combines PlayStation games with a cell phone. It’s not the first time that such rumors have floated, but Nikkei, a big Japanese business publication, reported that Sony has a team working on the product now.

The iPhone and its game capabilities have threatened to make portable game devices obsolete. So incorporating phone features into a game device may be the only way Sony could reclaim leadership in the portable gadgets market.

It’s not just Apple’s iPhone and iPod and Nintendo’s DS that have bypassed Sony. Microsoft is launching its Zune HD this fall, and rumors persist that it will eventually add phone-like capabilities as well, since it has an Nvidia Tegra processor capable of a variety of phone functions. The PSP has sold more than 50 million units. But the iPhone and iPod Touch are on their way to surpassing the PSP, and the DS has sold more than 100 million units. Nintendo refreshed the DS with the DSi in April.

Sony will be releasing its own PSP Go product, a revision of the PlayStation Portable, in October. But a phone would likely be a more direct challenger to the iPhone. Still, the odds are likely that Sony won’t launch a hybrid game player and phone for some time. That’s because the Nikkei is reporting the formation of this team as a recent development and it will take some time to design the game phone and get it to market. If the rumor isn’t true, I’d be disappointed. I think Sony needs a multi-pronged product strategy to deal with the threats that the DSi and the iPhone represent.
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Digital Chocolate Releases 3D Rollercoaster Rush Game For iPhone And iPod Touch

The world’s leading publisher of original, high-quality Omni games, Digital Chocolate has released the 3D Rollercoaster Rush game for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch, which features stunning 3D graphics and expertly crafted tracks with realistic coaster physics, based on original award-winning Rollercoaster Rush game.



“We were thrilled to see the original Rollercoaster Rush become a top downloaded game in June,” said Trip Hawkins, CEO of Digital Chocolate. “Apple customers who enjoyed the original are going to love this 3D version where camera angles shift with the coaster.”

The 3D Rollercoaster Rush is now available for $4.99 through Apple App Store, and players can also download the free version that just provide a limited number of levels.
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