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Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD available for free through new Free Play program
Touch Arcade blogs about iOS games, and they've just announced Free Play, which will periodically feature selected iOS games for free. There are quite a few programs like this around, of which Free App a Day is probably the most popular. But a lot of those programs do things such as charge developers to be promoted on the service, essentially selling installs to boost chart listings, Touch Arcade's Eli Hodapp tells TUAW that this program will specifically pick games based on quality. "Everything 'free' nowadays," he says, "has a catch deserving of a giant asterisk and a load of fine print. We just want to work with developers to get people playing their games." Free Play will target games chosen by the site's editors as quality titles and one that have only been sold as paid apps, making them free for a limited time. "Take your typically heavily promoted free game," Hodapp says. "Chances are moments before the game goes on sale, an update lands that totally rebalances the game into a free-to-play [in-app purchase]-powered experience, at which point it's hardly even a 'sale' or 'deal.'" The Free Play promotion will offer new titles periodically, and Hodapp says the plan is to offer selections "as often as we can but seldom enough that they still feel special." The first title chosen to go free is Crescent Moon Games' Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD, a 3D-roleplaying game that's been popular on the App Store. It'll be interesting to see which titles are chosen with a strategy like this, and the end result is a great one: We all get more free games.
New games flood App Store before impending holiday release freeze
The App Store is in constant danger of new release bombardments, sure, but many companies adhere to a regular, weekly bombing run beginning each Wednesday, through the wee hours of the night (UTC), dropping their new iPhone and iPad games on Apple's marketplace while many of us are snoozing. Last night was no exception -- actually, scratch that. It was exceptional! Pending the start of the "iTunes Connect Holiday Shutdown" next Thursday -- a six-day lockout period when developers will be unable to release or update apps, including games -- an army of companies, armed with their big holiday releases (for little iDevices), launched a massive attack on the App Store last night. What began as a few warning shots yesterday grew into a full-on assault, led by Gameloft's crisp clones, NOVA 2 and Shadow Guardian, and Square Enix's surprise (and apparently rushed) port of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. Even Sega couldn't resist launching a few more classics in Altered Beast and Sonic Spinball. And what's this ... Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3? Hey, if Street Fighter IV worked ... Pursue our complete list of new release highlights after the break, and then make double-sure "Santa" knows you've been good enough for an iTunes gift card this year.
