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Ultima Forever spotted on the Canadian App Store
If you've been waiting for Ultima Forever, the new iOS version of Ultima from EA, then it's here for you (kind of). The app has been spotted over on the Canadian App Store, and if you have an account over there, you can go and download it right now. The Canadian App Store is often used as a beta testing ground for iOS apps, especially by EA, so the company is likely testing out the game and its services before releasing it worldwide soon (probably in the next few weeks). So it's not completely done yet, but if you want to go get it, you can. To switch your iTunes install over to Canada, you just need to go down and click on little flag located on the bottom right of each App Store page in iTunes. You can switch your client to any of the world's regions there, and I believe that you can download apps for free from any of those regions (including Ultima Forever). You can also switch your App Store region on the iPhone or iPad by going to settings, and then tweaking your Apple ID to match the region you want to browse. That's more of a hassle, however -- if you can be patient for another week or two, it might be better to wait for the official, worldwide release, undoubtedly coming soon. [via Ultima Codex]
EVE Online creator CCP revving up for mobile release
Touch Arcade recently had a chat with CCP, the Icelandic developer behind the popular MMO EVE Online, and while there aren't any announcements yet, it certainly sounds like they're gearing up for some iOS apps, or even maybe a client for the game itself. EVE's been on the Mac for a while now, and there have been some third-party attempts at bringing parts of the game to iOS. But CCP has just released a companion game called Dust 514 on the PS3, and that means it's probably time they start thinking about tying in iOS and other popular mobile platforms as well. There's an app called Neocom coming from CCP to the PS Vita, and Executive Producer John Lander calls that app a "tracer bullet" to see if the community's interested in more mobile offerings. Neocom allows players to customize their weapons and buy and sell virtual goods for the game, and that seems like an excellent set of functionality to bring over to iOS as well. Lander says that there are lots and lots of possibilities, and that CCP is planning on stepping up development this year, hopefully moving towards lots of little projects with quicker turnarounds. At any rate, there's something coming from CCP for sure. "This time next year, you will have EVE Mobile in your hand," Lander told assembled fans at a recent company gathering.
Daily iPhone App: Mosaique is an original and inventive puzzle game
Mosiaque is a very original puzzle game that I haven't quite figured out yet. It appeared on the App Store a little while ago from a company called Winning Blimp, and the core idea of the app is that you need to clear the screen of colored squares by firing them in from the sides. The issue, however, is that if the square you shoot in hits a square of another color, it will switch out instead. Squares of the same color get cleared off, so your goal is to try and fire squares of the same color together, lining them up and clearing them off the board, refilling your meter for more shots. Mosiaque is the kind of game that's simple to play, but fairly tough to master -- even with the playtime I've put in, I'm not completely sure how deep the game's strategy gets. But there is a solid amount of fun to learning the game's mechanics, and as you play through the levels, there are some new tricks, too. Eventually, black blocks show up which will block your shots, and "void" blocks will appear that keep your shot meter from filling back up if not cleared right away. Mosaique is a lot of fun, and it's very original, both in look and in gameplay. It's worth noting that there are no in-app purchases in this one either. Buy the game for US$0.99, and you'll have access to the game's unlimited parade of levels. That should be more than enough to get you figuring out exactly how it all works.
Apple marks 50 billion downloads from the App Store
You think 50 billion is a big number? It's certainly a bit bigger than some other numbers that spring to mind, such as 48 billion, and that in itself gives Apple something to celebrate. As is customary with these App Store milestones, whichever lucky jackanape triggered their download at just the right millisecond will receive a gift -- a $10,000 iTunes voucher, no less -- while 50 runners-up will get $500-worth of credit each. But none of that is the really big, big news. What matters here is the rate of growth, which seems to have accelerated during the course of this year. It took 14 weeks for the App Store to get from 40 billion to 45 billion downloads between January and April, but less than 4 weeks to get from 45 to 50 billion. Now, we're totally dependent on Apple's internal stock-takers, not to mention an erratic ticker ("for illustrative purposes only"), but if those numbers are even remotely accurate then they represent something of a popularity surge. Update: Apple has issued a press release (available after the break) for the 50 billionth download, performed by Brandon Ashmore downloading Say The Same Thing and snagging a $10,000 App Store gift card for it.
Into the Dead, endless zombie shooter for mobile, hits 10 million
Mobile games may not all reach the same level of fame as retail or desktop counterparts, but the market is strong, producing games that sell millions more than some of our favorites and support entire teams of developers. Into the Dead from mobile publisher PikPok, for example, just passed 10 million downloads across iOS and Android devices, after five months on the market. Into the Dead is an endless runner combined with a shooter, all set in the zombie apocalypse. It's free on iOS and Android, but a no-ad version of the game is available for $2 as an in-app purchase. And now for a thought experiment: If only 10 percent of players purchase the ad-free game, that's $2,000,000. Not bad for a 5-month-old. If you want to bring Into the Dead to 10,000,001 downloads, head to the App Store or Google Play. Another PikPok game to pass 10 million downloads is Flick Kick Football. The Flick Kick series has clocked in more than 20 million downloads.
Apple ups the promotion for its 50 billion app download contest
Apple last week announced a new contest leading up to the 50 billionth downloaded app. The lucky person who downloads the 50 billionth app will receive a US$10,000 gift card redeemable on the App Store. What's more, Apple will also be awarding $500 App Store gift cards to the folks who download the first 50 apps after the 50 billion threshold has been reached. Today, Apple boosted awareness for the contest by promoting it on their Apple.com homepage. The homepage currently features a revolving series of photos which aim to illustrate just how big the 50 billion mark is. For instance, the photo above of the Great Wall Of China is accompanied with the tagline, "With 50 billion bricks, you could build 12 Great Walls of China." Other photos include a snapshot of Earth, accompanied with the tagline, "With 50 billion steps, you could walk around the Earth more than 800 times." There is also a photo which notes that "counting to 50 billion would take you 1,600 years." As it stands now, the countdown meter on Apple's website says we're at the 49.6 billion download mark.
Daily iPhone App: Robot Unicorn Attack 2 turns Adult Swim's biggest hit freemium
Adult Swim has built up a nice stable of games on the App Store, and the biggest workhorse in it is Robot Unicorn Attack, a Flash game that's an endless runner where you play as the titular creature dashing and jumping to '80s music playing in the background. That game's been very successful, but due to the music licensing, Adult Swim's never been able to turn it freemium, which is a business model that potentially offers a bigger audience (and more profits). Robot Unicorn Attack 2, however, is built freemium from the ground up. It's free to download, and the game earns you a currency which you can spend on powering up your unicorn, customizing it with various extra items, buying boosts to help your score and so on. The music has changed to something a little more easily licensed, though you can still buy a number of real licensed songs (Corey Hart!) via in-app purchase. And while there's not multiplayer per se, there are also daily and weekly challenges, designed to get you to beat your own high score, or fight for your faction in a larger competition. The game itself hasn't changed much, though the boosts and the upgrades do pack a pretty solid punch (you can add plenty of extra jumps to your unicorn's repertoire, and even fly once you've reached full speed). Developer PikPok (best known for their great Monsters Ate My Condo games) has done an excellent job here riffing on the original title, while still keeping Adult Swim's freemium requirements in place. Robot Unicorn Attack 2 is definitely worth a download -- the freemium elements aren't always successful, but this is a solid update on Adult Swim's most charming game.
Slayin soundtrack now available
I remain a big fan of Slayin, a little game that got released on the App Store a while ago, that compresses a full fantasy-style RPG into a fascinating little endless game. I think the game's mechanics (where you simply move back and forth across the screen, holding your weapon out in front of you, as you kill monsters and collect money and XP) are my favorite part about it, but the soundtrack's good as well. And now, composer Matt Creamer has released the Slayin soundtrack for download over on Bandcamp, where it's now available for you to listen to and download directly. The in-game theme is a particularly excellent piece of 8-bit music, but almost everything there is good, and there are even some unreleased tracks for real Slayin fans to check out. The price is name-your-own, so technically you could grab it for free, but the composer definitely deserves a few bucks at least for his work. And if you haven't heard any of these sounds in the game yet, you definitely should. Slayin is one of my favorites on the App Store so far this year, and it's available for US$0.99 right now.
Creative uses for App Store icons: Ransom Apps and App Icon Quiz
Brian Stucki is the developer behind MacMiniColo (the Mac mini colocation outfit in Las Vegas), and he recently sent us a fun project he's hosting called "Ransom Apps." It's just a silly little web app, but the idea is that you enter a phrase of text, and Ransom Acts returns your phrase written in App Store app icons. I don't know if there's a real use for it, but it's fun and creates some neat designs. Speaking of using App Store icons creatively, Ransom Apps reminded me of App Icon Quiz (free), which is kind of ingenious. It's a trivia quiz based around identifying App Store icons. The app uses real icons (with the permission of the actual developers -- more on that in a second) to create quiz questions, challenging you to match the icon with its app. It may sound goofy, but in practice, it's actually fun, especially if you spend quite a bit of time browsing the App Store. App Icon Quiz is clever in another way as well. The developers, GameVision, told me back at GDC that they're using the app to market and brand new icons, so users' feedback is going the other way as well. Developers whose icons are included receive information about how easily players ID their icons as well as the word people tend to associate with their images. Personally, I think that can be a little shady. There's no indication in the app's description that the "game" is being used for marketing purposes. But as long as you know and agree to that use, it could be a fun way to give feedback on an app's most important visual element. App Icon Quiz is available on the App Store now
Apple has paid out $9 billion to developers; App Store downloads reach 45 billion
Apple's earnings conference calls are typically brimming with interesting tidbits regarding Apple's operations, and Tuesday's was no different. Apple announced that it has, to date, paid out more than $9 billion to developers. To put that figure into context, let's take a quick look at just how much Apple's payments to developers have risen since the App Store first opened. Tim Cook noted in February that Apple had paid out $8 billion to developers. In June 2012, Apple announced that they had paid developers $5 billion. Going back further, Apple's first $1 billion payout to developers was reached in June 2010. Seeing as the the App Store first opened in July 2008, we can do a little bit of basic math to track the growth of developer payouts. It took Apple nearly two years to reach its first $1 billion payout. The next two years saw Apple increase its payout to developers by $4 billion. And now, in the last 9 months, Apple has added another $4 billion in payments to developers. Touting this fact, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer noted during the conference call that Apple is now dishing out more than $1 billion to developers each quarter. Clearly, Apple's payouts to developers aren't just increasing, they're accelerating. Of course, this is to be expected given the proliferation of millions more iOS devices each and every quarter. Still, $9 billion is nothing to scoff at and serves to underscore the attractiveness of Apple's App Store for developers. With respect to App Store downloads, Apple announced that it has crossed the 45 billion download threshold. The last time Apple released download details was in January when it announced that the App Store had topped more than 40 billion downloads. Apple's App Store is available in 155 countries and houses 850,000 iOS apps. As of June 2012, there were 650,000 iOS apps available for download. A million apps can't be that far off.
Firaxis' Haunted Hollow appears on, disappears from the App Store
There's good news, bad news, and the best news on this one, and I'll give you the good news first. Firaxis' Haunted Hallow appeared on the App Store this morning, which means the game is just about ready for prime time. The free-to-play strategy title was one of my favorite games I got to see at GDC a few months ago. It's a board game, basically, in that you move various monsters around a board trying to claim and conquer space as best you can, though there's a fun house-building mechanic as well, in the way you choose which monsters to summon and fight for you. Firaxis, the creators of Civilization and the recent hit XCOM: Enemy Unknown, are some of the most experienced strategy developers out there, and Haunted Hallow is a free-to-play gift from them straight to the App Store, so it's great to see the game is almost done. The bad news, however, is that while I was writing this post to let you know the game was out, the title has disappeared from the US App Store. It is still available on the New Zealand App Store, so if you want to change your country to download the app from there, you can do that. But presumably this means the app wasn't supposed to be live on the US Store yet, so either there's more testing to be done, or we'll have to wait until this evening, as new App Store titles go official across the world. The best news is that Haunted Hallow is just the beginning. Firaxis has also announced that it's porting XCOM to the iPad in the future, and there are some other, not-yet-announced exciting strategy titles on the way as well. Firaxis has some great things planned for iOS, and this game is only the first. At any rate, Haunted Hallow is almost ready, and that's worth getting excited about. It's free to play (you get a certain number of monsters to start with, and you'll be able to buy more via in-app purchase), so whenever it is ready to download in your region, it'll be a must grab for sure. Update: 2K has confirmed that this was an accidental release. The game will be available worldwide next Thursday, May 2. So we just have a short wait until then!
GoComics brings the funny pages to your iPhone
Universal Uclick is the company that holds the licenses for most of the comics in your daily newspaper -- the company was formed when the Universal Press Syndicate joined up with the Uclick media group. They've run a web archive of the company's comics for quite a while now, and today that content has arrived on the App Store in the form of the free GoComics app. Just like the website, the app offers up daily archives of many, many different comics from the funny pages, and while you can sign in to an account and even sign up for a "GoComics Pro" membership (which kills the advertising and gives you some extras like an email digest), just browsing through the drawings is completely free. The app is quick and smooth, and because Universal's reach goes so far, there's never any shortage of new comics to read. The one issue I have with the app is strictly mechanical -- when browsing through the comics on portrait mode, the UI will slide into the background as you're reading. On a timer, that seems to be exactly when I finish reading whatever strip is visible at that time. This would simply be an annoyance, except that when the UI does slide away, the ad in the app just happens to slide itself right into the spot where I normally would press to see the next comic. That may all sound complicated, but the end result is that the UI feels clunky, and it's extraordinarily easy to "accidentally" click an ad when I don't mean to. The same issue doesn't pop up in landscape mode, however, so I presume Uclick isn't just trying to sneakily sell more ads. At any rate, that's a small concern with an otherwise excellent little app. If you like reading the comics, but don't always have access to a newspaper, the GoComics app is a great way to browse through the cartoons. It's available for free right now.
Apple adds 'Download Later' option for large media files on iTunes
Macworld is reporting that Apple added a welcome tweak to large media purchases initiated either via the mobile iTunes Store or iTunes 11. Users attempting to download large media files such as movies or music box sets are presented a prompt enabling them to commence the download immediately or save it for a time when they presumably have better bandwidth. When purchasing any of the above items using iTunes 11 on a Mac or Windows PC, or an iOS device running iOS 6 or later, you're now presented with Later and Download (or Download All) buttons. Tap Later and the purchased items will be added to your iTunes account and accessible to stream or download in the future via Apple's iTunes in the Cloud feature. The option to 'download later' is exclusively applicable to TV seasons, Season Passes, movie bundles, music box sets, individual movies and TV episodes. Apple outlines the specifics of the new software tweak in the following updated support document. Lastly, note that the prompt will only appear for users in countries where Apple provides iTunes in the Cloud support.
Logitech G series now available: Gaming keyboards and mice for Mac
We heard way back in January that Logitech was possibly planning to bring its gaming peripherals to the Mac, and that's exactly what's happened. Logitech has announced that its G series of keyboards and mice, designed to entice gamers with features like lots of extra customizable buttons, backlighting and even a separate LCD screen on the keyboard, will have support included for OS X on the Mac. Officially, the Mac support is coming with six new models, which are set to be available in stores later on this month. But you can download Mac versions of Logitech's Gaming Software from its website right now, so if you have one of these gaming accessories already, chances are you can get some extra functionality out of it right away. My guess is that these keyboards and mice already worked with the Mac (Apple's done a great job making compatibility easy), but you'll now be able to take advantage of all of the extra functions that these "G" devices offer. Logitech's gaming line also includes items like gamepads, joysticks and headsets, but the company is only supporting these keyboards and mice for now. Maybe in the future we'll see company-wide support for the Mac operating system.
Knights of Pen and Paper and Angry Birds go free
Two really great apps are free this week. First up, Knights of Pen and Paper is an (in my opinion) underrated and very charming turn-based RPG, with the unique premise that you're actually playing an old pen-and-paper role-playing game, complete with a dungeonmaster describing every environment you enter and NPC you come across. Or you can play DM yourself, and design an adventure for your gamers. The game is on iPhone and iPad, so more users than ever have a chance to download and enjoy it. And on the complete other end of the spectrum from underrated, the original Angry Birds app (and its HD counterpart) have gone free on iOS. It's hard to believe that you haven't played Angry Birds yet, as there have been lite versions, lots of sales and a number of various spinoffs and ways to play the game on all of its various platforms. But just in case you haven't gone back and played the original iOS hit, now's your chance. Do try Knights of Pen and Paper, though. It's really good.
Charlie Murder wants you to give punk a chance, download a song
Charlie Murder is gearing up to trash XBLA sometime in the future, and Ska Studios is hard at work beating out all of the bugs in that version. James Silva and Michelle Juett Silva, the Ska Studios dream dishwashing team, are the voices, art, design, programming and music behind Charlie Murder – get a glimpse of their renaissance ways in the above video.Charlie Murder is a four-player, punk-themed, RPG brawler featuring tattoos, magic, dual-nail-gun-wielding, battles of the bands, clothes shopping, friendship and other things you never knew you wanted within one game.To tide us over until Charlie Murder launches, Ska offers us a song from the game's soundtrack, available for download right here. Fictionally, the band is Charlie Murder, but in reality it's the soothing sounds of James and Michelle themselves.
Twitter adds 12 more languages to its archive downloading program
The phrase "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" applies as much to tweets as it does to monumental events. While a select few have been able to download their microblogging archives since the end of last year, Twitter now expanding the site's archive access to users in 12 more languages, including German, Norwegian and, y'know, all of the ones listed in the image above. At least that's something to get non-English speakers through their Tweetdeck withdrawal.
Harlem Shake open-sourced for iOS apps
The Harlem Shake YouTube dance meme, if you ask me, ended about three weeks ago -- which I think was right around when it started. But that hasn't stopped the developers at Velos Mobile from creating an open-source Objective-C class for iOS projects that will take all of an app's standard UIViews, and shake them up, Harlem-style. Even if you're not a developer, you can see the effects of the code below. As old and tired as these meme is, it's still pretty funny to see the standard iOS controls get down to the dubstep. As Velos Mobile says, "Please don't ship this." Developers can add it in their own code, and we may even see some apps make videos with it, but it's a pretty much just a silly hack rather than an actual feature. Still, it's good for a laugh or two on this Friday afternoon.
Omerta: City of Gangsters demo smuggled onto Xbox 360
Omerta: City of Gangsters now has a demo available on the US Xbox Live Marketplace. The 1920s Atlantic City bootlegging simulation (developed by the makers of Tropico) arrived on PC and Xbox 360 earlier this month.Unfortunately, especially if you go by Metacritic scores, reviewers of the game haven't been very kind. See if you disagree – and don't forget there's already a PC demo.
Guardians of Middle-earth adds new Survival mode, one-lane map
Warner Bros. and Monolith have announced a new update for their console MOBA game, Guardians of Middle-earth, that will add both a Survival mode and a new map for the one-lane versus mode.The new Survival mode takes place in the Glittering Caves of the White Mountains, and pits one to five players against a series of incoming enemy and boss waves, trying to keep towers up and stay alive as long as possible.The "Goblin-town" map for the one-lane mode sets the battle in the Misty Mountains near the Witch-king's dwelling, as seen in The Hobbit last year. We've got videos of both the new mode and the new map down below.To celebrate the release, Monolith devs are jumping in on the PlayStation Network and hosting a special "Play with Devs" session on Friday, March 1 from 5-8pm PT. The game is free this week for PS Plus members, so if that's you download away.Monolith says the new content is coming "soon" to both PSN and XBLA, so no date yet. The company tells Joystiq that the new one-lane map will be free. Survival Mode will also be free for anyone with a season pass (included in the boxed retail copies of the game), but cost extra otherwise.
