in-app purchase
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Set a new record of adware annoyance with geographiQ Worldwide
I have downloaded and used a lot of apps over the years and have seen a number of interesting attempts to get me to buy a paid version or make in-app purchases. I'm completely OK with that, as long as it isn't too intrusive. This little quiz app sets a new standard for punishing anyone daring enough to try and use it. There are 6 second delays between every action. It's not even a very good game. geographiQ Worldwide requires iOS 6.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5. I am a big fan of educational apps and thought that a quiz about countries, states, capitals, and flags might be interesting and helpful. Let me get this out of the way first: even ignoring the punnishing aspects of the developer insisting that I buy their app, their quiz is almost impossible to use and extremely frustrating, even on my new iPhone 6. The maps do not allow zooming or repositioning and even on the larger screen I find it very difficult to pinpoint a tiny country or state. Switching from portrait to landscape doesn't help matters much, but presents the maps in a completely different, but still unusable fashion. Put let's set all that aside. What is both frustrating and actually very interesting is how much effort the developer goes to in trying to goad one into buying they paid version. When one selects a specific quiz the app displays a screen with a progress bar, a big "Buy Ad Free Version," and two different ads. The delay is at least six seconds. After you're done waiting you are still required to touch the X beside the progress bar to move on to the selected quiz. OK, take a breath and take the quiz. Then, when you're one with the quiz and want to return to the main menu to select another quiz the app displays the plea and punishment screen again. Every time. Select a quiz, accept your punishment. Finish the quiz, it punishes you again. I fully support the "freemium" approach to apps, especially games. Some developers are extremely clever about how they do it. I have recently enjoyed playing Retry. It's a fun little app that let's you save individual stages by either using collected or purchased coins or use a limited number of "view ad" buttons every day. I happily click the button and let the ads play. I'm not annoyed at all, in fact, I'm happy to do it to save my progress. This is a great way to generate income with ads. I am disgusted with how geographiQ Worldwide's developer hammers the user at every point, begging for money and actively punishing the user when they don't pony up the cash. At least they could design a better app that might be worth paying for.
Magic 2014: Duels of the Planeswalkers available now on iOS
I got to see Magic 2014 in action back in May of this year, but the game is now available both on the iOS App Store and on Steam for both Mac and PC. (Update: Turns out it's not available for the Mac. Last year's version wasn't either, unfortunately.) The biggest new feature of this year's go-round is the "sealed play" mode, which allows players to build a deck using cards from a set of sealed random booster packs. Usually in these games, you have to use one of the prebuilt decks, but the sealed play mode provides another option for experienced players (or anyone looking ot mix things up). Unfortunately, you only get a couple of deck slots to build in, and you can't reset them, so you have to buy more if you need them. Kind of a cheap move on Wizards of the Coast's part. There are also brand-new cards in this game, and in fact some of the cards are available to play here even before they arrive in the paper game later on this year. Magic 2014 is a free download on the iPad, and then you can buy the whole game (or separate decks) via in-app purchase for $9.99.
Daily iPhone App: Haunted Hollow is frighteningly good
I've been crowing about how great Firaxis' Haunted Hollow is since GDC earlier this year, so odds are that you've probably already seen me telling you once (or more) to go pick it up. But in case the message hasn't gotten through yet: Go pick it up. Firaxis' latest game is just an excellent, well-produced strategy game, something that's casual enough for even kids to pick up and play, and complex enough that strategy nuts like myself will find plenty of depth to play with. Haunted Hollow is a turn-based strategy game, where you build up a haunted house as you play, summon monsters from the various rooms in the house and then send those monsters down into a town to scare houses and fight other monsters. There's an excellent tutorial for the game that will teach you the basics, but just playing should be easy as well: The title uses "fear tokens" for each turn that make it very clear just how many actions you have left to use as you play. The game's various monsters mix things up as well: Some are very good at moving around and scaring townspeople, while others are slower but much stronger at fighting. There's a set of challenges to play through, which will introduce you to all of the game's more advanced strategies and monsters if you like. And perhaps the best thing about Haunted Hollow is its business model. The game is free to play, and you get access to one of the game's houses and its associated monsters for free. If you want, you can buy a few in-app purchase packs to pick up the rest of the various monsters. Or (and this is the best part), you can pay just $7.99 once, and get access to all of the monsters for the game's "season 1" right away. That's a great deal -- this is an excellent, well-built game, and paying just $8 for all of the content (which will run you nearly $20 if you buy it piecemeal) is a nice refreshing option given all of the various in-app purchase scams out there on the App Store. The one thing I think is missing from Haunted Hollow is some sort of out-of-game progression -- unfortunately, while you do level up throughout a match, there's no real progression system to keep you playing from match to match. But that's not a huge complaint, as playing the individual matches are plenty of fun anyway. So I recommend this one without reservation at all: Go download Haunted Hollow for free, and enjoy the great work of Firaxis in one of the best titles of the year so far.
Plague, Inc. gets a new virus, delivered in an interesting way
Plague Inc. is one of the most popular strategy games on the App Store: It's a title with the gory premise of you controlling a plague running around the world, trying to infect as many people as possible before the rest of humanity can come up with a cure. The game's latest update is out this week, and it adds a new virus to play with called the "Necroa" virus. This virus reanimates dead people and causes them to want to attack the living -- in other words, it creates zombies, and the update comes with an extra opposition force called Z Com to mix up the strategy a little bit. But even more interesting than the new update to the game is how it's being distributed. If you can beat (or have beaten) Plague Inc. on the highest difficulty, you get the new content for free. If you can't, then you can get the content via an in-app purchase of US$1.99. I haven't seen an app do that before. Of course, a lot of apps have sold convenience items via in-app purchase, or used purchased items to let players reach goals faster, but I haven't ever seen a developer make an item available based on difficulty. We'll have to see exactly how that works for them as the update goes forward. In the meantime, the update is live right now, and you can download Plague Inc., if you haven't yet, for 99 cents.
Daily iPad App: Rich Notes is another snazzy note-taking solution for your iPad
There are a ton of great note-taking apps out there for the iPad at this point (one of my favorites is Penultimate), and because there are so many available, choosing one is really up to personal preference at this point. Rich Notes is a relatively new entry to the pantheon, but it's free (which is always nice), and will let you take fully formatted notes on your iPad you like. The app is simple and clean, and features full text formatting (bold, italic, and underline to start), iCloud compatibility, the ability to share your notes out via email or copy them to the clipboard, and a nice wide landscape orientation editor for typing into. The one real issue I have with Rich Notes is the fact that much of the app's really shiny formatting options (like the ability to use strikethrough text, change the text's color, or use highlighting) are hidden behind in-app purchases. That you have to buy these features isn't so bad (obviously the app's developer worked hard, and deserves to be paid for his work), but the buttons for these features are permanently in the interface, and you are only reminded that you need to purchase them once you've gone through, selected your text, and then hit the "highlight" button, for example. That can be frustrating, especially when you're in the middle of taking notes fast and want to highlight something without remembering that you haven't made the in-app purchase yet. So it would be nice if the IAP features were a little more well-thought out. Obviously, buying the features means you won't have any problems, but the model is just a little weird (especially because, from what I've seen, many purchasers of productivity apps are more than happy to pay for a well-made experience). At any rate, if you want another notes app to try out, Rich Notes is currently available as a free download on the App Store. I doubt it will sway you away from a solution if you've already found something you love, but again, finding a notes app you like at this point is mostly a matter of personal taste. So in that light, it's probably worth a try.
Civ Revolution updated, with multiplayer and more
Civ Revolution is one of my favorite apps on my iPad -- I'm a big Civ fan, and I think Civ Rev is a great touchscreen adaptation of the series. And now, it's even better: 2K Games has released an update for the app that adds a number of new in-app purchase packs, giving you the option to pick up new units, new buildings, new wonders and other new content. Each of the packs is available for just US$0.99, or you can get the "Master Bundle" for $3.99. In addition to that new content, there's also a multiplayer mode now available for in-app purchase. For $2.99, you can buy a mode that lets you and up to two other friends jump in and challenge each other for world domination, either in a custom game or a quick game. Yes, it's a little strange that this content is added in with an IAP, rather than offered up for free as it usually is with most other titles. But certainly 2K must have worked hard to port this feature over, so it's a small price to pay if you have friends waiting to play with you. And there's more good news: For a limited time, the app's price has dropped to just 99 cents, so you can save a buck or two there. Civilization Revolution is a great title that's a really fitting adaptation of the popular turn-based strategy series, and this update adds even more value to the app.
Daily iPhone App: Pangolin bounces its way through your custom-made platforms
Last year, I participated in the game jam at 360iDev, and my idea for a game there was to make a touchscreen 2D puzzle platformer where you could swipe across the screen to create platforms to close gaps or create a navigation path. Given that I'm still a beginner game programmer, that game didn't get too far past the prototype stage, but the talented folks at developer Feedtank have been thinking along those same lines, it seems, and created this very colorful and well-made game called Pangolin. In Pangolin, you follow the titular scaled mammal, bouncing its way around a 2D world, while you use two fingers on iOS' touchscreen to make platforms for it to bounce off of. The game borrows a mechanic from golf, in that you only get a limited number of platforms to place while you try to bounce the little guy from one end of each of the game's 40 levels to the other. The action is quick and clean, so that you always have ideas about where to place platforms, and the game's style is very well done -- it's colorful but not overwhelming. Extra gems to find in each level provide a lot of replay value, and of course given the golf-style scoring, you can always try to go back and finish a level in fewer, more elegant shots. The game's nice responsiveness lets you do this well, too. Restarting a level is always quick and easy. Pangolin is a great puzzle platformer, but it's not quite the game I had in mind back at that game jam (maybe I will make that game someday), but it does smartly use the touchscreen to let you create your own bouncy platforms, and hopefully kick your little Pangolin right into the gems and the level exit he needs. You can download Pangolin and play 10 levels right now for free, with more available via in-app purchase.
Daily iPhone App: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is a really interesting gift from Square Enix for Final Fantasy fans. It's a music game that was originally released on the Nintendo 3DS earlier this year, in which players can play a touchscreen game with songs culled from Final Fantasy soundtracks, supported by a progression RPG game featuring stylistic versions of characters from throughout the Final Fantasy series. It's very much fan service: If you love the songs and the characters from these games, you'll love seeing and playing along with them in this form. Now the game's been brought over to iOS' single-screen platform. The game plays just as well as it did on the 3DS, and in some ways it's even better. You especially see this on the iPad, where the bigger screen gives lots of room to show off the game's clear and colorful graphics. Any Final Fantasy fan will love finding the references and hearing these songs again in this context is a really great experience. The only issue is the price. You can download the app for free, and it comes with two songs, so anyone who wants to simply try out the game can do so without consequence. Buying songs can be an issue, because they aren't cheap. Each track is US$0.99 and bundles run for $2.99. But if you want to get the whole thing, you'll be paying quite a bit of money. That makes sense to a point, because the 3DS game is still available for $30 or more in stores. But Square's a little greedy here, because buying all of the songs costs more than the 3DS purchase. Of course, Square Enix can set the prices to whatever it wants, but usually the App Store calls for a bit of a break. At any rate, buying a few of your favorite songs won't set you back too far, and the game is just as good as the 3DS version. If you're a Final Fantasy fan, definitely don't miss this one.
Paper by FiftyThree updated with innovative color mixing
Back when TUAW posted a review of Paper by FiftyThree for iPad (free, with in-app purchases for brushes and other features), one of the complaints I had was that the app worked with a limited palette of nine colors and didn't provide a way for artists to mix their own virtual paints. Well, a new upgrade to Paper available today provides a color mixing capability and other new features as well. The new features in version 1.2.1 of Paper by FiftyThree include the Mixer, a way to create your own custom palettes. The Mixer, like many features available in the app, is an in-app purchase (US$1.99) and it uses a virtual "paint pot" to blend colors. If you're not thrilled about mixing your own colors, there are three new palettes included with the app. One of the other great features of the new version is the addition of support for Ten One Design's Pogo Connect pressure-sensitive stylus ($79.95), which TUAW reviewed a few weeks ago. Pressure input works quite well when drawing, sketching or even painting with Paper by FiftyThree. The upgrade, like the app, is available for free on the App Store.
Google announces seller support in India, now allows developers to monetize their apps
All Wall Street expectations aside, Google appears to be doing relatively well for itself. And while Android may not be the company's largest source of income, it is undoubtedly a primed possession to have around -- with that, it's only natural for the Mountain View-based outfit to extend a hand to the abundant amount of folks developing for its open-sourced platform. On this particular occasion, it's devs in India who are on the receiving end of a grand gesture, with Google announcing it's now allowing them to cash in on their applications by adding in-app purchases / subscriptions to ones that are currently free, or simply by selling new, paid app creations on the Play store. Google says the valuable move was driven by India now being the fourth-largest market for app downloads, and that this is a great way to "help developers capitalize on this tremendous growth."
Google Play in-app subscriptions get free trial option
In-app subscriptions found their way to Google Play this May, and now the folks in Mountain View are letting Android developers offer them with free trials. In order to make use of the freebie spans, you'll have to fork over your payment information to Page and Co. as if it were a run-of-the-mill purchase, but you won't get hit with the monthly fee until the dev-determined trial stretch is over. Developers looking to serve up samples of their episodic content can set a trial period that's at least seven days or longer right within the Developer Console, which means they can add the gratis option or alter its length without having to modify their apps. If the duration of the gratis subscription is changed, the tweak will only apply to new subscribers.
Skype strikes deal with Mach to expand direct carrier billing for credit purchases
Skype is always finding new ways of making it easier for users to spend money, and now it's extending its carrier billing options in a new deal with Mach. From October, more users than ever will be able to buy credit for the VoIP service then forget about it -- at least until the phone bill arrives. Purchases will initially be available through a web browser, but in-app functionality is expected in the future, although there's no word on exactly which network providers will be involved. We hope, however, that sometime next month, at least a few of those who enjoy Skyping on the move will appreciate sending the bill to their carrier.
Microsoft opens Windows Phone Dev Center, limits in-app purchases to Windows Phone 8 (update: store rebrand too)
It's a day of mixed blessings if you're a Windows Phone developer. The upside? Microsoft has shelved its old App Hub in favor of the heavily reworked Windows Phone Dev Center: along with being simpler and more reliable, it now lets app designers offer their apps in four times as many countries (three times as many for paid apps), gives them better tracking tools and lets them at last get payment from Microsoft through PayPal. We hope they aren't making too many grand plans to bring Microsoft's newly added in-app purchasing support to every title, however. The counterbalance in this story is confirmation in the Dev Center that any in-app commerce will be limited to Windows Phone 8 -- even devices running Windows Phone 7.8 will have to turn to all-or-nothing transactions to directly generate cash. While we can't say we're surprised, knowing that Microsoft hadn't mentioned legacy support before, the news no doubt dampens the enthusiasm for developers who now need to wait for a wave of new devices before they can join the freemium app gold rush. Update: WMPowerUser noticed something in that tiny text on the home page -- the artist formerly known as the Windows Phone Marketplace is now the Windows Phone Store. A small (and still unacknowledged) change, but notable for harmonizing the mobile app shop with the Windows Store on the desktop.
DevJuice: Beeblex offers in-app purchase validation services
The security of iOS in-app purchases is a hot topic after an IAP hacking server was launched last week by a Russian developer. When The Next Web talked to Alexey Borodin, he told them he's since turned the service over to an unnamed third party -- and, as of that conversation, he'd collected only $6.78 in donations to cover his costs. While we strongly advised users to steer clear of this theft-of-service hack, that doesn't solve the problem for developers waiting on Apple to come up with a fix. In the interim, indie startup Beeblex may provide a validation workaround for developers. Some background: The underlying framework for all IAPs in iOS is StoreKit, covered in depth in my iOS Cookbook. Every successful StoreKit purchase transaction contains a receipt. This receipt, which is sent in raw NSData format, corresponds to an encoded JSON string. It contains a signature and purchase information. Apple strongly recommends that you validate all receipts with their servers to prevent hacking and ensure that your customers actually purchased the items they are requesting. You POST a request to one of Apple's two servers. The URL you use depends on the deployment of the application. Use buy.itunes.apple.com for production software and sandbox.itunes.apple.com for development. The request body consists of a JSON dictionary. The dictionary is composed of one key ("receipt-data") and one value (a Base64-encoded version of the transaction receipt data). I normally use the CocoaDev NSData Base 64 extension to convert NSData objects into Base64-encoded strings. CocoaDev provides many great resources for Mac and iOS developers. A valid receipt returns a JSON dictionary. The receipt includes the transaction identifier, a product ID for the item purchased, a unique ID, the bundle ID for the host application, and a purchase date. Most importantly, it returns a status. A valid receipt always has a 0 status. Any number other than 0 indicates that the receipt is invalid. Simply checking for the status may not be sufficient for validation. It's not too difficult to set up a proxy server to intercept calls to the validation server and return JSON {"status":0} to all requests. What's more, the receipt data that is sent along with the validation request can be easily deserialized. For that reason, always use receipt validation cautiously and as part of the overall purchase process, where it's less likely that proxy servers can override communications with Apple. Enter Beeblex. They just launched a free IAP validation service for iOS apps that, according to their marketing text, "verifies IAP receipts against Apple's servers" using time-limited tokens and strong encryption to limit IAP purchase end-runs. Encryption prevents "man in the middle" attacks; time limited tokens prevent replay attacks. Together they make it much less likely that a simple proxy could successfully spoof an IAP reciept and fool your app into providing something for nothing. It's an intriguing option. The advantage seems to be that Beeblex provides a server component for apps developed without one. Still, I'm not sure I'd want my apps to rely on a third party service when any service interruption could create a large angry user base. I wonder how Beeblex will pay for the bandwidth necessary to facilitate this service, and what would happen should they get hacked. Hacking could be a big deal, because it'd circumvent potentially hundreds or thousands of apps, instead of just one. [Update] Marco Tabini, one of the Beeblex developers, writes, "One thing that I wanted to point out is that we have, in fact, thought about the possibility that our service may go down by building methods inside the SDK that would inform the app of transaction failures due to networking errors. Of course, you are completely right that we need to show that we can grow and maintain the service, and we have a lot of work ahead of us in this respect. We'll do our best!" I'd probably feel a lot more comfortable buying from a well-known quantity than relying on a free start-up. Urban Airship doesn't appear to provide this kind of service. I gave them a call and a sales guy said it's not an option. [Update] CEO Scott Kveton replied to my email saying, "Yes we do IAP receipt verification." He adds a note from his team: "This is not really a security problem. It's long been known that you can put your own root CA on iPhones, and at that point you can basically do anything as a proxy. The people being bitten by this on the IAP side are only those that are not doing receipt verification with Apple out of band via a server, which is something we do in our IAP product as a standard. If you do out of band receipt verification, this fails and nothing is purchased/granted." My feelings on IAP and piracy are this (in no particular order): Developers use IAP too much, and often without regard for the user experience. Requiring IAP in apps for kids is, in my opinion, evil -- it should be strongly discouraged by Apple policy. If your app requires IAP to bypass gameplay segments, your game design needs some serious reconsideration. Focus on providing good experiences for your paying users instead of fighting piracy. If your anti-piracy protections tick off even one paying customer you have lost the war. Trying to fight piracy is a losing proposition with one exception. The one exception is scalable server support. If pirates are killing your servers, either find another app to build or try to limit the impact of unpaid customers. Don't save IAP unlocks in plain text files. There are keychains and other more secure solutions available.
Telefonica partners with Facebook, Google, Microsoft and RIM for global carrier billing
Making a half dozen attempts to guess your login info or typing each digit of a credit card account certainly can get in the way of following through on impulse purchases, which is exactly how you'd categorize FarmVille cash or a featured flick that you know you may not have time to watch within the month. The solution is carrier billing, eliminating those precious seconds between impulse and reconsideration, and Telefonica has just signed on to offer the service to Facebook, Google, Microsoft and RIM account holders. The partnerships will enable O2 users in Germany or Movistar subscribers in Spain to charge purchases to their mobile phone accounts, for example -- in total, 14 Telefonica subsidiaries should be up and running with carrier billing by the end of the year, though some services, such as Google Play and Facebook, have already begun to roll out. Click through to the PR after the break for the full breakdown.
Wolfram Alpha in-app purchase for iOS adds advanced image processing capabilities
Version 1.4 of Wolfram Alpha has just landed in Apple's App Store, and in addition to a visual refresh for weather queries and the ability to procure items from Best Buy, users will also discover a new in-app purchase option that brings image analysis and manipulation to the venerable analytics platform. For $0.99, the new Image Input feature allows users to add filters, perform color processing and OCR recognition, detect features and view EXIF and histogram information of their photos. The Wolfram Alpha app itself will set you back $2.99, so if you've yet to hop aboard, you can expect to plunk down just shy of $4.00 for the app and its add-on -- no doubt a small price for true photo junkies.
Ayopa Games to publish Escape from Age of Monsters, Patchwork Battles, more
Ayopa Games is a mobile games publisher that actually has its roots in Chillingo. Founder Johnny Coghlan was a former head of publishing there until Chillingo was acquired by EA. Coghlan has brought his mobile game-finding expertise to Ayopa, and this company's slate is almost as enticing as Chillingo's usual offerings. First up was an update to Dungeon Crawlers, a turn-based RPG developed by Drowning Monkeys. Version 1.1 of the title will add in-app purchases, a feature that was always planned but that the devs "knew wouldn't be in there for launch." The update basically adds a store to the game where players can spend gold either earned from inside the game or purchased with real-world money to pick up extra loot or other helpful items. Version 1.2 is due in another month or so, and that will add multiplayer functionality to the title, bringing in leaderboards and an Arena Mode. Players have also asked for a bestiary of the game's enemies, so that's coming too. Dungeon Crawlers is already a fairly popular title -- though like all turn-based strategy RPGs, it can be a little tough -- so it's good to see the team is supporting it with some sizable updates. Escape from the Age of Monsters is another title from Ayopa. Developed by Massive Joe and made by the same team that made Age of Monsters (plus comic artist Jeff Matsuda), that rock/paper/scissors style fighting game from a ways back. Escape is a endless running game, but while there are walls to punch through and pits to jump over, the big twist is you're running along with a few small children. The game's gag is that you only need to run faster than the children from the monster that's following you. If the monster eats three of them, it's just you left, so you then need to run as long as possible without getting caught. As with Age of Monsters, Matsuda's work brings the whole thing a great graphical look. While gameplay seems somewhat superficial, we'll have to play the title when it arrives in April to see how deep it goes. There were two more games that I thought worth mentioning, and Patchwork Battles is the first one. It's another turn-based battle game, a tactical RPG, but the heroes of the game are made completely out of found materials: things like cloth, foil, and other crafted items. You can combine any five body pieces to customize your characters (or "mimics," as the game's lore calls them). Put a healing arm on a rogue's body, for example, and you'll have a healing damage dealer. The story sounds expansive, and the RPG system seems very deep, so Patchwork Battles could be really amazing. The game should be out sometime this summer, with multiplayer and other features expected post-launch. Pocket Heroes is the last title Ayopa showed off. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see too much of it in action, as it's an online-only title and the Internet wasn't playing nice that day. But it sounds good: a multiplayer, co-op only RPG in which you explore a 16-bit 2D fantasy world with your friends asynchronously. We'll have to wait until the end of the month to see how it actually plays online. Ayopa is a relatively young company, but Johnny Coghlan's talent for picking great iOS games at Chillingo appears to have transferred well. I have no doubt we'll see a few of these games topping the charts in the future and quite a few more quality titles getting published by this company very soon.
MLB at Bat 2012 app out for iDevices and Android, brings in-app monthly subscriptions to iOS
It's that time of year when the hot stove league gives way to spring training, and people start talking less about things like El Hombre's move to LA and more about batting averages and home runs. Thus, MLB has unleashed the MLB At Bat 2012 app to keep you up to date on your favorite squads and stars, and unlike previous iOS iterations, this time it's free. That gratis version gives users limited info (scores, standings, news, and team content), but those willing to drop $14.99 get full access for the year, which includes audio game casts, live game video look-ins and the game of the day. Additionally, there's a $2.99 monthly subscription option if you find forking over for the full season distasteful. Unlike the iOS version, Android users currently only have the $14.99 option, though the same interface is present in both apps to provide a consistent UX. Subscribers of MLB.tv get all of what At Bat 2012 has to offer for free, with Android users gaining access through the existing At Bat Lite app. Sound good? Head on down to the source and get your download on.
Hero Academy Dwarves update coming Feb 22, for $1.99
Hero Academy has fallen a bit out of my gaming attention lately (truth be told, Triple Town is stealing most of my iOS gaming time these days, probably more than is healthy), but it's still an excellent free-to-play title, and I still have about 15 games going on at any given moment. Currently, the turn-based strategy multiplayer title boasts two different teams, the Humans and the Dark Elves, but later this month the game is getting a third team to play with: The Dwarves. The new race will go in a steampunk direction, with rocket launchers and firearms, and will not only specialize in area-of-effect attacks, but gain nice bonuses from the on-board power-ups. The Dwarves will be available via an in-app purchase of $1.99. A few players have complained about the game's balance, saying that the Dark Elves seemed slightly more powerful than the core Human fighters, and that Robot Entertainment was just trying to sell in-app purchases for a more powerful team. And while I'm sure we'll see that argument again, I'm also sure Robot Entertainment is trying as best they can to balance the teams out. Robot also says that it's working on making sure the title doesn't eat up the iPhone's battery any more than any other games, so we might see some performance updates in this release as well. Game Center integration for leaderboards and achievements should also be coming with this release, but there's no mention of a universal build, so iPad users will have to wait on that one. The new update should be out on February 22.
Odd GameStore app by Apple appears in App Store (Updated)
Everyone with an iPhone is familiar with Game Center, but have you ever heard of GameStore? Discovered by Florian Schimanke, it's a game-oriented app from Apple that went live on December 31st. Unlike other iOS apps from Apple, which are well-known and well-publicized, GameStore is a mystery. As far as we know, Apple has not publicly acknowledged the app. It appeared without any fanfare and is only a shell. The description is very sparse and says only, "This application allows you to buy different things from within the app." The app costs 99-cents, and you can buy and download it to your iPhone. The app itself is barebones but references to "F1 Grand Prix Track" and "Laser Gun" suggests it'll let you by in-game items for your characters and profile. There's also a cart and a checkout process that'll track recent items and let you restore your past purchases. There are lots of things Apple can do with this app, but the obvious theory is that Apple is launching an App Store for in-app items. Anyone care to guess what Apple has up its sleeve? %Gallery-142740% Update: Apple has pulled the app.
