pong-world
Latest
Pong World paddles out into iOS App Store
Pong World is not the Atari take on McWorld (hey, it could happen). It's the winning entry in Atari's Pong Challenge, which has just been officially released on iOS. It's the "first-ever official new PONG game for smartphones and tablet devices," at the cost of all those unofficial ones.Pong World by zGames is a version of the ancient game with upgradeable (animal) paddles, special bonus abilities, and varying stages full of environmental hazards. You can see the game for yourself with no risk, except for the risk of extreme irritation after playing against the first AI opponent, who can curve the ball mid-flight. Pong World is free-to-play.
Daily iPhone App: Pong World is Atari's first indie Pong winner
Way back in February, Atari announced a contest (which, full disclosure, I served as a volunteer judge for) to find some indie developers' takes on its classic Pong game to release on iOS. All summer long, a few different indie devs worked on pitches for their games, which were then voted on by the public, us judges, and then Atari for the final decision, and the winners were announced back in August. And now, today, the first winner has arrived on the App Store: Pong World, by zGames, won the grand prize in Atari's contest. As you can see in the video below, it's a fun and colorful take on Pong -- maybe a little too colorful for fans of the retro title, but especially as a free download, it's worth a try. The idea is that each paddle you use is actually a little (somewhat creepy) creature, and you can earn coins to power them up for better upgrades and more different powers. There are a few different ways to play each stage, and the game is a fun take on the simple and enduring idea of Pong. The app's freemium elements are worth a mention, in that they are pretty terrible. Ads pop up in between almost every game, and the coins themselves aren't worth very much -- if you want to unlock everything without spending any money, you'll need to play a whole lot. These elements weren't in the original game I judged, and I expect we'll see some tweaks to them in the future. Of course Atari wants to make some money on this freemium title, but what's in there now is a bit too annoying. At any rate, Pong World is the first fruits of this long contest, so it's your first chance to see what came out of all that work these indie devs put in. It's available for free on the App Store right now.
Atari's Centipede Origins available for free, Pong World due this month
Atari is revving up iOS releases for the holidays by kicking out a few long-awaited titles. First up is Centipede: Origins, which hit the App Store this week. It's a modern take on the old shooter classic. The app is free and universal, though (surprise!) it's also freemium, which means you must earn coins to upgrade weapons and other implements. Centipede purists may be a little weirded out, but it's a solid arcade game with a good progression system. Atari has also announced that Pong World will finally making its way to the App Store later on this month. This is the new take on Pong from the big developer contest that Atari ran (and that I served in as a volunteer judge), featuring some crazy creatures serving as paddles, powerups that tweak the game in various ways, and a few new modes and ways to play against your friends. Pong World should be an interesting release -- it's due out on November 15 (next week) later this month (Atari's just gotten in touch to say it's actually been pushed back a bit), also for free.
Pong World wins Pong Indie Developer Challenge
Atari has chosen the winners of its Pong Indie Developer Challenge, and – surprise – the top honor goes to Pong! Well, okay, it's not just Pong. zGames' Pong World features multiple paddle "creatures" in various worlds with powerups and environmental hazards, and it earned $50,000 and a publishing deal with Atari.Second place goes to MadRuse's 3D Pong Tournament, and third place goes to Eppy Games' Fong, a cartoony Pong in a circular arena. These two also get cash awards and publishing deals; Atari will announce specifics of those publishing deals (as in, when they will result in games you can play) soon. Check out trailers for all the finalists at Atari's site.
Winners revealed for Atari's Pong Dev challenge, Pong World earns first place
The winners have finally been announced in the long-running Atari/Pong Indie Dev Challenge, and the three winning entries have been revealed prior to their eventual release on the App Store. Atari's contest sought out modern versions of Pong for the App Store, and offered cash prizes and revenue sharing for the top contestants. Before we go through the winners, please note that I served as a volunteer, unpaid judge on this contest, along with Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, developer David Whatley, and Pocket God's Dave Castelnuovo. That means I got to play through all of the finalists and deliver scores based on my impressions of the games. According to those scores (as well as Atari's input and a popular vote), zGames' Pong World came out in first place -- it's a very colorful take on the old school game, with furry creatures as paddles and lots of ball tweaks and fun twists. Mad Ruse's Pong Tournament picked up second place, featuring a very wild 3D version of Pong, with high level tournament play and quite a few powerups and extra items to try and protect your wall while a ball is passed back and forth between two players. And Eppy Games' Fong variant got third place -- it's a really crazy circular version of Pong, with some strange rotational controls and some really frantic action elements. Each of those winners will get a cash prize for winning and a three-year revenue share agreement, enabling them to use the Pong name for their titles as well as earn money alongside the commercial releases. There's more information on those coming soon, so hopefully you'll be able to play some of these titles when they arrive.
