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Activision co-founder co-founds a new iPhone publisher
Activision co-founder David Crane knows a thing or two about profitable business ventures. In addition to helping one of the most lucrative gaming industry juggernauts get off the ground, he (and business partner Garry Kitchen) founded a successful iPhone app publisher named Skyworks. (You know, of Spill Da' Milk fame?) Now -- for unknown reasons -- the two men are starting up yet another iPhone publishing firm, this time titled AppStar Games. It's unclear whether the duo have left their posts at Skyworks, though the company's contact page no longer mentions their involvement with the studio. According to a press release, the new studio will focus its efforts on "the booming market for 'small footprint' gaming across a diverse field of devices, including smartphones, wireless tablets and handheld console devices." We're not sure you can call anything on the iPad "small footprint," guys. At the very least, we'd say it's comparable to an average-sized loafer. [Via Develop Online]
NintendoWare Weekly: Castlevania ReBirth, Pilotwings, Oregon Trail
Nintendo's been on quite the roll recently, providing plenty of content in its weekly offerings -- and today is no different. There are ten new titles to check out, including high-profile downloads such as Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth, Oregon Trail and -- finally! -- Pilotwings on the Virtual Console. Head past the break to check out the full list.
Found Footage: Hands-on with Boardwalk Games from Skyworks
For just US$1.99, you could do a lot worse than picking up Skyworks's new Boardwalk Games [iTunes link]. Offering three carnival-style attractions, Boardwalk Games takes you into the midway with good gameplay, quality graphics, and audible sound. To be honest, those audible sounds kind of drove me a little nuts and I couldn't find a settings screen to could turn them off. The three mini games are all simple toss-something-at-something games: toss a ball at tiki statues, toss a ball at milk bottles, toss a dart at balloons. It's fun. Admittedly, a little limited, but fun. The fun is probably worth more than the two bucks the app costs. Just in case you think you're getting a little bit too good of a deal, well, you are. Skywork's included some fairly heavy-handed upselling ads in the game, which appear each time you finish playing a round. It's not too bad as these things go, but clearly they intend to balance their relatively low price point with targeted advertising. I found the games easy to play and engaging. Will the app remain on your phone for the long term? Probably not. This is one of those use-it-for-a-few-days-or-weeks-then-toss-it kinds of games. There aren't compelling learning curves and not much room has been left for the app to grow. I'd recommend this for a rainy day / DMV visit / Doctor's Appointment, but it's not so amazing that you should rush out and buy it right away. It's amusing, it's well made, and I hate that music. TUAW is commonly provided with not-for-resale licenses or promo codes to permit product evaluations and reviews. For more details, see our policy page.
Skyworks' BAW filters let WiMAX and WLAN play nice with each other
While devices that integrate WiFi and WiMAX are hardly anything new, Skyworks now looks to be taking some further steps to ensure that the two frequency neighbors play nice with each other, with it today introducing what it claims are the "industry's first" bulk acoustic wave (or BAW) filters that enable WiMAX and WLAN co-existence. Those filters include the SKY33107 WiFi reject/WiMAX pass filter, and the SKY33108 WiFi pass/WiMAX reject filter, each of which measure a mere 3 millimeters square. That, Skyworks says, makes them ideal for just about any consumer or enterprise application, including USB dongles, laptops, ultra-mobile computers, and femto and pico base stations. Just don't expect 'em to show up en masse until sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, although hardware makers interesting in testing them out can apparently get their hands on some engineering samples now.
