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Should the ESRB be on the App Store?
Here's an interesting topic of discussion from Slide to Play: Now that Apple seems to be going all-in on gaming with its Game Center app, should the Entertainment Software Ratings Board start looking at App Store games? The ESRB is the self-regulatory industry group that's responsible for passing out game ratings to game developers, and marking whether games are appropriate or inappropriate for younger gamers. So far, they've been pretty hands off on the App Store, relying instead on iTunes' Application Ratings to let consumers determine what's right for them. However, gaming on the App Store is getting bigger, and the ESRB has already shown interest in looking at App Store apps. Personally, I don't think this is needed; the App Store environment is already held down with an iron grip by Apple's editors, and if anything, it's probably too sensitive. Besides, as a former GameStop manager, I can confirm that the ESRB's ratings had little to no effect on most purchasing decisions in my store. Any parent who's responsible enough to monitor their child's game playing can probably already tell, even without an explicit rating, what's appropriate and what isn't. On the flip side of the argument , though, it could be said that if Apple wants to be one of the big boys in gaming, it should play by the big rules. What do you all think?
Phoenix Wright, Hexen II coming to the iPhone
Good news for fans of good games: the terrific DS courtroom simulator (which, trust me, sounds much less fun than it actually is) Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney is coming to the iPhone, and Slide to Play has posted some hands-on video. The game takes the two DS screens and stacks them on top of each other rather than converting the game into a landscape version, so it's basically a straight port of the DS game. It'd be interesting to see a more iPhone-specific version of the game (maybe something that uses the camera or the accelerometer to show off evidence in the courtroom), but we'll take just the port, too -- if you haven't played any of the Phoenix Wright games but enjoy a good adventure yarn, you're in for a treat. The game should be out "soon." Hexen II is on its way to the iPhone as well, and Touch Arcade has a few screens and video of that one. I was much more of a Quake fan, but Hexen, with its medieval setting and RPG elements placed in the same game engine, had its share of followers back in the day, too. Unfortunately, Vimov doesn't yet have the rights to Hexen II -- they're just working with an open-sourced version of the engine. To actually release the data on the App Store, they'll need to make a deal with Activision, so we'll have to wait and see if that can happen before you can start hacking and slashing through the world of the Serpent Riders again.
Slide to Play plays games at Macworld, because I didn't
Felt a little bit of acid in my posts lately? Getting an icy vibe off of my writing for the past week? There's no hard feelings to Rose, Christina, or any of the other TUAWers at Macworld (they did an awesome job covering everything), but yes, I was a little bummed that I didn't get to go. This was probably the best show for iPhone games ever, and (like many of you, I suppose) as I watched all of the meetup and demo tweets go by, yes, I steamed a little bit.But it's OK, because Slide to Play ended up doing exactly what I would have done at Macworld: meet game developers and challenge random people to iPhone games, and they've put it all in video format so I and you other gamers can live vicariously through them. On the way, their host gets beaten by a little kid (which never would have happened if it was me), and they do get in good chats with the guys from Freeverse and Iconfactory about their current (and future) gaming plans.It's fine. I didn't need to go to Macworld anyway. I had a perfectly fun time sitting here in Chicago, getting buried in snow and playing Samurai Puzzle Battle Arcade all by my lonely self. Who needs Macworld, right? Sigh.Video in the continuation of the post. Thanks Steve!
