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Star Wars: Falcon Gunner augmented reality shooter live on App Store
Ever wondered what it would have been like to ride shotgun with Han and Chewie? We're guessing -- based entirely on the fact that you're reading a video game blog right now -- that you're the type of person who has harbored this desire. Well, THQ's offering the next best thing: Augmented reality shooter Star Wars: Falcon Gunner, available today for $5 on iPhone and iPod Touch (and coming to iPad next month). As the title suggests, you'll be in the gunner's seat of the Millennium Falcon during moments like the destruction of the Death Star and the Kessel Run (12 parsecs or bust!), aiming by actually moving your iOS mobile device around, blasting TIE fighters out of your immediate surroundings. If you're a fan of canon, you might want to shy away from Falcon Gunner, as it takes some creative liberties with these historic Star Wars events. If you're a fan of cannons, however, you should jump right in, because, hoo boy, there are so many cannons.
THQ Wireless has 'a number of games' coming to webOS
Still feeling abandoned, webOS users? Take heart, as the good folks over at THQ Wireless are working hard with that recently released PDK in order to port a number of its titles over to Pre and Pixi users. We aren't being clued in just yet as to what games are undergoing the all important conversion process, but a tweet from the company's official account has made it abundantly clear that it has "a number of [its] games in development for webOS." We'd caution you against hoping for Star Wars: Trench Run and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, but we're fully aware that it's too late for that.
THQ takes Star Wars' Battle for Hoth to the iPhone
Tired of Star Wars games being set on Tatooine? You'll be glad to hear, then, that the just released iPhone Star Wars game -- Star Wars: The Battle for Hoth -- takes place on the far snowier lands of Hoth. Okay, okay, you got us -- Hoth is actually in every single Star Wars game ever made. Fine. But did those games only cost $2.99, and were they meant to celebrate the 30 year anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back film release? Yeah, we didn't think so. The game is said to be strategy-based and will have players strategically defending against oncoming waves of the Empire's worst for 15 levels (read: tower defense). In case the snow-laden planet hadn't already indicated as much to you, yes, there will be snowspeeders. Also, everyone's favorite giant walking war machines (AT-ATs, silly) will make an appearance. Remember: Use your tow cable on the legs! %Gallery-97566%
Star Wars Cantina: your own wretched hive of scum and villainy, in your iPhone
THQ's new Star Wars iPhone game somehow manages to involve neither Death Star runs nor lightsaber battles, opting instead for the challenge of serving drinks to the intergalactic jerks in the iconic Mos Eisley Cantina. In the Diner Dash-like Star Wars Cantina, you must serve the correct drink to the impatient aliens in the cantina in pursuit of a daily quota. If you ever wondered whether the employees at the bar got tired of listening to Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes all day, well, now you'll know. The whole thing is presented in a sort of painted look that we find impressive. It'll be in the App Store soon. As for iPhone games that do involve lightsaber battles, THQ also has a Bluetooth-enabled lightsaber duel game on the way! [Via Kotaku]
THQ puts the Smackdown on iPhone
For those of you interested in wrasslin' on the subway, THQ has a new option that won't result in jail time or pepper spray. The publisher announced that WWE Smackdown vs. Raw is available now on the App Store for $4.99. Smackdown on iPhone allows you to pit your own fictional wrestler against eleven real (at least, the pro wrestling definition of "real") WWE wrestlers, or control one of those celebrity personalities in exhibition matches. Hopefully players won't have to grapple too much with the control scheme, which uses a combination of swipes and context-sensitive buttons, in their attempts to grapple with virtual wrestlers. %Gallery-83045% WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 ($4.99):
THQ forcing Star Wars: Trench Run onto iPhone
Because blowing up the Death Star never gets old, THQ is recreating the climactic space battle from the conclusion of the first Star Wars film in an all-new game for the iPhone. Star Wars: Trench Run will appear in the App store soon, IGN reports, and will feature a tilt-based control scheme. There's no word on a price yet, but given the platform, we're willing to bet even the scruffiest Nerf herder will be able to afford it.Jedi mind click your mouse past the break for a trailer.
THQ Wireless releases Chop Sushi to the App Store
Chop Sushi is a brand new game from our friends at THQ in the App Store that combines a love of the Japanese raw fish dish with an interesting twist on the kind of gem-matching battle gameplay that Puzzle Quest made famous (and addictive) a few years ago. It's still a matching game, except you're matching wasabi and rolls instead of gems and skulls, and instead of choosing one gem to switch another, you choose a piece and then swipe it to the end of a row or column, making a match anywhere on the board (as the rest of the pieces fill in for the one you moved). It's hard to explain, but easy to pick up, and tough to master -- the different movements make this one worth a look even if you've played Puzzle Quest or any of its spiritual successors 'till exhaustion. Like other match-3 RPGs out there, there's both an adventure and a quick battle mode, as well as a challenge mode where you've got to match everything on the board together until it's all gone, so there's plenty of gameplay to go around. And the "slide" instead of "switch" mechanic keeps things fresh enough that you'll be looking for lots of new ways to make matches while playing. Chop Sushi is definitely worth a look -- it's in the App Store right now for $2.99.
Finding paths with Chuck the Ball and Super Fruitfall
I've tried out two different "path" games this past week from the App Store. Both Chuck the Ball and Super Fruitfall have you navigating paths on the iPhone, both using the touchscreen a little differently to send items you don't directly control around the screen.Super Fruitfall is made by a developer called Universomo and published by our friends at THQ Wireless. It's a relatively simple game -- there is some fruit sitting on a rotateable field, and your job is to match the fruit up with others of its type. It's amusing, in the way the old Labyrinth games were, but it's frustrating in the same way, too. Extra frustration enters the scene when too-sensitive controls cause you to flip the screen an extra turn, losing any patterns you had going. A "juice mode" makes the game a little more interesting by keeping the fruit flowing as you match it out, but at $3, the game's a little too boring, unless you really love tilt puzzles. Personally, my outcome at the end of each level was brought about just as much by my randomly flipping the board around as it was any strategy I tried.Chuck the Ball is a little more promising.
Joystiq E3 hands-on: De Blob and Force Unleashed for iPhone
With the App Store open for business, games are finally headed to Apple's iPhone, and the unit's multitouch interface, accelerometer, and built-in mic and speaker make it perfect for gaming. THQ Wireless is one of the many companies getting ready to try and cash in on the first generation of the App Store -- after making games for a lot of other mobile devices, Director of Global Production Brad Pitser is excited about finally releasing software for the iPhone. Joystiq got to play two different games in THQ's demo at E3. De Blob is a handheld adaptation of the Wii game, and uses the accelerometer in the iPhone and iPod touch to do a little light platform puzzling. And Force Unleashed attempts to recreate the upcoming Star Wars action title, by using a touchscreen gesture system to try and make you feel like a Jedi. impressions of both are after the break.
THQ Wireless' Brad Pitser talks to TUAW about iPhone development
I'm here at E3 in Los Angeles all this week (come say hi at the Joystiq meetup tonight if you're in town!). Yesterday, I got to sit down with Brad Pitser, the Director of Global Production for THQ Wireless, a company that makes games for mobile platforms like the iPhone. Pitser has helped oversee two iPhone games so far: De Blob (now on the App Store) and Star Wars' Force Unleashed (coming out later this year -- Joystiq has my impressions of both). He said that developing for the iPhone so far has been "a dream." They've partnered with Apple to publish on the iPhone and iPod touch as much as they can. "Apple was interested in our brands," Pitser said, "and we were interested in their platform."One concern he does have about the App Store so far is the pricing -- "everyone thinks $9.99 is too much," he told me. THQ released De Blob at the $6.99 price point. He says THQ has a lot of licensing fees and costs to pay for every game they make, and when those games compete with software that sells for 99 cents, they don't necessarily have a money-making proposition. But at the same time, he'd rather let the market figure things out -- the App Store has a lot of settling down to do, and Pitser is sure that companies will find their place in the price plan soon enough.I asked him what he thought of what he'd seen in the software that wasn't his, and he said he really enjoyed the iPint visual gag, the UrbanSpoon restaurant finder, and Aurora Feint (all very nice choices). It's great to have a bigger company like THQ interested in getting some good licenses on the iPhone, and hopefully we'll see more come out of Pitser and the division he oversees.
