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Daily iPhone App: Robot Unicorn Attack 2 turns Adult Swim's biggest hit freemium
Adult Swim has built up a nice stable of games on the App Store, and the biggest workhorse in it is Robot Unicorn Attack, a Flash game that's an endless runner where you play as the titular creature dashing and jumping to '80s music playing in the background. That game's been very successful, but due to the music licensing, Adult Swim's never been able to turn it freemium, which is a business model that potentially offers a bigger audience (and more profits). Robot Unicorn Attack 2, however, is built freemium from the ground up. It's free to download, and the game earns you a currency which you can spend on powering up your unicorn, customizing it with various extra items, buying boosts to help your score and so on. The music has changed to something a little more easily licensed, though you can still buy a number of real licensed songs (Corey Hart!) via in-app purchase. And while there's not multiplayer per se, there are also daily and weekly challenges, designed to get you to beat your own high score, or fight for your faction in a larger competition. The game itself hasn't changed much, though the boosts and the upgrades do pack a pretty solid punch (you can add plenty of extra jumps to your unicorn's repertoire, and even fly once you've reached full speed). Developer PikPok (best known for their great Monsters Ate My Condo games) has done an excellent job here riffing on the original title, while still keeping Adult Swim's freemium requirements in place. Robot Unicorn Attack 2 is definitely worth a download -- the freemium elements aren't always successful, but this is a solid update on Adult Swim's most charming game.
Portabliss: Robot Unicorn Attack 2 (iOS)
Is it possible you haven't played Robot Unicorn Attack yet? It's by far Adult Swim's most popular onilne Flash game, and not only is it available to play for free (in a few different forms) in your browser, but it's about a robot unicorn collecting fairies and dashing through star crystals while the 2009 remix of Erasure's "Always" plays in the background. Seriously, you better have played this.The game's also spawned three different versions on iOS, including the original, a Heavy Metal version, and a special Christmas edition. But now the full numbered sequel has arrived on iPhones and iPads, and it's made by PikPok, the developers behind the excellent Monsters Ate My Condo games.I'll hit the sourest note first: "Always" isn't in this one. At least not right away.
Rock Band Weekly: Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Erasure, P.O.D.
Next week's Rock Band DLC delivers metal from P.O.D. and two of the majors from the '80s UK synth-pop scene. Always remember: Frankie says, "Relax."
Behind the Mask: The keyboard is mightier than the text bubble
In roleplaying, everyone has his own preferences. Some people like simple, character-to-character interactions without a lot of heavy plot. Others love in-depth storylines and lots of character drama. One of the most heated preferences in roleplaying, however, is the way that characters should resolve conflict. Roleplaying is strange in that player characters get into fights about 3000 times more often than people do in real life. I'm a former US Marine, and I've been in less than a half dozen fights (including the kind involving guns) since I turned 18. On the other hand, my roleplaying characters tend to get into serious, earth-shattering battles involving guns, high-voltage electricity and psychic strangulation powers on an almost-weekly basis. Because I play Champions Online, this should be sort of an oddity. There are no playable villain characters in CO, so most characters should be do-gooding champions of love and justice. Even in comics, we rarely see heroes go up against other heroes except in strange circumstances. Isn't it a little odd that heroes would beat the heck out of each other all the time for no real reason?
'The Supremes'-ly random Lips DLC for October
Stop! In the name of October's Lips DLC. Microsoft's karaoke title adds several totally random tracks this month, highlighted by the October 23 addition of The Supremes pack for 440 ($5.50). Individual songs, as well as The Diana Ross Supremes tracks, can be purchased for 160 ($2) apiece. Available now: "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" – En Vogue "Breakfast at Tiffany's" – Deep Blue Something Oct 9: "Barely Breathing" – Duncan Sheik "Always" – Erasure Oct 16: "Chains of Love" – Erasure"Return of The Mack" – Mark Morrison "Lucky" – Jason Mraz feat. Colbie Caillat Oct 23:"Baby Love" – The Supremes "Stop! In The Name of Love" – The Supremes "You Can't Hurry Love" – The Supremes The Supremes Song Pack – Includes "Baby Love," "Stop! In The Name Of Love" and "You Can't Hurry Love." Oct 30: I'll Stand By You – The Pretenders Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You – Glenn Medeiros Geile Zeit – Juli* Nichts Bringt Mich Runter – Ich + Ich* Dis Wo Ich Herkomm–Samy Deluxe **Only in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium.
