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Insert Coin: Air Guitar Move for iPhone (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. We're not sure proper air guitarists would ever consider adding a bonafide pick to their cherished imaginary pastime, but what if a petite plastic plectrum could turn those strokes into stringed acoustics that more than just you can hear? That's the idea behind Air Guitar Move, a $50 motion-sensing guitar pick that pairs with a dedicated iPhone app using a single dock-connected string. The minds behind Move aren't new to product design -- Colin Karpfinger created Thumbies, a suction cup-based gaming control accessory for iPhone, and Ronald Mannak has launched other freestyle electronic toys, including the V-Beat AirDrums and AirGuitar -- so if they meet their $25,000 funding goal, we imagine that we'll have a very solid iPhone accessory on our hands. A $39 pledge gets you a single Move with a 20 percent discount, and a pledge of $49 will net you a pick from the first shipment, so you'll be strumming away a month before folks in the first group. The creators have yet to commit to a ship date, but head over to Kickstarter if you'd like to make a pledge, or jump past the break for the intro video and an update on our last featured product, ZionEyez.
Editorial: Solipskier is ruining my life
I have a problem, and that problem is Solipskier. Actually, it's a problem in two parts: Part A: Solipskier being an excellent game, taking perfect advantage of the iPhone's touch input and high resolution screen to execute its own particular brand of digital crack. Part B: A certain Nemesis X who plays Solipskier and keeps beating my high score. The combination of a game that encourages you to try just one more time to boost your score and a smug nemesis who screencaps his own terrifying exploits and emails them to you when you're trying really hard to be a productive member of society is just too much for my soul -- not to mention my Solip-skiing thumb -- to handle. There's really not much to the game itself. You simply draw slopes for your skier, attempting to guide the little beheadphoned guy through yellow gates and blue gates, away from red gates, and over orange jumps. It's really all in the execution, which is thrilling, and I was pretty proud of myself when I broke 4 million points the first time. My mistake was in telling Nemesis X. NX: *Smirk* PM: What? NX: *Smirky smirk smirk* PM: What? What's your score? NX: 46 million PM: ... NX: *Smirk* That was the initial exchange, at least as I remember it. Of course, 46 million was hardly even scratching the surface. In fact, one of the problems with Solipskier is knowing how far we've really progressed down the rabbit hole. This might even call for a new branch of mathematics: Solipskier theoretics. "Given a certain exponential score increase over x days, what are the theoretical limits of that player's score over xsquared days?" You also have to begin to flex the English language somewhat to accommodate for Solipskier-related frustrations and triumphs. "Argh, I just red-lined a 179 mil!" "I think I just buzzed the tower with my rainbow cape because my multiplier is still at 100+." Of course, Solipskier ergonomics will become a multimillion dollar industry over time as the best brains of our generation will try and discern the superiority of iPhone or iPad play. Complicated wind tunnel models will be built and destroyed in an effort to figure out the optimum body position to maintain maximum mobility for the maximum duration (a good Solipskier run can ratchet into the tens of minutes). Spandex-clad creatine addicts will make whole exercise tapes dedicated to thumb, forefinger, and forearm agility. When I see this, all I see is red. Eventually, as our society descends into madness, we'll have whole branches of medicine dedicated to treating Solipskier-caused thumb and eyesight injuries (I currently have to keep my thumb mostly straight so it doesn't cramp up, the diabolical NX alternates fingers), and "I was playing Solipskier" will supplant canine-blame as the number one excuse heard at school for poor performance. Subway systems will have to be re-imagined to accommodate passengers caught in a Solipskier trance (I suggest holding the train at the stop until the Solipskier player breaks a multiplier or, heaven forbid, red-lines a 179 mil). Sadly, I think my despair is actually heightened in my few moments of sanity. I step back, take a deep breath, and realize that Solipskier is just one of hundreds of games that are lurking out there, ready to devour my free time and my iPhone's battery life. In fact, I start laughing nervously every time someone mentions Angry Birds. I know that if my thumb accidentally slips and buys it from the App Store totally against my will one day, I won't see my friends or family for a month. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to Photoshop a Solipskier screencap into some absurd score that will ruin NX's week and buy me some time to beat his latest missive. Solipskier is currently playable in browser via Flash, or as a $2.99 iPhone / iPad Universal App. An Android version is forthcoming.
eBoy's FixPix iPhone game is basically the greatest thing ever made
Okay, so this isn't out yet, but it's hard to deny that the eBoy-designed Delicious Toys-developed game FixPix is probably the best idea anyone has ever had since the wheel or sliced bread. Maybe that's a little hyperbolic, but as you know, we are huge fans of eBoy and their mind-boggling pixel art. Now the design collective's cityscapes and fantastical scenes have been turned into an iPhone app where you can piece the 3D milieus back together by tilting your phone this way and that. As we said, the title isn't available, but there's an awesome demo site where you can play around with the concept, and it's likely FixPix could see Apple approval any day now. We can barely contain ourselves. Check out a video of the game in action after the break.
Destroy the Death Star from the comfort of your iPhone
Wanna blow up the Death Star? There's an app for that! At least there should be soon. StarWars.com has word of the upcoming iPhone and iPod Touch game "Star Wars: Trench Run," letting players do the cool stuff Luke Skywalker did in Episode IV (minus the whining), namely: blow up the Death Star. Developers say "Trench Run" uses simple motion controls, relying on a player's command of the iPhone's accelerometer to avoid walls, other ships, gun turrets, and inexplicable solid beams laid across the trench (video). Manage all of that and they can take their shot at the Death Star's exhaust port and send the Empire reeling. Why did they never cover that port, anyway (YouTube)? If blowing up a space station the size of a small moon isn't a player's cup of tea, they can engage in dogfights with TIE fighters over the Death Star instead. The game's pitch promises music, sound effects, and clips from the movie for immersive gameplay, varying degrees of difficulty (from Easy to Jedi), and Leader Boards to let pilots see how they rank with other would-be Jedi from around the world. As exciting as blowing up the Death Star may be, the game screams for in-app purchases. Can pilots buy "Battle of Hoth" expansions down the road? And fly against the second Death Star? Can we?!? I mean... can they?!? Please? Until then, "Star Wars: Trench Run" has a price set of $4.99. No word on when the game will hit the App Store but it needs to happen soon. The Death Star must be stopped! [via starwars.com]
WWDC Demo: Master Jumperton and Battle of Pirate Bay (preview)
Master Jumperton is a simple game where you swipe to create platforms for Master Jumperton to continually jump higher and higher. There are some similar games on the store, but Jumperton is well-crafted and features a high scores board and basic options. Master Jumperton isn't yet available on the store.The Battle of Pirate Bay will be available July 1, we are told, and it's a more involved game. That isn't to say it is complicated, as anyone familiar with Flight Control or Harbor Master's game mechanic will understand what to do. Battle goes one step beyond time and path management to add the element of battle with waves of enemies. You have to balance ammo and the health of your base in the bay plus the routing of faster or slower ships with different capabilities all while moving your finger around to direct traffic, as it were. Very fast-paced, and it looks like a lot of fun. We'll tweet when it lands in the store this week.Both games are from veteran mobile developers Muteki, who developed Maze Finger and Topple 2 for ngmoco. Topple 2 won an Apple design award at this year's WWDC. %Gallery-67140% Update: The Battle of Pirate Bay (iTunes link) is now available in the store.
Lights Off: a native iPhone game
Given the fast and furious rate that iPhone native apps are becoming available you might get the mistaken impression that Apple has finally released an API for coders to get their hands on. Nope, Apple is still defending AT&T's network from third party developers, but that doesn't stop motivated people (and it helps if they are clever to boot).The latest iPhone application is the first fully native iPhone game, Lights Off. The game is simple enough; turn off all the lights by pressing them and you advance to the next level. The real shocker here is the polish. This app looks like it shipped with the iPhone, and that's a huge accomplishment especially when compared with the command line iPhone apps that have been available as of late, impressive as those may be.Sadly, the lack of support from Apple means that getting Lights Off running on your iPhone is harder than it should be, but I'm hopeful that Apple will see all this cool developer activity and open up the iPhone a little. It could happen, right?A word of warning, this software is provided as is, so if you aren't comfortable mucking around with your iPhone's innards it might behoove you to wait until Apple supports this sort of thing.[via Daring Fireball]
