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Moody platformer Limbo coming to iOS next week
Limbo is a critically acclaimed and very artistic platforming game that arrived on XBLA a few years ago, and has since arrived on PS3 and PC. It's by a company called Playdead, and it's a black-and-white short tale about a little boy in search of his sister. The game puts a series of physics-based jumping puzzles in a starkly threatening environment, as the little boy fights a big spider and makes his way through a crumbling world. And now, Playdead has announced that the game is coming to iOS. On July 3, it'll be available on the iPhone 4S, the iPad 2 and the latest iPod touch, and devices newer than those, for US$4.99. Playdead says it has been "rethinking the controls and performing extensive optimizations to ensure an amazing touch-based experience," but we'll have to see if the game uses virtual buttons, or goes for a more specifically touchscreen control scheme. There likely won't be any new content, but this is an excellent title, and should be a good addition to Apple's platforms.
Angry Birds creators plan new game, location-based platform
Rovio's next big plan for Angry Birds is to add in some location-based features, according to GigaOM, with a platform it's calling Angry Birds Magic. The platform will use location-based information on a number of different smartphones (including, presumably, the iPhone, though there's some reference in the plan to near field communications, which of course, the iPhone hasn't yet included), allowing players to use where they are to both unlock new content and compete locally on leaderboards for a certain area. Rather than do what an app like MyTown has done and try to spread the content around to everywhere, Rovio says it's planning to be more strategic, using certain locations and certain features to try and monetize the game and engage the audience (like providing specials at a certain retailer during a sale, or other ideas like that). The company is also planning a brand new app called Wine and Dine (no kidding), as well as an Angry Birds cookbook (featuring egg recipes, of course). Wine and Dine will still be in the Angry Birds universe, but it will supposedly be "more about the pigs." Rovio also reportedly has more new games on tap (including some that aren't Angry Birds related), so it sounds like the team is keeping busy up in Finland.
Google Latitude app shows up, disappears from Japanese App Store
An app for Google Latitude briefly appeared on the Japanese iOS App Store yesterday, only to disappear a few hours later. Latitude is, of course, Google's persistent location-based service, allowing you to see where your friends are at on a map and share your own location in real time. There are already a few persistent location-based apps on the store, and there are even a few Google Latitude clients that access the service through the API -- not to mention that you can get to Latitude via Mobile Safari. But this was an official app, and it brought the service, which is already officially available on Android, over to the iOS platform. It seems the listing was actually a mistake -- it quickly disappeared from the Japanese App Store, and it hasn't shown back up since. But it wouldn't be a surprise to see an official Google Latitude app on the App Store sooner or later, so this was likely a switch that was accidentally flipped a little early. We'll probably see the app live everywhere before long. [via Engadget]
