Fruit Ninja
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TUAW's Daily App: Age of Zombies
Halfbrick Studios is quickly becoming one of the best-loved developers on the App Store. They made a nice hit with Fruit Ninja, and I'm still enjoying their Canabalt-style Monster Dash title. Now, they've brought their PSP mini title, Age of Zombies, to the App Store, and it's another good one. Originally created for Sony's handheld, and starring Barry Steakfries (the guy who's running around in Monster Dash, which this game has more or less been made into a sequel for), Age of Zombies is a dual stick shooter with the same old Halfbrick polish and a cool pixelated aesthetic. The action is fast but still friendly. You blast your way across five different worlds thanks to solid controls, a few witty lines from Steakfries and his dialogue, and a few weapons and power-ups to find on the way. Both Game Center and OpenFeint integration is included as well, along with a survival mode and a few other extras. The game is US$2.99 right now as a universal app. It's an excellent game -- maybe a little casual for most dual stick fans, but if you're a big fan of Fruit Ninja and/or Monster Dash, this one is right up your alley. I'm excited to see even more from Halfbrick Studios in the future -- it certainly seems like they're doing very well on the iPhone.
Fruit Ninja sells two million
When people say the job of game industry analysts is easy, we like to point to statistics like this: According to a release today from Halfbrick, the developer's iPod/iPhone sensation Fruit Ninja has moved two million units. To put it in a perspective that's even more difficult to comprehend: 24 billion-with-a-b pieces of fruit have been slashed in-game. So, you really wanna wear Pachter's shoes in a world where two million people buy a game about cutting fruit with the tip of their finger? No, we thought not.
TUAW's Daily App: Fruit Ninja
We've covered Halfbrick's later game Monster Dash here in this space (and it's a good one -- I'm still giving it the occasional run-through on my iPhone), but their great Fruit Ninja title has never actually been given this particular spotlight. Let's fix that now. Fruit Ninja is a simple but well-polished title that has you hacking up fruit by slashing your finger across the iPhone's touch screen. It's only a buck on the App Store (the HD version on iPad is US$4.99), and if you haven't bought it yet, you'll find a fun pick-up-and-play game that looks great and runs smoothly. If you have bought it (and considering that a few million people did, you probably have), then there's good news for you, too. The game just got a free update that added Game Center integration to the mix, and Halfbrick included network multiplayer, which is something we haven't seen a lot of yet. Load up the update, open up the game, and you'll be able to jump in and play with anyone, or send one of your Game Center friends an invite directly. And Halfbrick says more updates are on the way, including a "Secret Banana" mode and more Game Center functionality. So, if you haven't given Fruit Ninja a shot yet, now's a great time to do it.
OpenFeint now available on Android
[Image Credit: Engadget] Today, Android users can access OpenFeint, a social gaming suite which supports cross-platform communication, leaderboards and achievements for supported games. Aurora Feint, the company behind the tech, is currently working to enable cross-platform voice chat and real-time multiplayer sometime later this year. PocketGamer reports Android users can download several new games supporting the platform right now, including iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad hit, Fruit Ninja, but plans are underway to offer 20 games over the course of the next month. Head past the break for the list of games, including those that are currently available.
TUAW's Daily App: Monster Dash
Halfbrick Studios really made a splash with their iPhone debut, Fruit Ninja, and now they've followed it up with a little game called Monster Dash. It's a running game in the vein of Canabalt, but rather than dodging skyscraper jumps and bombs, you're fighting through pixelated monsters while sprinting along. The main addition to the game is a "shoot" button, so in addition to jumping obstacles and gaps as they come up, you can mow down enemies with various weapons, such as the (default) flameburster, uzis, and even a machine gun jetpack (that comes in handy when jumping). It's a lot of fun (as you'd probably expect if you've played either Canabalt or Fruit Ninja), and the game comes with Halfbrick's requisite polish, including excellent lush graphics and full OpenFeint compatibility. If there's a downside, it's too bad that Halfbrick decided to just stick with the usual arcade formula. It'd be cool if they tried for something a little less shallow and a little more engrossing. This is just a bunch of levels and a chance to rush for the high score; nothing else carries over from one game to the next. That's just nitpicking, though. Halfbrick has done another great job on this one and pushed the newborn genre forward with their own twist. It's well worth the 99 cents. And if you do buy it, try tapping on the title screen monsters just for fun.
Fruit Ninja HD slices up the iPad later this week
Having trouble slicing those kumquats, tangerines and cherries in your standard edition of Fruit Ninja? Then you'll be pleased to know that Halfbrick is preparing an enhanced version for iPad called Fruitninja HD. But improved graphics aren't the only addition to the game, as the iPad installment will also boast input for up to eight fingers and head-to-head multiplayer battles through Classic Attack and Zen Duel modes. Look for Fruit Ninja HD in the App Store on July 14 for $4.99. We know what you're thinking: how can any ninja, let alone one skilled in the ways of battling fruit -- an enemy with barely any defensive skills whatsoever -- wield up to eight swords at once? Frankly, we just don't know. The ways of the ninja have long been shrouded in mystery and pulp, but we have managed to secure a brief piece of communication from the ninja clans, which you can watch right after the break.
Fruit Ninja HD gets a trailer and release date
We posted about Fruit Ninja way back when it was first released on the App Store, and since then it's become a qualified hit on the iPhone, with over a million downloads and lots and lots of kiwis and bananas slashed in half. The folks over at Halfbrick have now announced that they're bringing the game to the iPad with Fruit Ninja HD, and you can see the trailer above. The game has updated graphics, of course, and it will also include multiplayer modes -- both Classic mode, and something called Zen Duel. Additionally, you'll be able to multitouch with up to eight fingers at a time, there will be multiple blades and backgrounds to play with, and Halfbrick says that the iPad version will enjoy updates right alongside the iPhone version, with more modes, items, and surprises coming in the future. Sounds good. The game is due out this Wednesday on the App Store and will sell for $4.99.
Halfbrick shares Fruit Ninja sales numbers, how to succeed on the App store
iPhone and iPod Touch gamers have likely already heard of Fruit Ninja, a game where you coldly murder different offerings from nature's bounty -- by tapping and slicing across the screen, you cut down watermelons and the like. It's a pretty simple game and at only $.99, it's quickly climbed the charts of the most popular Apps in the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Denmark and Sweden. So we decided to grill Halbrick's creator and lead designer of Fruit Ninja, Luke Muscat, on all things iPhone. Joystiq: You sent out a press release before the weekend claiming 140,000 copies sold of your iPhone/iPod Touch game, Fruit Ninja. What's the current total at? Luke Muscat: Over 200,000 now. That's a pretty big milestone for us, we are very happy to have achieved such great success in a market that can be pretty unpredictable. If you're reading this and have purchased the game – you rule the App store!
Enter to win a copy of Fruit Ninja from TUAW and Halfbrick Studios
I wrote about Fruit Ninja last week, and since then it's been very popular on the App Store. Creators Halfbrick Studios tell us it's sold quite well so far. The game's simple, but well-polished and a lot of pick-up-and-play fun. It's only $1, so there's no reason not to go over and get it yourself. Just in case you haven't, though, Halfbrick has sent us a few promo codes for the game to give away to five lucky TUAW commenters. Want to win a copy of Fruit Ninja? Here are the rules: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter, leave a comment on this post telling us what kind of fruit you like slashing most. The comment must be left before midnight EST on Thursday, May 6th, 2010. You may enter only once. 5 winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: A promo code redeemable for a copy of Fruit Ninja (Value: US$0.99 ) Click Here for complete Official Rules. Good luck to everyone who enters!
Hands-on with Fruit Ninja for the iPhone
Halfbrick Studios is an Australian game developer that's done a few licensed games on other platforms before along with the App Store title Blast Off, and they're back on the iPhone today with Fruit Ninja, a simple-but-fun arcade game that has you hacking fruit in half on the iPhone's touchscreen. The game just went live on the App Store moments ago. We at TUAW got a chance to play the game early, and our exclusive hands-on review is after the break. Fruit Ninja is simple but polished -- while the game mechanic is well done and well-supported with excellent graphics and sound, the gameplay itself is almost too shallow to support the rest of the design. The game's only 99 cents, and there's definitely 99 cents of entertainment here, but I wish there was even more.
