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TUAW's Daily App: Push-Up Wars
I'm a big fan of DailyBurn for tracking weight and nutrition. While a lot of iPhone users stand by the Lose It! app for that sort of thing (and rightfully so, it's a good one), I prefer to have a service that's accessible from any browser, and DailyBurn (formerly known as Gyminee) is the one I've tried and liked the best. Earlier today, while adding far too many calories to my nutrition record (CES and its various events are not being kind to my diet this week), I noticed that DailyBurn has another app out called Push-Up Wars, designed to help you track your push-up ability. Just like the main app, Push-Up Wars allows you to enter and register how many push-ups you're doing each day, and then the app will track your progress both among your friends and on a global leaderboard level. Push-Up Wars is notable even if you're not an exercise fanatic, just because it's the first app I've seen that's not a game, technically, but still uses Game Center. You can earn ranks and achievements as you "level up," and then see global and friend-based leaderboards. Registering push-ups requires you to take a video of you doing the exercise (only uploaded if you agree to do so), so the app requires a video-enabled iPhone or iPod touch -- no dice on older versions. But it's an interesting idea that's executed quite well, and if you want to get serious about powering up those arms, Push-Up Wars might be able to help.
TUAW's Daily App: Burn the Rope
This isn't an iOS port of the great Flash game You Have To Burn the Rope, though an upgraded version of that would be nice to have. Instead, this one is a pretty inventive puzzle title by a company called Big Blue Bubble. The idea is that you touch anywhere along a rope to start up a flame, and then you have to keep that flame burning by tilting your iPhone so that the fire always burns up. It works really well as a physics puzzle game, and each level has certain percentage goals of the rope to burn (and later there are enemies to burn through as well), and whenever your flame splits off at different intersections, you need to watch each side of the flame and make sure it has vertical room to grow. Getting through the levels is not that hard, but burning everything on the screen is both challenging and fun (when you can actually do it). It's a really inventive game. Something only possible on the iPhone, it takes a nice different angle and just iterates on it, similar to popular games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope. That iteration lasts over 80 levels, and the developers promise even more to come. There's no Game Center integration, unfortunately, but there is a silly theme song, and all of those levels make for quite a bit of game. As of this writing, the game is on sale for a buck, but I think it's worth it even for a few bucks. It's too bad there's no lite version to try out, because the concept really is original. But if you like puzzlers like Cut the Rope and Zen Bound, this one will probably scratch that same itch.
Rage for iOS frags its way to gyroscope and Game Center support
One of the hottest titles in the App Store right now -- id Software's Rage -- recently got a healthy official update to version 1.11 that adds a handful of big new features to its roster, perfect to add a little replay value just in time as your amazing graphics-induced euphoria wears off. What's new? Well, the biggest new feature might be support for Apple's Game Center, offering achievements and scoreboards. You've also got gyroscope support -- good only if you're using an iPhone 4, of course -- that offers an orientation-controlled aiming mode, and official TV-out support for upsizing your gameplay onto the big screen. There's apparently also a new "museum mode" that lets you stroll through the game world without troublesome baddies trying to attack you for those occasions when you're looking for a more peaceful form of entertainment... not exactly fit for a title named "Rage," really.
OpenFeint's promotional app now called Game Channel
Social gaming network OpenFeint has had its own app for a while now, offering up news and information for players playing games with the technology built-in. But the app recently underwent a re-branding of sorts -- it's now called Game Channel (not to be, or possibly to be, confused with Game Center), and is now built around a Groupon-style model. The app has offered up a Free App of the Day for a while now, but in addition to the freebies, it now also has a feature called "Fire Sale," in which players can "vote" for certain games to go on sale. It'll be interesting to see how that works -- one of the biggest issues developers are facing on the App Store is simply getting their app discovered by players, and this seems like yet another outlet for OpenFeint-enabled games to find their customers. The app also helps with discoverability in other ways as well: you can see what your friends are playing, and track leaderboards and all of OpenFeint's other stats right there. It's tough to actually call this an attack on Game Center, since Game Center isn't really in competition -- it's already installed on every mobile iOS device anyway. But Game Channel does look like a little innovation from OpenFeint in terms of getting its apps out there. If you haven't picked up the app now called Game Channel, it's a free download from the App Store.
Firemint releases free, ad-supported Flight Control to App Store
Firemint confirmed today that it is launching a free, ad-supported version of its popular Flight Control game for the iPhone and iPod touch. The app has received the rubber stamp of approval from Apple and should appear on the App Store in the upcoming days. The free version has the same gameplay as the paid version but limits several salient features. Multiple maps are not available in the free version, but you can play on the original map without any time or score limits. Multiplayer, both local and online, are missing from the free version as well. The free version does support the iOS Game Center leaderboard and includes a limited number of achievements. If you choose not to use Game Center or are running an earlier version of iOS without Game Center, you can still post your achievements to Firemint's leaderboard. In the end, the free version is a nice alternative for those who want to try the game before they hand a dollar over to Apple and Firemint for the full version. It is also a chance for Firemint to compare two revenue models -- paid and ad-supported -- to see which generates the most cash.
Mac App Store launching in January sans Game Center and in-app purchases?
"Less" and "later" are some of our least favorite words, but they may apply to the Mac App Store, as one source claims it will miss Christmas, and another says the marketplace will have fewer features than its iOS counterpart. First off, The Loop's Jim Dalrymple believes that December 13th isn't the magic date, claiming that his inside sources say the store will actually arrive in January -- which, we must admit, would still be within the window of Apple's October promise to launch within 90 days. Second and perhaps more importantly, 9to5 Mac reports that App Store developers are being told that their Mac endeavors will have a number of substantial limitations, namely no Game Center support, no in-app purchases, and no ability to offer demos, trials or betas. Sounds like those high-denomination iTunes gift cards you've been stockpiling in your basement will finally come in handy.
App review: Infinity Blade (iPhone)
Aww, would you look at that, the iPhone's trying to play big boy games! Following in the well received footsteps of Rage HD, today marks the debut of Infinity Blade, the second in what's hopefully a wave of gorgeous-looking iOS games boasting advanced 3D graphics, if not 3D gameplay. Epic Games has put aside the chainsaw-equipped projectile weaponry of its wildly successful Gears of War console series to deliver the first mobile game built around its Unreal Engine 3. You won't be surprised to hear that it's utterly delicious to look at, and the visuals certainly helped transport us to this alien realm of swords, axes, shields, and magical rings -- where body armor is optional, but helmets apparently are not. Jump past the break to see this visual feast in motion and to soak up some more of our impressions. %Gallery-110231%
TUAW's Daily App: HEXETERA
Here's the deal: based on that screenshot at right, you already want to play this one or you don't. You can probably guess what it is just from that. It's a falling block game, except you match triangular tiles rather than blocks. There are goals you need to meet in order to progress through the levels (or there's an unlimited mode for constant play, as long as you can manage). And there are various power-ups to pick up and carry out as you go through the game. It's pretty straightforward. Of course, you don't see the great music in that screenshot over there. And you don't see Game Center integration, which ... err, sadly, the game doesn't actually have (though you can keep and share high scores over both Facebook and Twitter). But honestly, you probably knew right away whether this was one you wanted to play or not. If the idea of another falling block game doesn't appeal to you, HEXETERA probably isn't your thing -- go ahead and wait until tomorrow when we'll have another great app in the spotlight. But if that screenshot intrigues you (as it did me), you can pick up HEXETERA on the App Store right now for US 99 cents.
Game Center terms of service updated, real names shared on invitation
Apple has quietly tweaked the Game Center terms of service to add in the rule that whenever you first invite a friend to join your friends list in the gaming social network app, your real first and last names (as entered in your iTunes account) are shown to them. You still use a nickname as a full ID (and Game Center will still show your nickname when you log in to browse achievements or see what people are playing), but when you first "friend" someone, they get to see your real name. Apple has been able to get away with this one somehow -- the iTunes-based Ping social network also makes liberal use of the real name associated with an Apple account when adding friends, but for some reason nobody has made too much of a fuss about it. Consider Apple lucky -- when Blizzard Entertainment tried to require real names to be shared on their World of Warcraft forums, their community raised such a clamor that they had to back down and keep the forums anonymous. But Apple hasn't had that problem, either because the audiences are different, or just because people don't care so much about anonymity among their Game Center or Ping friends. We'll have to see how the community responds to a change like this.
OpenFeint has doubled community since Game Center's launch
When Game Center was first announced way back in April, the first question everyone had was about all of the third-party networks that had already built up in the space. OpenFeint was the biggest of these, and founder Jason Citron had no apparent worries about Apple's advance into social gaming -- he said that OpenFeint would continue to offer features beyond what Game Center did, and that developers would be easily able to use both networks in their apps. A report released last week by OpenFeint says that's exactly what's happened -- the userbase has doubled to a whopping 50 million users since Game Center launched, and games on the network have also increased 119% since Game Center was announced. Those are pretty amazing numbers -- there was a lot of talk earlier this year that Apple would walk into this space and just dominate (and certainly, I've seen a lot of solid Game Center integration since release, and of course because Game Center is automatically installed in iOS, adoption is probably huge), but that hasn't been the case at all. There's definitely room for services like Plus+ and OpenFeint, even with an official network up and running. OpenFeint, as far as I've been told, is also still planning the OpenFeint X service, with more options for in-game microtransactions, so we'll have to see what they're up to next.
TUAW's Daily App: Astronut
You may have already heard about the Iconfactory's new game Astronut, but just in case you haven't, we'll happily be the ones to tell you. From the makers of Ramp Champ and Twitterrific comes a game that's sort of a mashup between Dizzypad, Captain Ludwig and Doodle Jump. You play a little astronaut bouncing from planet to planet and trying to make his way up the screen, all while avoiding aliens and other traps and troubles along the way. Astronut's a little more forgiving than most of the other "jump"-style games. Not only are there three sections of your heart to go through, you can pick up more hearts, shields and other items along the way. You also get a "boost" that allows you to invincibly fly past any number of bad guys or enemies (as long as you're pointed in the right direction). As a result, the game is a whole lot of fun to play. Rather than trying to time out each jump perfectly, you constantly bounce around the map, ascending and sometimes even landing huge jumps for bonus points. There's Game Center integration in the form of leaderboards and achievements as well, so there's quite a bit of game here to play. There are 24 levels total, and the first four are included in a free download that comes more than recommended -- it's a lot of fun. If you like it, you can buy the rest of the game for US$1.99 via an in-app purchase. The Iconfactory never disappoints when it comes to well-executed, solid designs, and Astronut is another great app in their growing library of quality App Store titles.
iOS 4.2 available today, brings the iPad into the multitasking era (update: it's live)
You've waited a long while for this day to come, but here it finally is. Apple is today rolling out iOS 4.2 to iPads and qualifying iPhones (3G, 3GS and 4) and iPod touches (second, third and fourth generation) across the globe, delivering the long-awaited multitasking and app folder enhancements to a tablet that was already supposed to be magical and revolutionary. To see whether this new update -- replete with Game Center, AirPlay and AirPrint additions -- really helps the iPad step up to doubleplusgood territory, check out our full review; everyone else, hit up your nearest iTunes 10.1-equipped computer to get your update on. Update: Plug in your iPhones and iPads, the 624.3MB update is rolling out now. Looks like it's starting in Europe, given the joyous cackles from our editors across the pond. Screenshot after the break. Update 2: Now available within US borders as well.
Rage: Mutant Bash TV brings id Tech 5 to iOS
We saw id games' newest title, Rage, demonstrated earlier this year on an iOS device, but now there's more details and specifics on just how it's coming to iOS. It's not a straight port of the PC and console shooter -- rather, id is calling it Rage: Mutant Bash TV, and releasing this version of the game as an original, on-rails shooter. IGN has some video of the game running, and it looks pretty great. While the on-rails part means that you don't control movement at all, the camera controls and shooting gameplay look like a lot of fun. Of course the graphics look terrific -- Epic Games' Infinity Blade will apparently have some competition for the best-looking next-gen game on iOS. And while there's no word yet on what kind of Game Center integration we'll see (or, you know, price or date), apparently the game will have a "TV Out" option, allowing you to output the video to your television if you've got the appropriate cables for your iPad or iPhone. Sounds good -- we'll keep a look out for this one and let you know when it's out.
Space Miner Blast and Trade Nations lead the freemium charge
Freemium isn't just for Ngmoco anymore -- the model of "free with in-app purchase" has been spreading across the App Store for a while, and because "free" opens up a developers' audience to so many more people. Here are two more titles that have taken the freemium route. First up, Space Miner was chosen as our Daily App a while back -- it's a very cute, well-written arcade/sim title that has you flying around collecting ore from asteroids to build up your uncle's space mining business. Now, Space Miner Blast brings the title to the freemium realm -- it's a free download with ads, and you can pay for premium ships to both boost your abilities and get rid of the ads. There's also Game Center integration and full Retina Display graphics, so even if you haven't tried the Space Miner series before, this one's worth a try. Trade Nations is also making some waves lately -- it's a city-building game in the vein of Farmville and We Rule, with a little more mature art style than either of those. You can create jobs for your own villagers, and even participate in an online marketplace, where prices for goods rise and fall according to supply and demand. Seems like fun -- the whole thing is driven by Mojo-style in-app purchases that just shorten the amount of time it takes for a project to complete. Freemium as a concept is really coming into its own on the App Store, and the more quality titles we see that use this model, the more customers and audiences grow accustomed to how it all works.
Some Game Center-enabled iPad games appearing on App Store already
iOS 4.2 isn't quite out yet, but 9to5Mac has already spotted some Game Center-enabled iPad games out on the App Store. Big Bad Sudoku Book is an iPad app that's apparently good to go already, presenting the Game Center icon with its listing. Of course, without the actual firmware, there's not much to do with any leaderboards you top or achievements you earn -- for those, you'll have to wait until the actual iPad firmware to arrive (which it should soon, at some point this month). But given that Game Center is integrated with an iTunes account, achievements earned on your iPad should show up on your iPhone, and eventually vice versa. It will be interesting to see, once the service is all rolled out across both platforms, if multiplayer works between the two devices as well, or if there are any other little quirks involved in using Game Center in both places. As long as there are Game Center-enabled titles showing up right now, there probably isn't much longer to wait.
TUAW's Daily App: iSlash
iSlash is a nice puzzle-type title that reminds me of Fruit Ninja, but is probably the old arcade game Qix. You're presented with a shape on screen with a few samurai stars bouncing around inside it, and your task is to slash, with your finger, parts of the shape off, while keeping all of the stars inside a certain area. You've got to slash off up to a certain percentage of the shape to move through the levels, and while the first few are easy, the shapes get tougher later on. It's good fun. You don't have to trust us -- since the app was released, it's seen over 500,000 downloads from all over the world. Additionally, the developers are already updating it. They've added Game Center support for leaderboards and achievements already, and while there are over 70 levels now, they promise even more to come. The game's available for US$0.99, or there's a lite version to try out if you're not willing to shell out the buck.
Determining Game Center's current popularity
The always insightful Stuart Dredge over at MobileEntertainment has crunched some numbers on Game Center's actual popularity. Since Apple's own gaming social network on the iPhone launched, I've heard lots of different things from developers in terms of how they're implementing and using it. Some developers jumped in head-first, bringing all of their apps on board quickly, while others have only brought one or two apps on board at a time, opting instead to wait and see what their users are into. And some developers haven't even started on it yet, instead waiting to see how adoption works. So, in order to get something resembling hard numbers, Dredge took the reported sales of a few popular App Store apps, and then he compared those to the number of players listed as playing them in Game Center. You can see the top few examples above -- keep in mind that this is a picture painted with a roller rather than a fine brush; it was just created to give an idea of what's happening rather than exact figures. But there are some conclusions to draw -- a title like Angry Birds, with over 6 million players, is only seeing about a quarter of those users using the Game Center integration. At the same time, a newer title like Cut the Rope has a majority of its players using Game Center. In other words, Game Center is still in the early adopter stage -- the mass market of iPhone users hasn't yet jumped on board. But users who seek out and find the latest and greatest apps (and Cut the Rope is a hit that's only a few weeks old) are signed up and playing on Game Center already.
GDC Online 2010: OpenFeint after Game Center
The last time I spoke with the folks at OpenFeint, we were all waiting for the arrival of Apple's official Game Center app and wondering what effect it would have on third-party social networking platforms for App Store apps. Now, of course, Game Center is out. And despite the dire predictions of onlookers, OpenFeint is still rolling right along. The network continues to offer functionality to developers above and beyond what Apple's official solution provides, and it provides cross-platform services even outside of Apple's purview. OpenFeint's VP of Marketing, Eros Resmini, met up with me here on the floor of the Game Developers' Conference (going on this week in Austin) for a quick chat about what he thought of Game Center's launch, how OpenFeint is doing with Apple's official network up and running alongside of it, and what's next for the service and the network. Click "Read More" to read our interview.
YouTube options, iPad multitasking animation, Game Center flagging coming in iOS 4.2
9to5Mac has been digging through the brand new iOS 4.2 beta, and they've found a few new features hidden in the mix. First up, the build offers some new YouTube uploading options -- you can now choose to make your uploaded YouTube videos public, unlisted, or private upon upload. Honestly, I've had hit-or-miss luck with uploading to YouTube straight from my iPhone, but it's nice to know the process is being worked on. Maybe we'll have some optimization come along with the new options. Second, as you can see above, the iPad has gotten itself a brand new multitasking animation. Instead of just pulling up whatever app you're switching to, it'll actually spin the windows around (this functionality is already up and running on the iPhone, but now it'll be available on the iPad as well). And finally, last but definitely not least, it looks like iTunes will be getting some Game Center indicators -- you'll be able to see directly from the App Store listing when an app is compatible with Apple's official Game Center features. That last one is a big one, given that Game Center integration seems to be selling games lately. It's unfortunate that we probably won't have any other icons like that. It would be cool to browse the App Store and instantly see whether a game is compatible with OpenFeint or Plus+, or whether it has local or online multiplayer or just leaderboard functionality. But Apple's probably not interested in that other stuff -- it's just selling Game Center integration for now. You can look forward to all of these features in iOS 4.2, which is scheduled to come to the public in November.
StarDunk going to a free demo model
StarDunk is one of my most favorite apps recently, ever since I covered it back for Daily App a little while ago. It's an amusing little 2D basketball game, made even more impressive by the fact that it juggles online multiplayer across the world -- as you throw baskets, you're also playing in real-time against other users, and competing with various powerups and stunts for as many points as possible. The game was also notable for being one of the first titles integrated into Game Center, back when that service first arrived on the iPhone. But the app hasn't been doing as great as it could be, according to developer Godzilab -- first, they had some issues with piracy, and now they're saying that the game's just not selling as many copies as they'd hoped. So the game has gone free -- kind of. You can pick it up right now in the App Store for free, and play ten games without paying a single cent. Once you've played those games, then you have the option to buy the whole app via in-app purchase for $2.99. That's not exactly freemium (it's more of a demo version), but at least players will be able to get a feel for the game and how it works before laying down their three bucks. Personally, I still recommend the game -- I bought it on my own and still enjoy a quick game (even though I usually land in the middle of the rankings). But if you've been waiting for a chance to try it out, definitely take advantage of the new model.
