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iPhone Bit.Trip Beat has new levels, multiplayer
The iOS version of Bit.Trip Beat won't be a simple port of Gaijin Games' WiiWare debut. It has a couple of new features that may convince even the few people who completed the game to buy it again. A representative for publisher Namco Networks informed Joystiq that Bit.Trip Beat will have a multiplayer mode, for up to four players on either iPhones or iPads. Even more intriguing, the mobile version of the chiptuney rhythm-Pong game will have new downloadable levels. Namco Networks expects to release Bit.Trip Beat this fall. You can see what it looks like on iPad in our gallery. If you look at the images on an iPad, you'll really get the idea.%Gallery-101131%
iPhone having a 'PAC-Match Party'
Yet another new Pac-Man game has been revealed to coincide with the yellow pellet-popper's 30th birthday, this one for iPhone / iPod Touch. PAC-Match Party is a match-three game (think: Bejeweled) that features a variety of ("exciting!") Pac-themed power-ups, as seen in the teaser video we've packed away after the break. No release date has been announced, but games typically arrive on the App Store soon after they're announced. While you're waiting, you can give a Flash version of the game a go at the official Pac-Man site.
Namco launches iPhone puzzle-shooter, Lt. Fly: Rise of the Arachnids
Namco's iPhone racket isn't just limited to remakes of beloved arcade classics, you know. The company recently decided to publish a neat little puzzle-action game from Teravision Games titled Lt. Fly: Rise of the Arachnids, which combines Match 4's brick swapping with Missile Command's target shooting. To put it simpler, it's like Puzzle Quest, only with less questing, and more artillery. Puzzle Gun. The game's currently available on the App Store for $1.99. If you're intrigued by this odd combination of gameplay mechanics, you can check out a gameplay video after the jump, play the title's free, online counterpart on Teravision's site. Lt. Fly: Rise of the Arachnids ($1.99)
King of iPhone Fist: Pocket Gamer says Namco releasing iPhone Tekken game soon
Tekken 6 for PSP Street Fighter IV isn't the only fighting game to be shoehorned awkwardly into the iPhone. According to Pocket Gamer, an anonymous Namco staffer has confirmed that a Tekken game is on the way to the platform -- a platform that, we feel we should remind you, lacks not only a high-quality arcade-style joystick, but any mechanical controls at all. Last year, Namco's Jonathan Kromrey mentioned that the company was considering porting its fighting games onto the iPhone, and it would appear that nobody successfully dissuaded the publisher. No details were given about the game, except that its development is near completion. We'd say Soul Calibur is next on the list, but Gameloft kind of already did that.
EA, Namco Networks gauge 'Apple Tablet' gaming possibilities
"If it's got a great screen, some buttons, you can turn it on and it connects to the Internet, it's got the ability to be a games machine." That's what EA Sports president Peter Moore shared on Apple's heavily rumored tablet device, predicted to be unveiled during a media event this Wednesday. Moore recently told Bloomberg that his knowledge on the project was derived from media reports -- in which case he must know about the connection drawn between EA and the unannounced device's game offerings. In the same report, Jon Kromrey, general manager of Apple games at Namco Networks America (which recently trumpeted 23 million downloads on iPhone and iPod Touch), expresses a notable amount of optimism regarding the platform's gaming possibilities. "I'm having fun thinking about all the wonderful things we can do with the device when it's announced," he said. You know people have had enough speculation the moment they start saying "when." If you've had trouble keeping track of the nigh-mythical tablet's history, head over to Engadget for a comprehensive summary. Joystiq will be attending Apple's media event tomorrow (psst, we cover games!) so expect to hear more then -- even if it's just a really powerful paintball gun.
Namco proclaims 23 million downloads in iPhone/iPod space
Namco Networks, a subsidiary of Namco Bandai, is going waka-waka-waka over its iTunes sales. The company announced that its products, which include Pac-Man Championship Edition and Ace Combat Xi, have moved over 23 million units and "that number continues to grow rapidly." The company claims that since the App Store launched in June '08, it is averaging 36,450 downloads a day. Namco currently has 24 titles on the App Store and plans on adding another 20 this year. Now, if that's the type of financial flow a company like Namco has with iPhone games, EA Mobile must be doing gangbusters, considering it's got some of the top sellers on the platform.
Namco continues to satisfy Android's gaming needs
With all of the attention being paid to the iPhone gaming market, it's easy to forget that Android likes to play games, too. Namco hasn't, though, today releasing four games that the likes of Data, the Buffybot and V.I.C.I. from Small Wonder should enjoy. (What? They're for phones running Google's Android OS? Oh.)Following in the non-footsteps of its freebie Pac-Man release that hit alongside the T-Mobile G1 last September, Rolling with Katamari, Inspector Gadget (yep, that guy), and two Brain Age brain training games are now available on the Android Market. It doesn't sound like they'll be the last of their breed, either, with Namco Networks VP of sales and marketing, Scott Rubin, promising that the subsidiary "will continue to bring a broad range of exciting titles to users through the Android Market."
Namco Networks gives BurgerTime the update it didn't need
27 years after the release of Data East's original, Namco Networks has declared BurgerTime once again. BurgerTime Deluxe (not to be confused with the Game Boy game) recasts the arcade classic as a casual PC game, which primarily means replacing the arcade game's pixels with awful 3D models. Deluxe adds enemies like lemons and zucchini for some reason, includes minigames, and replaces the repetitive BurgerTime music with equally repetitive, but less catchy, music. Oh, and Peter Pepper talks to you all the time.It still mostly plays like Burgertime, which is the only reason Data East hasn't risen from its grave in the form of a zombie Karnov and destroyed the world with fireballs. You can try it yourself for free for one hour (Burgertime Deluxe, that is, not destroying the world as a zombie Karnov).And now for a bit of BurgerTime trivia: Data East released two arcade sequels to BurgerTime, called Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory and Super BurgerTime.
