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Wired's top 10 reader-approved iPhone games
Our friends at Wired recently asked their readers what their favorite iPhone games were, and their list is a pretty darn good overview of some of the best choices for gamers on the App Store. Some of the picks are already well known -- we posted about Trism way, way back, and of course Galcon has been lauded already. And some of the choices are a little wacky -- Cube Runner is cool, but it's not really much more than a tech demo at this point.Still, there are a few gems you may not have discovered yet -- JellyCar looks like a lot of fun, and Topple did kind of get hidden underneath the shadow of ngmoco's other big release, Rolando. It's worth a try if you haven't played it yet.It's notable, as well, that all but the top two choices are pretty simple. As fun as these games are, there's definitely a lot more room for some deeper gameplay on the App Store.
Ng:moco's Young aims to create an early EA for the iPhone
Touch Arcade has an interview up with Neil Young. Just like you, I was only slightly disappointed to learn that it was the Neil Young formerly of EA who recently formed ng:moco, quickly becoming one of the most high-profile iPhone game houses, not that other one. But only slightly, because also like many of you, I'm looking forward to Rolando and the "over a dozen" other games ng:moco is releasing on the App Store, and I'm interested to see what ng:moco has to say for themselves about the little iPhone game empire they're building.Unfortunately, TA didn't get a price or a strict release date out of Young for Rolando, but he does say that the game's shaping up well -- he even says creator Simon Oliver "could be the first Miyamoto of the iPhone," which, even if an exaggeration, is an interesting idea. They also discuss the plan behind ng:moco, a company which, like EA in the earlier days of PC gaming, aims to bring together publishers, designers, and promotion and sales all under one big roof. And the volatile issue of iPhone App pricing comes up, but I agree that the big balance on price always seems to be quality -- looking at a system like the Xbox 360's marketplace, you can justify almost any price for a game, as long as the user has an experience that feels worth what they paid.And finally, they hit on the iPhone's competitors, and it sounds like Young thinks Android phones have a ways to go -- the difference is not in the hardware (touchscreen, size, and so on), but it's in the usability and interface, and in those arenas, Young says, Apple still has the edge. Very nice interview with a company that seems destined to play a big part in the iPhone gaming market.
NGmoco announces new games, will publish Rolando
Ngmoco, the strangely-named iPhone gaming startup that's one of the recipients of the iFund, has announced their first three planned games for the iPhone.First of all, they're planning to act as publishers for the Rolando game we've been so excited about, a puzzle platformer with touch and physics elements. That could be one reason for Rolando's delay, actually -- hopefully the new partnership will end up being worth the wait. And they have two other "fast apps" in progress -- one is called MazeFinger (and it does what it sounds like, lets you run your finger around a maze), and the other is Topple, a block-building game that looks like it has some physics in there as well. Both of the smaller games were apparently conceived by Ngmoco, and then passed off to iPhone developers, while Rolando, of course, was created by handcircus.MazeFinger and Topple are scheduled for this month, and they should be priced to go at 99 cents. Rolando now has a date of "Holiday 2008," and there's no price quoted yet. But Ngmoco is definitely making a strong play for getting some premier games in the App Store -- we'll be watching to see how these do and what else they've got planned.
