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iOS Review – Game Dev Story

Connor — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 03:14:20 +0000

Game Dev Story is exactly what it sounds like. But the simple presentation is highly deceiving — this game has got a lot going for it, and is one of the most addictive iOS games I’ve ever played.

You start off a humble game development company, with four employees (not counting your secretary) and low review scores. But as you progress, you hire more talented individuals, level up the employees you’ve already got, and unlock many more types of games to create. Eventually, with enough patience and hard work, you’re rolling in dough, constantly bringing in fresh money from the new releases.
But… It’ll take a while.

Game Dev Story is fun as hell, let me get that out of the way right now… This game is incredibly satisfying in every way. There are random events that can, at times, be infuriating, but with enough dedication to your fictional game development company, none of that will matter.

As I said earlier, you start off with just four employees. You hire them in the beginning of the game, and can get to work immediately.
Working on a game is a pretty hands-off process… There are different attributes to a game. The success of said game relies on how high the numbers attached to these attributes are. There’s Fun, Creativity, Graphics, and Sound. Your employees are all specially-trained in different parts of creating a videogame, and will, through the process of development, increase these attributes accordingly.

The development process starts off with a game proposal. You can either have somebody create a proposal in-house or outsource, if your employees aren’t skilled enough. The proposal gives you your initial attribute points, and this sole process of development does a whole lot to decide how the rest will go.
After this, the development proceeds with your employees randomly achieving attribute points. This goes on until the game is 40% completed, at which point you exit the “alpha” phase. This step forward gives you a chance to work on your graphics.
This is very much like the proposal, in that you can do it in-house or outsource. Whomever you assign to the Graphics will primarily work on them, as such, but you’ll also get some Creativity and Fun points.
Again, the development from your team continues, up until 80%. At this point, you exit the “beta” phase, which gives you a chance to work on the sound for your game, very much in the same way.

After the development is complete, you have to spend time getting rid of bugs that accumulate throughout the developmental process. You then ship the game, titling it if you wish (otherwise the title will be “Game #x”). You then receive reviews from four different magazines, ranging in score from 1-10, all with a little comment. The higher these are, the more likely you are to ship lots of units.
You can ship a bugged product, but don’t expect great reviews.

Throughout development, you’ll also accumulate Research points. You can use these points to level up staff members, or you can occasionally use them on random Boosts.
A Boost is when an employee comes up to your desk and says “I’d like to work on improving our sound / graphics / fun / creativity.” If you agree, you spend a good bit of money to give them that opportunity. You then choose how many research points to give to their efforts — the more you give, the higher the probability they’ll succeed. (And the more skilled they are, the less they’ll need.) The maximum probability that they can succeed is 80%, so there’s always a risk. If they, by chance, happen to fail, you’ll rack up a good bit of bugs from their mess-ups. (But in the debugging process, you regain 1 research point for every bug eliminated, so it’s not THAT bad.)

As you work your way up in the industry, you’ll eventually move to a new office, with room for two more employees. Eventually you’ll get an even bigger office, with room for two more employees, giving you a total of eight workers at your disposal. Things will get done much faster, and you will be much more successful if you properly train your staff.

Another large part of success is advertising. There are many options for advertising your company and video games, from demo distribution to writing your name in the sky and more. Advertising will effect your audience — how many fans you have. The more fans you have, the more sales you’ll make.
You will also occasionally get a nice, free increase in fans. These are usually prompted by receiving a fan letter, all of which are nice and actually make it feel like you’re making these games for a reason.

Back to development itself… Something that will greatly help your development process if the items included in this game. Every now and then there will be a traveling salesman who stops in your building to try and sell you his wares… The more you buy, the more expensive they become, to be careful about the order you make your purchases.
There are several items you can get. My favourite is Dead Bull, which reinvigorates your staff so that they work more efficiently. But there are also the much more useful boosts that you can purchase and choose to use on a staff member, at the expense of some research data.
The good part is that it definitely works, 100% of the time. The bad part is that you don’t benefit as much as you do from random boosts.
The items will make your life much easier, as long as you can learn how to use them properly.

But once you get all that down — once you learn how to make a great game — there’s gotta be a reward other than virtual money, right?
Of course! Virtual trophies!
There’s a yearly event in which trophies are handed out to developers in several different categories. Winning one of these trophies will greatly increase your fandom, as well as put a bit of that virtual money in your pocket. Virtually.
The trophies alone are sometimes what drives me to make a new game. It’s very rewarding, winning one.
And if your game does well enough to win a trophy, that means it might have done well enough to make it into the Hall of Fame.
Depending on review scores, your game could make it into this very Hall. Being in the Hall of Fame means that your game will, guaranteed, do well on the market, AND you can make a sequel.
Sequels are the best. They automatically start off with a good bit of points in each attribute, so they’re much more likely to do well (and then get into the Hall of Fame so you can make ANOTHER sequel).
This system makes me feel kind of bad, though, as I realize that, in this virtual world, I’m just like EA Games is to Madden. Releasing just about the same thing every year and still making mad money.
Regardless, it keeps the people happy and it keeps my company expanding.

Speaking of expanding, once you get far enough into Game Dev Story, games may not even be your primary focus, depending on how you choose to play. You can eventually create game consoles. These bring in a lot of money, and, unlike videogames, do not go off the market ever, until you create a new one. This means it’s a steady stream of money that you can use to fund the next console development, or game development. Once you get to this point, you’re pretty much set for life.

But if you’re ever not doing so well, you can always take up contract work. You develop something for a third party for cash money. Normally it’s simple, but don’t ever accept a job you don’t think you’ll be able to complete — failing to meet a deadline for a contract job means lost respect for your company. That’s never good.

Graphics-wise, this game’s got it covered pretty nicely. It’s nothing spectacular to look at, but it’s simple, appealing, and gets the job done. Besides, most of the time you’ll just be watching numbers and reading words — the graphics honestly don’t even matter that much. But, for what they are, they’re nice.

All-in-all, this game is fantastic. It’s only $3.99 on the App Store and is worth far more than that. I’ve gotten countless hours of gameplay out of this, and don’t intend to stop any time soon. I’ve completely drained my battery doing nothing but playing Game Dev Story. Very much worth a purchase, especially if you at all enjoy simulation games or the idea of feeling like you’ve accomplished something.

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Sonic 4 For iPhone Launched Today!

Connor — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 02:24:41 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve made a post about Sonic 4, but I’ve been incredibly excited about it this entire time.

Well, to my incredible schoolgirl-like surprise, Sonic 4 was officially released for iPhone and iPod touch just earlier today! I didn’t even know it was supposed to, as far as I knew the release date was still “2010,” so when I saw it on the App Store, it absolutely made my day. (And was, of course, an instant purchase.)

Unfortunately, it won’t be coming out for consoles until next week — I’m assuming so, anyway. The Playstation Network updates every Tuesday, and the Xbox Live Marketplace updates every Wednesday, so that’s probably when you’ll see Sonic 4 for those consoles. (Not quite sure what the Wii’s updates are like…) But if you’ve got an iDevice, you’re in luck — You can get it now for for $9.99 USD (App Store link).

I’ve played a good bit of it today… I hooked my speaker-less first-generation iPod touch into my 5.1 speakers for the occasion. And I’m, personally, not disappointed at all. It’s met every expectation I held, and has completely blown me away, and reinvigorated the essence of my childhood in this game series that has been frowned upon so frequently and so vehemently in these years past.

To start with, the gameplay is very familiar. With slight alterations and some added features, it’s identical to old-school Sonic games — and I welcome all of the alterations and features. I see this as nothing but the continuation of the Genesis Sonic games, not a simple rehash, and all sequels are expected to have additions.

Audio-wise, I was also very much blown away. The music helps capture the essence of the series much in the way it used to, and many of the original sound effects were kept on-board, much to my delight (as well as, I’m sure, other fans). I can very easily say that I don’t just love this game for the nostalgia — that is most definitely a fantastic aspect, and my memories are very much kept intact with this great addition to the series — but even as a standalone game, it’s absolutely fantastic. It focuses just as much, if not even more, on speed than previous iterations, and now puts a large focus on score with the easy ability to play and replay levels, looking to beat your high scores. This could potentially be a very fun pass-and-play game with friends and family, even more so once it hits TV screens.

The one thing, and believe me when I say that it’s minor, that I dislike about Sonic 4 is… Eggman. Not the character. He’s great as ever, coming up with these ridiculous contraptions to kill a hedgehog when he could easily just invent a gun. No, the name is what I find issue with… This is the one thing that does not quite help my nostalgia. I remember him as Dr. Robotnik. This is how I will always refer to him… I don’t understand the renaming here, and it just bothers me a bit that they cater to old-school gamers in every way but this.

However, as I said, that’s very minor. Doesn’t affect much, it just… Irks me, is all.

This game is very much worth buying, especially, but not only, if you’re a big fan of the old Sonic games.

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The Next Year in Gaming

Connor — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 05:54:36 +0000

Now, I know most websites do a post like this in the beginning of the year, but this post on Reddit made me think about it a bit today.

I’ll give you a list here of some of the more notable games coming out in the next year that I’m really looking forward to. It’s shaping up to be a great 365 days. (Note: Some of these might just have a “2011″ release date, but I’ll count them in anyway.)

Portal 2 (X360 / PS3 / PC / OS X)

Portal is my favourite game of all time. (Actually tied with Diablo II for that title.) The clever puzzle mechanics, hilarious omnipotent narrator, and surprisingly in-depth story (if you choose to look far enough into it) all make it a fantastic game that anybody who hasn’t played should be ashamed. Portal 2 is a sequel (previously rumoured to be a prequel) that’s up for release in 2011. (Hopefully early 2011. Or hyper-early 2011, in that it’ll be released in 2010.) There will be behind-the-scenes areas of the game, as well as GLaDOS making a return with co-operative mode.
I can’t wait to see how the co-op shapes up. The puzzles will likely require massive amounts of teamwork, which will be satisfying. I just don’t want to share the cake.

Star Wars: The Old Republic PC

Being a huge Star Wars fan, any Star Wars videogame tickles my fancy quite easily. But a Star Wars MMORPG? Hell. Yes.

The Old Republic looks pretty awesome, from what little gameplay footage has surfaced. All of the classes that will be available just make me giddy, not to mention the fact that any class will be fully customizable. So, if you choose a Smuggler, you can still train your fighting skills as well as anything else you’d like. You’re not locked into a specific skillset, which I like. It’s already won a couple of awards from GameTrailers for its E3 appearance, and shows a lot of potential as not only a Star Wars videogame, but a game changer in the MMO industry.

It’s release date is set as “2011,” but I’ve also read “Autumn 2011.” Hopefully it comes earlier in the year, but we’ll see.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (X360 / PS3 / PC / Wii / DS / iOS)

(Sorry about the logo for the first Force Unleashed — I couldn’t find one for the second that fit the format.)

As I mentioned above, I’m a huge Star Wars fan. As such, I greatly enjoyed The Force Unleashed through-and-through — The story was fantastic (and the main character’s name being “Starkiller” was also awesome, as that was Luke’s last name in the first draft of the A New Hope script), the gameplay was awesome, the force upgrades were useful, and it all tied together perfectly. My brother, also a big Star Wars fan, says that he’ll have to buy a PS3 just to get this game. (He played the first on his Playstation 2.)

The story in the second title will focus more on Starkiller, which I think is awesome. He’s a very good character, but he wasn’t developed quite as much as I would have liked in the first game. The plot will focus on deception, betrayal, and revenge, much as part of the first game. Seeing as this takes place just a year before A New Hope, I’m hoping that most of the loose ends in the story will be tied up, otherwise that we’ll be left open for yet another sequel. (Maybe some of that’s already been done in the novel / comic books, I don’t know. I haven’t gotten around to reading them yet.)

Torchlight 2 (PC / OS X)

Torchlight was a fantastic game — it’s created by many of the same men and women that worked on Diablo and Diablo II, so it clones the series incredibly well down to town portals and identifying items the exact same way. I loved the graphical style as well as the pets system… It served as a great distraction while I wait for Diablo III to never come out. (I’m not even going to bother posting about Diablo III here, that seems too hopeful…)

Well, a sequel was recently announced. I think my favourite part of this announcement is the inclusion of co-op gameplay. (Finally!) While I love lone dungeon-crawlers, it’s always more fun to play through with a friend, and it’s been a rumoured upcoming feature of Torchlight for a while now. Well, it’s coming in the next game.

There will also be added mod support, which will blow the possibilities of this game open wide. The modding community on the PC has always been huge and incredibly crafty, so I naturally can’t wait to see what they come up with to make this game even better. We’re set to see all of this come Spring 2011. (Let’s just hope its release doesn’t interfere too much with that of Diablo III, or the developers may find themselves poor.)

That pretty much sums up the games I’m most looking forward to within the next year. There are a few that I’m also excited to see, such as Black Mesa and L.A. Noire, but the above titles are the ones that I’m phenomenally excited about… The ones that will make my friends and family wonder if I’m dead, not seeing the light of day for weeks.

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Plants vs. Zombies Review

Kraven — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:13:25 +0000

Plants vs. Zombies currently is the most popular download at the Itunes store and for good reason. The game was released in February of this year, and in this short period of time became the number one downloaded App in the App store, the number one downloaded game at the Itunes store and is the number one paid application on average. In other words; the game is Apple’s top item and bestseller all around! This being said, I think the popular game is going to take a shot at becoming the most popular zombie arcade game in history.

The game itself is simple enough to get the hang of, but it’s addictive qualities are quite amazing, in fact, since its proven success, lots and lots of new games are coming out, copying the game’s gaming system, adapting it to their own variant of the game. It is starting to look very much like Tetris all over again! Strictly speaking, the Zombie game can be categorized as a Tower defense game. There are plenty of those to play already, but the twist Plants vs. Zombies uses to set the game apart from the rest is that instead of using all kinds of missiles, arrows, or other projectile shooting weaponry, the Zombie survival game uses plants to accomplish the same task, which is; keeping the waves of zombies at bay. There are several types of plants(49 to be precise), each with their own unique capabilities either for defensive or offensive purposes. Like other Tower defense games, the plants have to be placed strategically in order to provide protection from the undead creatures, who will invade your house if they break through. Upon being successful in keeping the bloodthirsty zombies at bay, sunshine points are gained, with which more and different types of plants can be purchased.

Game play – Rating: 9/10

As the game advances, it will become harder and harder to stop the Zombies in their tracks, and a player will need all of his strategic skills for keeping the zombies from breaking through. Using the right plants in a good defense/offence combination, will do that job. There are 49 types of plants to choose from, which are shaped to make it easy to remember which plant does what in terms of offensive or defensive capabilities, and because the level of difficulty increases very slowly, players will have plenty of time to master the basics and enable themselves to maximize the usage of the plants.

Despite its unique features, Plants vs. Zombies has all the advantages arcade games have over regular games. Rounds play within minutes, and after a round is played the game can be left alone, and picked up at a later time, making it a perfect game for all intends and purposes, whether you want to play a few quick rounds during a break, or sit down with a cup of java and put in a few hours of quality gaming. Plants vs. Zombies will deliver.

As the player enters the higher levels, the game gets harder, and the playing fields will also become more complicated, making it harder to defend.

Graphics and Sound – Rating: 7/10

Technically Plants vs. Zombies is a zombie killing game, but the style it uses, to do this is funny, cartoonish and there is no blood at all. Watching zombies get dismembers, arms fall, without the accompanying blood that is almost mandatory in a zombie game, works more for making the zombies cute, rather than frightening. Perhaps the youngest should refrain from playing, but overall the game is pretty much harmless, and suitable for all audiences.

The plants are functionally shaped and colored, making it easy to remember their uses, and all the different zombies are easy to recognize. Shielded zombies are tough to kill, those without are easy. It’s all very functional, though never graphically challenging. In other words the graphics are adequate and serve their purpose, but no more than that. A game like this, does not rely on being graphically attractive, it relies on sheer addictiveness, because it is simply a lot of fun, to test your strategical abilities and find out if you are smart enough to keep the zombies from your doorstep.

As with the graphics, the sounds of the game are the same way. Functional, adequate, but nothing to write home about.

Overall – Rating: 9/10

Overall the game has turned out to be a very entertaining Zombie arcade game in the Tower defense category, with highly addictive qualities, that are typical for games in the genre. The version I tested was made for the Ipod and Iphone, but the game is available for free on most platforms like PC, handheld and Ereaders. It basically plays on anything capable of making an Internet connection. Judging by its popularity I think it is safe to assume that many of you already played a few round of the game, but if this is not the case I highly recommend for you to do so, because you are missing out on some good old fashioned arcade fun!

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Iphone 4G revealed

Kraven — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:28:08 +0000

The new addition to Apples Iphone line the 4G has been leaked. A test version of the anxiously awaited device turned up in a bar, where it was picked up and sold to Gizmodo, where it was taken apart, probed and tested. That the device was indeed the Iphone 4G was confirmed by the formal request Apple made to have the device returned to them.

Immediately noticeable is the improved resolution, it is next to impossible to distinguish the pixels the graphics are made up from. That by itself is already quite excellent, but it would also open the doors to full HD quality on your phone! This in turn would make it also great for gaming, as the games would simply look amazing.

At the front a forward facing camera was built in, very much like Nintendo’s DSi has. What does this mean in terms of functionality? Could facial recognition be a feature, motion control? Perhaps even chat within games themselves. Granted, in game chat has never been done on any of the known gaming consoles, so a “simple phone”, beating giants like Sony and Microsoft to the punch sounds a little far-fetched. On the other hand; if there is one company we can expect such a bold move from, Apple certainly tops that list.

Have a look at the new Iphone below:

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Release date of Dragon Age II in January 2011?

Kraven — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:32:38 +0000

Dragon Age: Awakening, is due for shipping somewhere in the coming week. Around that time, the gaming review sites, always start receiving review samples from EA, for upcoming game releases and other new stuff they have in the works. This time 1up got them first, and on their site they posted images of a document showing, what appears to be the release date of Dragon Age II, for the first quarter of 2011.

Displayed on it is the famous red dragon, from Dragon Age, but not from the side, like we are used to viewing it, but from a full frontal view, making all two wings visible, with at the top right the date 02-01-2011.

This date means a release date early next year. EA already announced a release around that time, but called it Dragon Age Title TBA. The game was supposed to be available for PC gamers and several portables, which were not further defined. However, sources reported the hand-held version would most likely be nothing more than an IPhone port, to other portable devices.

There are voices stating that the mentioned release is not for the long awaited sequel to the Dragon Age game, but will be the release date of an expansion pack for the first game instead, containing new levels and more. While the second possibility is certainly not something to pass up on, it appears that most sources still report that this will be the true release date for Dragon Age II.

EA has made no comments either denying, or confirming the above. Either way, valentine’s day for gamers appears to come a little early next year, either in the shape of Dragon Age II or a new expansion pack on the original game. Something good is coming around that time from EA, that much is certain.

See larger image

Dragon Age: Origins Awakening (DVD-ROM)

List Price:	$29.99 USD
New From:	$8.03 In Stock
Used from:	$3.00 In Stock
Release date March 16, 2010.

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Plants vs Zombies On The iPhone Makes Devs Rich

Connor — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:46:19 +0000

PopCap Games is a relatively popular game company, their most well-known games being Peggle, Bejewled, Plants vs. Zombies. Well, the first two had been ported to the iPhone/iPod touch quite some time ago, and Plants vs. Zombies has just made its way onto the platform.

PopCap has made their roots in the PC gaming industry with their roster of games, but they’re not shy to huge success in the App Store, either… Both Bejeweled 2 and Peggle have been on the #1 spots. But nobody could have predicted the huge and instant popularity of their newest mobile game.

Plants vs. Zombies hit the App Store ten days ago, on February 15th. It has just been announced today that the game was the highest-grossing launch in the history of the App Store. They’ve already stacked up more than 300,000 downloads… Each download is $3. That means there has been a total of $900,000 made from this game. After Apple’s cut of 30% (or $270000, in this case), that means PopCap Games have made $630,000 in just ten days, from one game in the App Store.

That is an enormous amount of money in such a short amount of time… I applaud PopCap Games for their overwhelming success on the App Store with this title.
I personally haven’t picked it up yet, but… There we are. Just bought it. I’ve never played Plants vs. Zombies on any platform, but I love all the other PopCap games that I’ve played, so there’s not much doubt I’ll enjoy this one.

Judging by the success alone, I recommend you check this game out. It’s only $3, and it’s holding steady a 5/5 rating on the App Store. You can find the game here if you’re interested.
I’ll be spending some time with it very soon.

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Sonic 4: Returning To The Second Dimension

Connor — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:08:15 +0000

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 has recently been announced. Hype for the game has been building steadily, and I’m personally incredibly excited for its imminent release.

The original Sonic games for the Nintendo Genesis were my childhood addictions. I played the crap out of every single one of those games, then went back and played them again. As soon as the series broke out into the third dimension, I felt that it had lost its roots and I had completely lost interest.
Well, Sonic Team… You have my interest once again.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (herein simply “Sonic 4″) is a game with a release date of “Summer 2010″ that returns the series to its two-dimensional glory, with spiffy, shiny, 3D-esque graphics. While I slightly resent their choice to spiffify the graphics, I’m incredibly excited for the retro gameplay.

This game has been announced as a download for four platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and a mystery device. The mystery device has been speculated to be the iPhone, which would be absolutely amazing.

I think this move shows that the Sonic Team knows that they need to reach back out to their older fans instead of making room for new younglings. This really shows that they may want to change their ways and move toward more traditionally regressive gameplay, which, oddly enough, is a fantastic thing here.
Unfortunately, they seem to be sticking to their new ways in some terrible areas… For instance, Doctor Eggman is still the name of the main protagonist. This is absolutely TERRIBLE! I want Robotnik back! Whoever renamed him Eggman needs to be canned immediately. I am incredibly excited about them moving back to two-dimensional gameplay, but the name Eggman just infuriates me. It makes me cringe in a “my childhood memories are ruined” kind of way.

But I digress. This game looks fantastic. This series is taking back its focus on speed and arcade-style fun, and they have tons of supporters. One thing I’m really glad about is that they didn’t make it 2.5-dimensional, in that it’s sidescrolling, but you can move up and down on the terrain as well as back and forth (vis-à-vis Battletoads). They’re completely taking us back to the days of the original trilogy.
Oh, and did I mention it’s episodic? No? Well, it is! That means that the game coming up for a summer release is just the first in a series of episodes. A whole series of brand-new old-styled Sonic games, coming to our homes. I am absolutely giddy. I’ll be purchasing this game for download on every single console that is available that I have. Twice.

Just thinking about this game is making my stomach knot up in nostalgic excitement. Unless that’s hunger. Regardless, it’s good, and it’s caused by this game. Watching the trailer (below), even with as little gameplay as it has, makes me incredibly excited. I’ve watched it 20 times, at least. Even the codename of the game (“Project Needlemouse”) makes me chuckle to myself every time I think about it.

This game is a release of epic proportions, especially with the hype. It’s an homage to all of the Sega Genesis-aged fans who sigh in discontent every time they hear about a new upcoming Sonic game. Sometimes, returning to the old ways is the best thing to do.

If the wait is killing you, and you’ve gotta get your hands on some hedgehog action now, play some free Sonic games online. Some of them are really original and entertaining.
More news on this as it happens. Expect a review when it’s available. I’ll be one of the first in the virtual line to get my hands on this.

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