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Gameloft talks up Android support

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 24th 2009 at 3:00AM }

Gameloft announced today it's planning on releasing games for the second generation of Android phones and reiterated its support for the current generation of devices using Google's mobile platform. The affirmation comes a mere weekend after the mega mobile publisher's finance director, Alexander de Rochefort, stated the company planned to "significantly cut" its development for Android devices.

Gameloft's statement today in no way negates Rochefort's words, as the latest release is just some yammering about the second generation devices allowing the development of high definition games, but the timing and its lack of substance is suspect. The executive previously noted Gameloft sold "400 times" as many games on iPhone as on the Android. Of course, if Google's platform develops a more significant install base, we're sure Gameloft will be happy to invest more and take everyone's money equally.

Gameloft pulling back on Android development

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 20th 2009 at 5:00PM }

The unsinkable publisher Gameloft recently revealed that it is planning to "significantly cut" its development on Google's Android platform. Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort added that "many others" in the industry have scaled back Android development as well. The reason, according to Rochefort, is the organization -- or rather lack lack of organization -- of its application store, the Android Market. Rochefort stated that the Android Market "is not as neatly done" as Apple's App Store. Rochefort noted that Google hasn't really gotten many Android users to buy products, saying, "On Android nobody is making significant revenue."

To put things in perspective, Rochefort said that Gameloft has sold 400 times as many games on the iPhone as on the Android platform. Of course, it's worth noting that Apple's iPhone has a significantly larger market share than Android. According to a recent Gartner report released in August, the iPhone accounted for nearly 14 percent of the smartphone market, while Android phones accounted for less than 2 percent. With more and more carriers offering Android phones -- notably the recent release of the Droid on Verizon -- the Android market is likely to expand in the coming months. It will be interesting to see how the mobile market changes -- and whether Gameloft and others change their tune -- a year from now.

[Via Washington Post]

iPhone App Store tops 100K items, 2 billion downloads

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 4th 2009 at 11:45AM }

Apple's App Store has attained over 100,000 ~~fart simulators~~ apps and blown by the two billion download mark. GI.biz reports that games make up 19.6 percent of the store's content. EA Mobile VP Travis Boatman notes that the store, which is now available in 77 countries, has allowed his company to make high quality games that "have been a huge success with customers."

If Gameloft's sales figures are any indication, the App Store shows no signs of slowing down in the game department. Now, if only that alleged iPhone app piracy rate could be brought under control.

Gameloft sales up a dramatic 18% this year

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 3rd 2009 at 9:30PM }

Gameloft's mobile focus is keeping the company flush with cash in these tough times. The prolific publisher announced today that quarterly sales are up 15 percent over the third quarter last year and up 18 percent in year-to-date figures compared to the same period last year. Gameloft achieved $132 million in sales, with mobile devices accounting for 95 percent of revenue; the measly remainder was earned through consoles.

Gameloft tips its hat to the Apple App Store for the "huge success," as well as the company's Java and Brew games, with the expectation that sales and profitability will be up, up and away in 2009. Looking to the future, the company believes it will benefit from Apple, Nokia and Google's mobile devices. Gameloft comes from the proud tradition of releasing sales and profit reports separately, but the expectation is that profits will be positive, as well.

Earthworm Jim now launching cows on iPhone

by JC Fletcher { Oct 21st 2009 at 8:25PM }

Gameloft's iPhone remake of Shiny's classic Earthworm Jim has found its way to the App Store, at a price of $4.99. It's a great game, but trying the iPhone version means you're willing to punish yourself by attempting the already-difficult run-and-gun without the benefit of a D-pad or buttons. We're going to have nightmares if we think too long about playing the submarine level that way.

In addition to the download-anywhere convenience and painful controller substitution, the iPhone/iPod Touch release lets you play your own iPod music as you play. That should be a welcome addition to one intentionally annoying level.

After the break, see gameplay footage captured by Touch Arcade.

Earthworm Jim ($4.99)

[Via AppShopper]

Continued →

Earthworm Jim on iPhone looks familiar

by JC Fletcher { Oct 14th 2009 at 11:30PM }

We recently found out that when Gameloft announced intentions to make a new Earthworm Jim game, the company really meant it intended to remake the first one. And while the next-gen version has some cleaned-up graphics, the iPhone release, as seen in the new trailer (after the break) might as well be a port. If you ignore the total lack of buttons, it might as well be the Genesis or SNES game. And speaking of buttons, have fun playing that submarine level on a touchscreen.

If the graphical improvements aren't more obvious in the WiiWare release, then the only real difference between the game on Virtual Console and WiiWare will be one extra level and difficulty selection. Awkward!

Continued →

First details of Earthworm Jim remake unearthed

by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 29th 2009 at 12:52PM }

GamerBytes has some details about the remake of invertebrate warrior Earthworm Jim's first outing. Speaking with Gameloft, the graphically updated title will be based on the Sega Genesis version, but will have "smoother animations" and feature several difficulty levels. The game will also include the bonus "Big Bruty" level that was featured in the Sega CD and PC releases of the original.

Earthworm Jim will blast onto Xbox Live Arcade first, followed by PSN and WiiWare. Gameloft is currently "considering" a PSP Minis version.

European Nintendo Downloads: You, Guybrush, and The Darklord

by David Hinkle { Sep 25th 2009 at 3:00PM }

This week's content for European Nintendo fans is quite the bevy of scrumptious content. There's a new chapter in the Tales of Monkey Island franchise to laugh through, as well as some new stuff for your little ne'er-do-well in My Life as a Darklord. If WiiWare isn't your thing, you could always shoot everything in sight in some R-Type on the Virtual Console. See? Totally a bevy.

You, Me, and the Cubes (WiiWare, 1 -2 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
Sexy Poker (WiiWare, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord - Palom ally add-on (WiiWare, 1 player, 200 Wii Points)
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord - Living Room Set add-on (WiiWare, 1 player, 400 Wii Points)
R-Type (Sega Master System, 1 - 2 players, 500 Wii Points)
Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam (DSiWare, 500 DSi Points)

Put on your rose-colored glasses for the first 3D Dot Game Heroes trailer

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 14th 2009 at 11:59PM }

From Software's homage to classic 8-bit gaming in upcoming Japanese release 3D Dot Game Heroes has been expressed in the first trailer. Sure, it absolutely reeks of the original Legend of Zelda, but in an updated, tongue-in-cheek kinda way. It certainly doesn't hurt that, visually speaking, it's stunning from beginning to end.

We've got screenshots and the gorgeous video above, but only a Japanese release date so far -- how about some love for the rest of the world, eh?

Gallery: 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)

Blades of Fury brings high-'calibur' fighting to iPhone

by JC Fletcher { Sep 9th 2009 at 11:45PM }

Sure, new iPods and iTunes and whatever are great, but the best Apple platform news for us this week is the release of Gameloft's Blades of Fury. Between the voice acting, the idea of playing a 3D fighter on iPhone, and, well, Gameloft's willingness to openly and unashamedly rip off Soul Calibur, this is one of the most entertaining iPhone releases yet, and we haven't even played the thing (which Touch Arcade says is actually pretty good). You're going to enjoy the trailer after the break.

In fact, the only way to approach Blades of Fury as anything other than just a Soul Calibur clone is to believe that Gameloft released it this week as an homage to Soul Calibur, ten years after the Dreamcast release.

[Via Touch Arcade]

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Assassin's Creed DS sequel discovered on iPhone

by JC Fletcher { Sep 9th 2009 at 8:45PM }

Finally, some footage of Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery, the still-unannounced DS sequel to Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles, has been revealed, and the game announced officially for the first time. At Apple's iPod event.

The last Gameloft-developed Assassin's Creed DS game was eventually ported to the iPhone/iPod Touch platform, well after the DS release. This time, it's the iPhone version of the game that was shown first, to be released at the same time as the console games, November 17.

The new side-scroller features the ability to capture your face with the iPhone camera for use in wanted posters. That sounds like one of those optional DSi features that are being included in DS games now by companies like ... Ubisoft.

[Via Engadget]

Battle Tanks rolling onto PSN this month for $10

by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 2nd 2009 at 10:00AM }

Gameloft is ready to bring that most classic of ideas to the PSN: Tanks blowing each other up. The astoundingly generic name for this iteration on the genre is Battle Tanks, which will be available sometime this month for $10. Don't let our tone fool you, we drool like any other red-blooded gamer at the idea of tanks using assorted weaponry to destroy one another.

~~Death Tank, Doom Tank, Panzer Pincher,~~ Battle Tanks will support a co-op mode for the campaign -- don't see the word "online" there -- and comes with 50 "maze and paint ball-like levels." Multiplayer supports up to four players in death match and ... capture the flag? Clearly we missed the part where the name was changed to Chase Tanks. Ooh! Is the flag some sort of super weapon?

ESRB rates new DS Assassin's Creed

by JC Fletcher { Aug 20th 2009 at 10:00AM }

The ESRB has revealed that, in addition to the PSP spin-off, another handheld Assassin's Creed game is on the way -- a DS Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles follow-up called Assassin's Creed II: Discovery. Could this be one of the "elements concerning the Assassin's Creed license" to which Yves Guillemot referred?

It sounds less like a direct sequel to the first Assassin's Creed DS game and more like a companion piece to the console Assassin's Creed II, a belief based only on the fact that the ESRB content description notes that it is "set during the Renaissance." The only other useful information in the content description is that it's a "side-scrolling action game," which could mean the same kind of mostly side-scrolling play found in Altair's Chronicles.

We're not surprised that Ubisoft hasn't said or shown anything related to this game. The company was similarly reticent about the first DS Assassin's Creed game -- after announcing it in October 2007, we didn't see a single screenshot until January, a month before its release.

[Via GoNintendo]

New Earthworm Jim less new than expected: it's a remake

by JC Fletcher { Aug 19th 2009 at 10:00AM }

Sega recently announced that due to a licensing issue with Interplay (a result of the newly announced Gameloft/Interplay Earthworm Jim game), Earthworm Jim would no longer be an option for a new Genesis XBLA game. The company then removed what was at that point the clear winner from its XBLA poll.

Why would a new Earthworm Jim prevent the release of an old one? Because the new one, G4TV's The Feed reports, is a remake and not an original game. That means it isn't the Earthworm Jim 4 announced last year, and that the same game will be available on both Virtual Console (the Genesis version was released on VC in October) and WiiWare.

[Image credit]

Groovy: Interplay and Gameloft making new downloadable Earthworm Jim

by JC Fletcher { Aug 17th 2009 at 4:57PM }

Interplay has announced a new Earthworm Jim for PSN, WiiWare, XBLA, and mobile platforms. Well, specifically, it announced that Gameloft will develop and publish a new Earthworm Jim game on those platforms. Which is ... considerably less exciting than if original creators Shiny Entertainment (now a part of Double Helix) were to return to the franchise. However, it is possible that this is the "Earthworm Jim 4" project for which creator Doug TenNapel was hired to consult -- which would be very groovy indeed.

The recent XBLA Genesis poll proved that there is a sizable Earthworm Jim fanbase, a fact that must have delighted executives at Interplay and Gameloft as they prepared to make this announcement. We didn't realize there are still that many Earthworm Jim fans in the world after Earthworm Jim 3D -- a game with which we hope this new release has nothing in common.

Earthworm Jim will debut on XBLA in the "last quarter of 2009," and will remain exclusive to that platform for one month.

[Image credit]