iphone posts (Subscribe to this feed)

EA: Downloads offset sluggish retail sales

by Andrew Yoon { Nov 5th 2009 at 11:00PM }

EA's John Riccitiello has a bit of advice for the anxious investors, analysts, and fanboys who eagerly await the monthly NPD numbers: "There's an entire other world of download, online, all the things that are going on that doesn't really show up in the surveys and I think that's the future." NPD figures only track retail sales, a market that has been challenged by the downturn in the global economy. Games like Madden 10 may sell fewer copies than previous versions, but that doesn't mean investors should jump ship.

"Online games that you download, games you would get by way of iPhone for example, that totally digital business is up so strong that it's actually offsetting the challenge we see at retail," Riccitiello tells FOX Business. Offerings like Madden 10 on iPhone, the upcoming Madden NFL Arcade, and Madden 10 DLC should go far in helping the company's bottom line. "The retail business is down," Riccitiello admits, but "the combination [of both retail and digital] is up."

Riccitiello's belief that digital is the future of the industry echoes earlier sentiments from EA Sports boss Peter Moore, who called the retail model "a burning platform." See Riccitiello's full interview with FOX after the break.

[Via Edge]

Continued →

Another developer reports insane iPhone piracy rates

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 27th 2009 at 10:01PM }

Only a day after iPhone developer Smells Like Donkey complained of an 80 percent piracy rate of its game Tap Fu, another developer has made an even more alarming claim. According to Fishlabs, its latest release, Rally Master Pro 3D, achieved an astonishing 95 percent piracy rate in its first day of release. Fishlabs' Michael Schade told Mobile Entertainment News that the 95 percent piracy rate corresponds to "many thousands." When discussing whether the recently implemented in-app purchasing feature would help curb piracy, Schade was skeptical, saying, "I doubt that." He added, "We will see in the future how well in-app purchases fight piracy."

Doom Classic soon to hurt us plenty on iPhone

by JC Fletcher { Oct 26th 2009 at 5:00PM }

An electronic device isn't a game machine these days until it passes the crucial "Does it run Doom" test. John Carmack has been hard at work on Doom Classic, an official port of id Software's groundbreaking FPS for iPhone, and now he reports that it's been submitted to Apple for approval, only four months after Carmack said it would be ready. Soon – provided Apple gives the okay to a tour of Hell – we'll be swiping and tilting our way to a symphony of exploding barrels.

Doom Classic should support wi-fi multiplayer upon its release, with Bluetooth to follow if it's not already implemented. At least, that's what Carmack said earlier this year.

Developer claims 80 percent piracy rate for latest iPhone release

by Andrew Yoon { Oct 26th 2009 at 12:30PM }

Apple's iPhone/iPod Touch is a lot like Sony's PSP in many ways: they both play games, movies and music -- and now both can struggle with the effects of piracy. According to iPhone developer Smells Like Donkey, about 80 percent of all downloads of Tap-Fu were illegally downloaded.

The developer notes that learning how to pirate games off the iPhone is surprisingly easy, thanks to "a kernel patch that bypasses Apple's DRM system" that "would take an average person 5 minutes in Google to find." Additionally, the developer discovered that an average of zero percent of pirates end up purchasing a legitimate copy of Tap-Fu -- it seems marking the game down to $1.99 didn't discourage anyone from taking a free ride.

"It is kind of depressing," the developer admits. However, other iPhone developers are encouraged to take a proactive approach in lieu of Apple's slow response to the piracy situation. "Detecting a pirated app is quite simple to do," the developer notes. "Probably the first thing we'll try is popping up a message reminding people that they really should buy the game if they like it and conveniently provide links to do so." An alternate plan to generate revenue? DLC. "This forces the pirates to change their strategy significantly and it might be a while before it becomes feasible to attack this system."

[Via Develop]

Volkswagen abandons traditional marketing in favor of iPhone game for GTI launch

by Andrew Yoon { Oct 22nd 2009 at 12:00AM }

A car manufacturer using a video game as a promotional tool is nothing new; Toyota generated a lot of buzz with its laughably bad (but free!) Yaris on Xbox Live Arcade two years ago. However, Volkswagen is taking the adver-gaming concept a huge step forward, by releasing a free iPhone game in lieu of a traditional advertising campaign. Don't expect to see any television commercials for the 2010 GTI -- for now, Volkswagen is committed to promoting its new vehicle exclusively through its App Store game.

Real Racing GTI should be available for download right now, and thankfully, it's no Yaris. Instead of crafting an entirely original game, Volkswagen collaborated with developer Firemint to release a free "lite" version of its popular Real Racing game that exclusively features the new GTI car.

"Launching the all-new 2010 GTI via the Real Racing GTI App allows us to connect with this savvy GTI consumer within his or her everyday life in a way that no 30-second spot ever could," Tim Ellis, Volkswagen's VP of Marketing, said in an advance press release. While it's true a free game will give individuals lengthy exposure to the brand, we still have our doubts about its reach. Ellis assured us that Apple was an ideal partner to work with, and that while alternatives (like PlayStation and Xbox) were considered, an exclusive arrangement with Apple ensured that the app would be prominently promoted, not to be lost amongst the dozens of fart apps that litter the service. Volkswagen hopes that through word-of-mouth alone, Real Racing GTI will be able to garner at least two million downloads. Considering the comparatively low cost of this promotion, coming shy of that benchmark probably won't be too devastating.

You can check out a video of the original Real Racing after the break.

Gallery: Real Racing GTI

Continued →

Pachter: Project Natal will cost $50, 'Sphere' no more than $100 [update]

by David Hinkle { Oct 15th 2009 at 11:00PM }

Over at IndustryGamers, everyone's favorite video game predicterer (we're still working on that one) Michael Pachter has taken the reigns of the site and offers his own extensive diatribe on the future of Sony and Microsoft's upcoming new tech: Project Natal and the PlayStation Motion Controller (rumored to be called Sphere). Pachter's assertion is that price will be Natal's biggest selling point and Microsoft will try to expand upon its market of established Xbox 360 owners by offering the device for $50. For Sony's doodad, Pachter says the company is "trying to create an answer to the success of the Wii."

Pachter even likens the future state of a Natal-enabled Xbox 360 to the current state of the iPhone -- with features like Twitter, Netflix, Last.fm and Facebook inside Microsoft's box and its intuitive interface, he says casual or non-playing members of Xbox 360 households will become interested. And then when it's bundled with all new Xbox 360s, he says that'll expand Microsoft's reach even more.

For the motion-controlled competition, Pachter says he'd be surprised if Sony's asking price was over $100, and stresses that both Microsoft and Sony need to keep "the consumer's cost relatively low in order to achieve broad penetration."

[Update: Corrected Pachter's belief that the motion controller would be no more than $100. We sincerely apologize for the misinterpretation and the consequent misinformation.]

PSP minis developer surprised by cost of ESRB ratings [Update]

by Andrew Yoon { Oct 9th 2009 at 5:09PM }

Here's one reason why PSP minis are more expensive than their iPhone counterparts: the ESRB. Sony doesn't enforce any control over the pricing of minis, but they do mandate getting approval from the ESRB ratings board. That, apparently, has been a significant hidden cost some developers didn't expect. "You have to invest some money into dev kits and into getting ratings for your game. The costs of ratings such us ESRB is significantly more then we had realized," Fieldrunners developer Sergei Gourski told Gamasutra. According to a posting at GameDev.net, the cost of getting an approval is $2,500. [Update: The ESRB responded to our story, correcting the price. "ESRB has a reduced fee of $800 for games that have development costs under $250,000, which would likely apply to virtually all PSP Minis."]

Content developed for the iPhone doesn't need to go through the ratings board, an oversight which, surprisingly, has yet to attract a media call-to-arms. Should the ESRB succeed in courting Apple as the defacto ratings system for the iPhone, the high cost of approval should curtail one of the largest problems facing the iPhone store today: having too much content, a sentiment shared by Minigore developer Kimmo Vihola. Vihola noted that "[Apple's] process is starting to crack from the seams," and pointed out that Sony's turnaround time on minis is much faster than Apple's store. Sony takes three to five days for approval, while Apple varies "from a couple of days to up to six weeks."

SCEA: Developers responsible for keeping PSP minis prices competitive

by Andrew Yoon { Oct 7th 2009 at 5:15PM }

PSP minis are supposed to introduce bite-sized iPhone-esque games to Sony's handheld. While minis feature small file sizes and reduced functionality, they certainly don't carry smaller price tags. The first batch of minis have all been priced between $4.99 and $9.99, making them no cheaper than the average PlayStation Network exclusive. Which sounds like the better deal for $9.99? Yet another version of Tetris ... or the 3D online multiplayer shooter Syphon Filter: Combat Ops?

Even worse, many of these minis are priced higher than their iPhone counterparts. While Hero of Sparta costs $1.99 on iPhone, it costs $5.99 on PSP. Fieldrunners costs $2.99 on iPhone, but $6.99 on PSP. We chatted with SCEA's Eric Lempel to talk about the lack of apparent value in the minis program. He explained that Sony has no hand in determining the prices of minis. "As far as pricing goes, the publisher of the title sets the pricing," he explained. When quizzed if publishers were allowed to create a $1.99 game on PSP, he told us: "Yes, absolutely."

Lempel agrees that publishers must seriously think about the kind of prices they're setting on the Store, to ensure their content offers the same value as other PSP titles. "I think they have to carefully look at that, carefully price their content. Minis was intended to be something a little different and we wanted to see a lot of different types of content through minis. If it's not priced correctly, consumers may be turned off at the proposition and say 'I'd rather just go for this kind of stuff instead of minis.'"

Dreamcast controller turned into decoration for iPhone dock

by JC Fletcher { Oct 6th 2009 at 2:00AM }

Deciding that the Dreamcast controller had too many input methods and not enough screens, Flickr user jayhauf removed the D-pad from the device and made the whole thing into an ornamental iPhone dock.

We're pretty sure you can try this one at home, if you've got a (preferably broken) Dreamcast controller: just pull out the D-pad and the cord, and thread your iPhone connector through. Just like that, you've got a telephone sticking out of the left side of your controller! It's certain to be a conversation piece, inspiring questions from your friends like "Why did you do that?" and "How are we going to play Power Stone now?"

[Via Engadget]

iPhone game ported to Zune HD in less than a day

by Richard Mitchell { Sep 21st 2009 at 10:30PM }

Redmond Pie reports that developer Foundation42 has ported its iPhone game WordMonger -- which sits somewhere between Bejeweled and Scrabble -- to the Zune HD. While this is interesting in itself, it's actually very impressive given that the port was complete is only twelve hours. The game was written in C# using OpenGL, and ported to Zune HD with XNA Game Studio 3.1 using Visual Studio 2008. It really is an exceptional achievement.

At least, it would be if Microsoft had a firm stance on third party development for the Zune HD. As it stands, there is no rote submission process à la Apple's App Store, with Microsoft instead opting to work with publishers on a "case-by-case" basis. Still, at the very least, WordMonger will hopefully be available on the App Store this Thanksgiving. See video of both the iPhone and Zune HD versions after the break.

Continued →

Way of the Samurai 3 cuttin' fools in NA this October

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 19th 2009 at 8:30PM }

The graphics may be a bit undercooked and the series' last entry may have been released in the States over five years ago, but we certainly were happy to hear that Way of the Samurai 3 will be arriving on October 13th in the US. Agetec and UFO Interactive -- in charge of publishing the PS3 and 360 iterations, respectively -- officially announced the game's impending October arrival yesterday, as well as news of an iPhone iteration of the game currently available for free.

Sure, the iPhone version of WotS3 isn't much more than a side-scrolling brawler, but hey, it's free! Hopefully that can sate your samurai murdering urges for another month.

Way of the Samurai 3 ($0.00):

[Via Destructoid]

OTOY: The game streaming service you've never heard of

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 13th 2009 at 6:30PM }

While OnLive and Gaikai continue to hog the game-streaming spotlight, few are talking about the third option that people will have for server-based gaming: OTOY. And that's likely because the company (of the same name) behind the technology hasn't been exactly forthcoming with details -- even the official website has nothing more than the "Soon" image you see above. Ars Technica recently got a chance to check out the service in action, pushing graphical monster Crysis to an iPhone with reportedly good results.

The service is still in its infancy, as demonstrated by a TechCrunch hands-on video we've dropped after the break, but shows a lot of potential. Considering OnLive's currently holding its public beta in North America and Gaikai's kicking off a private beta in Europe late this month, we hope OTOY decides to start getting vocal soon. We're all ears!

Continued →

Madden 10 tackles the iPhone

by Andrew Yoon { Sep 9th 2009 at 2:15PM }

click for Madden 10 iPhone gallery

There's an old (albeit imaginary) adage in the game's industry: If it can play games, Madden will undoubtedly follow. EA Sports is rushing Apple's App Store with a brand new game that takes full advantage of the iPhone's (and iPod's) touch screen. Unlike the console variants, the handheld Madden 10 experience is more accessible to the casual player. Beginners will be able to get by without thinking about the playbook, as the game automatically recommends appropriate plays. The action slows down when the quarterback has the ball, and color-coded icons appear on the screen, indicating the likelihood of making a completion.

In our brief time with the game, it was clear that EA Mobile placed a lot of effort into ensuring Madden could be played in short bursts: not only does the game launch within seconds from the iPhone menu, the game auto-saves after every play, allowing players to stop and resume a match any time they want. Hardcore football fans are likely to appreciate the added depth that casual gamers wil avoid: there are 2000 players in the game, voiced (tinny) commentary from John Madden, and a feature called "Hot Route" which allows players to manually draw plays to carry out. A ridiculous number of stats are also tracked by the game with full sorting, so you can know exactly who has the highest 3rd down conversion ratio in the league.

The game will be available for $9.99 in the App Store, though you can snag it for a discounted $7.99 today. We've been told that multiplayer is being worked on, as well as DLC, such as roster updates and "authentic jerseys."

Gallery: Madden 10 (iPhone)

Spell the day away with Boggle on iPhone

by Griffin McElroy { Aug 31st 2009 at 11:30PM }

EA Mobile certainly hopes your fascination with crafting words from letter-filled grids on your iPhone hasn't waned -- the developer recently released a port of Hasbro's Boggle onto the App Store. Though it lacks Word Scramble's robust multiplayer system (and free-ness), it does possess one feature that justifies its $2.99 price tag: Achievements. Lots of achievements. Seriously, wordsmithing hasn't been this rewarding since you won those tickets to Dollywood in your fourth grade spelling bee.

We take it back. This is way more rewarding than that.

Boggle ($2.99, EA Mobile):

Rockstar's Beaterator kicks it on the iPhone this fall

by David Hinkle { Aug 31st 2009 at 2:00PM }

Timbaland's beat-blasting PSP game Beaterator is exclusive to Sony's platform no more, as Rockstar just announced the music-making application is headed to the iPhone, alongside Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Set for release sometime this fall, the title "features thousands of loops and sounds made by both Timbaland and Rockstar, and puts the power to make professional-level music at your fingertips in a format that's portable, accessible and fun."

Sadly, no price has been mentioned, but we're sure you won't have to pony up that much scratch. Get it? Hey, where are you going?