As Microsoft and Sony prepare new consoles and Valve plans its Steam Box (or boxes), it seems everyone is preparing for the three to go head-to-head. Everyone except Valve boss Gabe Newell, at least, who seems unperturbed by either console and more concerned with Apple's movements in the market.
Read more: 'I think Apple rolls the console guys really easily' »
Console-style gaming may be coming to iOS. A new patent application published today shows the company considering the use of a typical dual-analog controller to interface with Apple TV and other iOS devices. The documented controller looks very similar to Sony's DualShock, and offers two analog sticks, four shoulder buttons, and four face buttons (in addition to possible Start and Select buttons). A diagram explicitly shows it communicating with an iPhone.
If you get squeamish around the impending threat of mobile games, be advised that the content of this article is graphic and may disturb you. Infinity Blade is Epic's most profitable game franchise, according to CEO Tim Sweeney. The statistic comes with a few caveats, but it's still a pretty striking example of a rapidly changing games marketplace.
Infinity Blade 2 has received a large, free content update today, and is on sale at a cheaper price to boot. The "ClashMob" update creates social challenges, along with new in-game items, and the Gem Forge feature. Unfortunately, it doesn't include synchronized crowd dancing -- you're thinking "FlashMob."
The internet is now just a little bit safer for children playing online games, thanks to the efforts of seven major game publishers and the New York Attorney General's office to purge the online accounts of registered sex offenders.
"Operation: Game Over," the nickname of the initiative by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, used the New York sex offender rolls and compared them to the list of online video game accounts of Blizzard, Disney, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros., Microsoft, Sony and Apple. More than 3,500 accounts were successfully removed from the game companies' databases.
Apple's new iPad has started hitting the hands of early adopters and hipsters alike, and it sports a Retina display screen among other features. "But what can I use all those pixels for?" you might wonder. Fortunately, several games have already updated for iPad Retina Display support.
Read more: Infinity Blade 2, Mass Effect Infiltrator updated »
Apple announced a new iPad at a press event today in San Francisco. The successor to the iPad 2 will use the Retina Display for a striking 2048x1536 resolution. It will be hitting stores on March 16 at various price points.
Just six months after the launch of Lion, Apple has announced yet another iteration of its OS X operating system. Codenamed Mountain Lion, OS X 10.8 will be available to download from the App Store this summer.
The new OS will continue adding features now standard on Apple's other operating system, iOS. Perhaps the most important addition (at least to us) is Game Center.
Black Powder Media, maker of such iOS games as Vector Tanks and Vector Tanks Extreme, recently had both games unceremoniously pulled from Apple's App Store after mainstream publisher Atari reportedly filed a copyright infringement claim. A cursory look at games in the Vector Tanks series reveal games that bear some visual resemblance to Battlezone, an arcade-cabinet offering released by Atari in 1980.
Superman has a rocky history with video games. His most famous game, Superman 64, is remembered mostly as a punchline. But that doesn't stop developers from trying to strike the right tone with the Man of Steel, and his next platform will be the iOS devices. Chillingo and Tiger Games plan to release their iPhone and iPad Superman game this November.
Valve head Gabe Newell says that games are entering a transitional phase, and warns that the industry may be moving away from open platforms, towards proprietary technology instead. "On the platform side, it's sort of ominous that the world seems to be moving away from open platforms," Newell said in a panel.
He also suggests that Apple could be on the verge of releasing a living room device that could shake up the industry like the iPhone.
Unpleasant Horse, the debut game of PopCap's edgy spin-off label 4th & Battery, has now launched on the App Store. The free game lets you leap from cloud to cloud as a mean little pegasus, and jumping on the backs of other, nicer pegusi (pegasuses?) will drag them down to bloody spikes before you leap to safety. Adorable. Read more »
Unpleasant Horse, in which a naughty Pegasus pushes hapless animals into meat grinders, is apparently a little too unpleasant for Apple's tastes. In a series of tweets (via Joystiq), PopCap's new experimental label 4th & Battery announced that Apple rejected the free iPhone game. "We thought horses dying in meat grinders were wholesome family entertainment!" the team joked in a now-deleted tweet.
4th & Battery is appealing with a higher rating, and set to make an official statement soon. In the meantime, the team has been none-too-subtly complimenting Apple. Read more »
Apple has a tendency to update its hardware on a pretty regular basis -- take the iPhone, which is on its fourth revision in as many years. So it should come as no surprise that rumors are circulating of an iPad successor set to be rolled out at an Apple event on March 2.
Engadget reports that it received an invitation to an Apple event, which contains a none-too-subtle hint of the new iPad. The invite shows a calendar page unfurling to reveal the corner of an iPad. Read more »
The Mac App Store, which was announced back in October, will be launching on January 6 for Mac OSX Snow Leopard users ahead of the Lion upgrade coming next summer (via MacRumors).
The App Store, much like its iOS counterpart, will seek to help surface, organize, and sell Mac software in an environment familiar to iTunes and iOS users. It will be used for installing, updating, and managing ownership of applications and games, as well. Read more »
"People don't seem to realize this. Apple's portable devices are handled more like consoles than ..."
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