Of gyroscopes and gaming: the tech behind the Wii MotionPlus

The new "MotionPlus" add-on for the Nintendo Wii is supposed to again revolutionize motion-controlled gaming. Check out this exclusive look at the tech in the MotionPlus direct from the source of the unit's powerful brain, InvenSense.Read More...

Appletell review - Cubis 2 for iPod

Section: iPod + iTunes, iPod, iPod nano, Features, Review Genre: Arcade/puzzle Format: iPod Game Developer: Fresh Games, LLC Minimum Requirements: iPod classic, iPod 5G, iPod nano 3G, iPod Software v1.2 Price: $4.99 ESRB Rating: N/A Availability: Now Here, then, we have a game perfectly suited to the iPod. It’s suited to the controls, and it’s suited to the small screen. What it may not be suited to is your schedule. If you only break out an iPod game when you’re trying to kill time before an appointment or while you’re waiting for your kid’s trombone lesson to end, the addictive nature of Cubis 2 may cause you to be late on more than one occasion. And actually, I hate using the term “addictive,” as it’s never accurate when speaking about games. Do people go into violent shakes when they can’t play Cubis for a few days? Do they sell the Renoir and the TV set to finance a new iPod classic or iPod nano when they’ve worn out the controls of the 5G due to intense Cubis 2 gaming? I imagine not. But if you’re into puzzle/arcade-styled games such as Bejeweled (also available for iPod), you will probably enjoy Cubis 2, and maybe even find it’s the more satisfying gaming experience of the two. The gameplay centers around the traditional task of lining up three or more cubes of matching colors. The cubes then disappear, allowing others to fall into their place. It’s like house cleaning, but with bright, happy colors and music, and no dog getting in your way. The twist here is that the board is laid down flat, and the cubes stack on top of one another. The 3D perspective adds an extra challenge with more possibilities for combo moves, and it requires some unique controls. Rather than just click directly on the cubes you want to match up, you fire a cube onto the game board from either the left or the bottom. This is done by lining up your shot with the click-wheel, then sending it into play by hitting the iPod’s center button. Smooth and intuitive, although sometimes difficult to land directly on the row/column you want. When you shoot a cube onto the board, it either pushes away the cube it hits (provided there’s room to do so) or it causes cubes to disappear if it creates a match of three or more like colors. If the cubes disappear, the cube above it will fall and crack, if there is one. Cracked cubes shatter and disappear if another cube is shot through it. Keep this up until the board is clear, and it’s on to the next. As is always the case with games such as this, the developers keep things interesting by having different cubes behave in different ways. For instance, there’s the Lift Cube which wedges its way underneath the first cube it hits, then becomes a regular cube. Although highly annoying at first, these cubes will help you set up better chain reactions (for more points) once you learn how to use them properly. There’s a Stone Cube that can only be removed with Lasers or a Bomb Cube, so, of course, there are Lasers and Bomb Cubes, amongst other things. You don’t know when you’ll get these various cubes (the three cubes “on deck” are always visible), and learning how to utilize (or, in some cases, deal with) them is what provides the game’s challenge. Oh. And there’s a time limit. Isn’t that always the way? To keep things even more interesting, Cubis 2 contains four slightly different play variations. Arcade Mode is pretty much what I described above, in which you have to clear a certain percentage of blocks from the screen. Puzzle Mode gives you specific tasks, such as clearing all of the star cubes within a certain amount of time. Then, there are Morph Modes of both Arcade and Puzzle Mode which add Ghost Cubes that float around and mess up your strategies, making the game more complex. Depending upon what type of gamer you are, that could be a problem with Cubis 2. It’s more difficult than other games of this sort. The multi-layered action makes for a steeper learning curve than you’d expect, and it’ll be a while before you’re able to develop strategies that...you know...work. As a result, easily discouraged gamers will bail on this early even if they’re succeeding, because they’ll have no idea why they’re succeeding. On the other hand, those that stick with it will be rewarded with a more satisfying gaming experience with a longer shelf life than most other iPod games. To help you along with this, Fresh Games includes a few different screen backdrops from which to chose, as well as different cube styles. The variations aren’t that drastic, but they do give you something else to look at every now and then. Even better, the music does a nice job of drifting into the background when you play. This is what music in games like this should do; if it’s noticeable, it would get annoying very quickly. There are multiple version of Cubis 2 available online for free play, so I very much recommend you check these out to get a good feel for the game. If you enjoy it at all online, you’ll like it even more on the iPod. There are other games you can download from iTunes that you’ll learn and get into more quickly than Cubis 2, but not many you’ll enjoy for longer. Appletell Rating: Buy Cubis 2 See other iPod game reviews. This review was originally published at Applelinks. Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

US firm files patent claim against Nintendo Wii (AFP)

AFP - A US firm said Wednesday it had filed legal actions against Japanese-based Nintendo claiming patent infringement by the wildly popular Wii game console.

iPod Game Review: Pole Position: Remix

Section: iPod + iTunes, iPod, iPod nano, Features, Review Genre: Sports Format: iPod Game (Download from iTunes Store) Developer: Namco Networks America Inc. Compatible iPods: iPod nano (3rd generation), iPod classic, and iPod (5th generation). They cannot be played on your computer, nor are they compatible with other iPod models including the iPhone and the iPod touch. Review iPod: iPod nano (3rd generation) and iPod (5th generation) Price: $5.99 ESRB Rating: N/A Availability: Now Demo: No After owning my iPod for a few months, I decided to purchase a few games to play while listening to some tunes and podcasts. Pole Position: Remix was one of them. After playing one race, I quickly felt the style of gameplay was much different. Your average racing game doesn’t force you to pause a few seconds then start racing again after you smash your car into a sign, wall or another opponent, it just dents your car. Your steering must be precise or you’ll end up going into a puddle or gas spill, crashing, then starting up again a few seconds later. While it can get annoying when you have the almost natural instinct to crash into other cars and knock them off the road, Pole Position: Remix does bring the classic 80s style of gameplay to your iPod. Racing in cockpit view the entire game, you must first quailify to race by achieving points based on the distance raced. The whole points system is also quite strange. In a typical racing game, you must pass the opponents and try to get first place. In Pole Position, try to go as fast as possible (without crashing) to gain points. At the end of the race, whoever has the most points wins. You’ll get extra points for passing other cars, but if you pass everyone at the start, more cars will appear ahead of you later in the race. The racing for points style of gameplay isn’t bad, it just takes some time to get used to. You’ll also be able to race the famous four tracks of the game: Namco, Speedway, Wonder, and Seaside. A fifth and new track—Misaki Point—comes in the iPod version. When racing in these five tracks you’ll notice that all the billboards are filled with album artwork from the content on your iPod. When you pass certain races, you’ll be able to unlock cockpit themes based on other classic Namco games from the 80’s; like PAC-MAN, Galaga and Dig-Dug. Racing in a bit of style defiently adds to change up the environment. This game keeps all of the elements of the classic game with added features for the iPod. The game is great if you’d like a fast game that’ll get your thumb spinning around the clickwheel while you listen to some tunes. Graphics aren’t the best compared to some other iPod games, but the original game’s weren’t that good, either. And while Pole Position: Remix is playable on the Nano, it’ll be a bit harder because of the small click wheel. Appletell Rating: Purchase Pole Position: Remix Full Story » | Written by Nicholas Montgomery for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Nintendo reports jump in quarter profit on hit Wii (AP)

AP - Nintendo Co.'s profit for the fiscal first quarter surged 34 percent from a year ago as sales of its hit Wii shot up, underlining the success of the wand-wielding video game console in attracting novice players.

Porting games to the Mac is a tricky business

Section: Software + Apps, GamesRemember back when Apple made the switch to Intel and it suddenly seemed as if all those PC games would be more easily ported to the Mac? So do I, and I’m still wondering where everything is. We saw some big name titles from EA, but after their initial release of four A-list titles (Madden, Need for Speed, etc.), nothing. Companies such as Aspyr and Feral continue to release popular games such as Call of Duty 4 and Tomb Raider Anniversary, but certainly no more so than when Macs were happily chugging away on PowerPC chips. So, what’s been going on? Alex McLarty at The Mac Gamer finds some answers from one of the best sources in Mac gaming: Glenda Adams, Director of Development for Aspyr Media: TMG: We’ve had Intel in our Macs for a few years now. Has how the switch changed game development for the Mac? Glenda: It’s lessened some of the work we have to do, but unfortunately the graphics side of games has just exploded. The amount of shader code and complex rendering is probably 2-3 times as much work as it was for games a couple years ago, so that has more than offset the efficiency gains we had from the Intel switch. TMG: Why hasn’t there been a flood of games for the Mac that some predicted? Glenda: I think there are several reasons - Mac game sales are still fairly constant, and haven’t expanded with Apple’s market share increases over the last two years.  So there isn’t loads of money to be made. And the complexity of games has made it more difficult to port them to the Mac. Lastly, the PC market has been really beat up in 2007 and 2008, and there just aren’t as many AAA PC games out there that make sense to bring to the Mac. And if you think that sounds depressing, hold on; it gets worse. TMG: How do you see gaming progressing in the next few years? Glenda: The shift to console is undeniable. There are just so many benefits to working on a stable and well defined hardware platform. This is a shift that has been taking place for some time now. More and more computer games are being released simultaneously with the console counterparts. The result of this is that computer games are being “dumbed down” to the console system(s) for which they’re developed. The days of taking full advantage of the WASD + mouse control system, which for many games is far superior to that of a traditional console gamepad (especially first-person shooters), are disappearing, leaving us with games that feel clunky on computer systems. Plus, with the advent of the Wii Remote + Wii Nunchuck system of the Nintendo Wii, there’s actually a control system out there that’s better than the keyboard/mouse combo of the computer. But the news gets still worse for Mac gamers: TMG: Thoughts on the iPhone? Will you be developing anything for it? Glenda: We’re actively working on several games for the iPhone, and it is a very exciting platform. We can’t wait to get our first apps out and in the store. This is something of which I’ve been hearing a lot from developers: “Exciting.” I take that to mean lucrative, as it’s apparently quite easy to develop for the iPhone, publishers don’t have to worry about packaging and retail space, distribution is easier, and there is (or will be) a much wider audience for iPhone games. I imagine that many Mac developers will soon shift their focus towards the iPhone, leaving us with even fewer options for games that don’t concern girls serving cake to impatient patrons. You can follow the link below for more of The Mac Gamer’s interview with Glenda Adams. Or, like me, you can just go hide yourself in a prolonged gaming session with Neverwinter Nights 2. Try bringing that to the iPhone, Glenda! Read [The Mac Gamer] Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »