Review: Spore Origins for iPod

Offering a distilled experience of the first part of the full Spore game, Spore Origins makes a surprisingly good debut in this version for third-generation iPod nanos, fifth-generation iPods, and the iPod classic.

Appletell review - Spore Origins for iPod

Section: Software + Apps, Games, iPod + iTunes, iTunes, iPod, iPod nano, Features, Review Genre: RPG, Strategy Format: iPod Game Developer: Maxis Mac Port: Electronic Arts System Requirements: 3G iPod nano, 5G iPod classic, 28.7MB free space Price: $4.99 It may be hard to believe, but the release date of one of the most anticipated video games in a long time is nearing. In recent months, starting with the Spore Creature Creator, we have been teased and taunted with little samples of the game, intended to keep our breath bated until the 12th of September. Now, the latest appetizer for the entree that is Spore has been released. The newest installment, titled Spore Origins, has been released for game-compatible iPods in the US. Through the 18 levels of Primordial Tide Pool goodness, EA hopes to give a taste of what the full version will present itself to be. Before I even downloaded the game, I was very excited to take a look-see at the latest Spore teaser. The second I caught wind of its release, I went straight to iTunes to get myself a copy. I subsequently installed the game on my iPod, and the excitement ended there. My first try to play the game ended in my iPod crashing at the title screen. Granted, this is just an iPod and Spore’s a formidable game, but I wasn’t expecting any crashing, let alone before the gameplay even started. After reseting my iPod, I went for another go. The second attempt ended almost as badly, with the game freezing while loading the first level. Once more, I reset my iPod and tried again. Third time was not the charm. Not knowing what else to do, I went into iTunes, removed the game from my iPod, re-downloaded it, and re-installed it. That seemed to have done the trick, as I was up and running after that. All things ran smoothly until the end of the 17 level. While loading the 18th and final level, the game again froze. I thought that it was just my luck, but it turns out many initial downloaders experienced similar issues.  As for gameplay, I didn’t expect much, and that’s what I got. Initially, there are no predators, and you are free to pig out in the first level of the primordial soup. After five levels of play, you are offered a chance to upgrade your “Spore.” Upgrades range from coloring to body shape to body parts, the latter of which provides you with everything from mouths and tails to shells and flippers. Within each category of body part (Perception, Offensive, Defensive and Movement), there are three levels, each with more benefit then the last.  The 18 levels get progressively harder, but none of them impossibly so. They also get very repetitive, with the only changes coming from the upgrades obtained every 5 levels and the increasing difficulty from stronger foes. The levels took me around 2-5 minutes each to beat, and I got to the 17th level (before it froze) in around 45 minutes of straight playing. If you can overlook the critical freezing and crashing, this game isn’t much in the way of entertainment, as it gets quite boring and makes your hand hurt like crazy. Unless you are a crazed Spore fan like me who can’t stand waiting for another two weeks for the actual game, I wouldn’t suggest spending your money on Spore Origins, but rather a worthwhile iPod game such as Monopoly or Mini Golf, both of which haven’t gotten old after extensive play. Or, if you’re feeling quite miserly, you could just stick to Vortex, which its quite the game given its free nature. For those of you who roll with a different mobile device, the game is planned for its iPhone, iPod touch, Nintendo DS and other platform release on September 7th. Appletell Rating: See other iPod game reviews. Buy Spore Origins Full Story » | Written by Mark Rowland for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Will the iPhone kill iPod Click Wheel gaming?

Section: iPod + iTunes, iPod touch, iPod Family, iTunes, iPod, iPod nano, iPhone + Communications, iPhone, iPhone SDK & Apps, OriginalsYes, and it’s about time we put it out of its misery. Even before the iPhone, the iPod never stood a chance as a legitimate gaming device. This saddens me somewhat, too, because I really wanted it to be. I viewed gaming on the iPod much as I do on my Macintosh, in that I didn’t buy a Mac to play games, but if there are games available, I’ll certainly play them. Unfortunately, developers just never put much thought into iPod games, and Apple didn’t seem interested in helping out. The main problem, of course, is the scroll wheel. There are very few games that can be effectively controlled with a wheel, and developers just haven’t been able to work around that. Games such as Mini Golf, Vortex and Peggle are workable, but only because of the simple control schemes that mainly involve spinning in a circle. Okay. But why is Sonic the Hedgehog on the iPod? Bomberman? Pac Man? These are big name titles, sure, but trying to control them with a click wheel is an exercise in frustration and futility that only turns gamers away from the iPod. Games for the iPhone are being developed specifically for the iPhone. Developers are excited about the touch screen and accelerometer, and are already putting them to good use. Obviously, developers didn’t have that excitement about the iPod’s click wheel. As a result, we got a mess of games with titles we recognize—Scrabble, Yahtzee, Pole Position, Pirates of the Caribberan(?!)—because that’s the only way people would buy them. Even EA, apparently recognizing no one wants to play pool on an iPod, threw their popular Sims franchise label on top of it in an effort to move some copies. They did the same with The Sims Bowling and The Sims DJ. Actually, The Sims DJ goes in a direction that more games should have, in that it puts your music collection into the game. It’s not just background music while you play; rather, the gameplay is built around your music. It’s an original concept that could only work on the iPod. The same goes for iQuiz, which creates trivia games based on your own music. This is what more developers needed to do, instead of just throwing unplayable ports of cell phone games at us. Or, someone could’ve given us an iPod game pad. I imagine if the market had been there, someone would have. I’m not a developer and know little of design, but I can’t imagine it would’ve been hard to put together a cradle in which the iPod classic and 3G nano would sit, placing a D-pad to the left of the click wheel and a few buttons to the right. The D-pad would take over the touch commands of the click wheel, and the buttons would take over the wheel and center button clicking functions. With that device, the games would be able to be played as they’re meant to, and the entire catalog would open to all iPod owners on a device combo no larger than a Nintendo DS. Of course, the problem with such a device is that Apple updates the form factor of the iPod so frequently that it would have to be a wide open design to avoid becoming obsolete within a year or two. Plus, as I mentioned at the top of the article, people aren’t buying iPods for the games. The Nintendo DS and Sony PSP have that market covered, so it’s unlikely the type of person looking to play Sonic the Hedgehog would look to do so on an iPod. And so, we’re back to game design. Developers need to put games on the iPod that work on the iPod, which is why I’m thrilled to see a company as huge as Square Enix getting into the mix with Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes. Here’s a game that not only works with the click wheel (it’s not a perfect fit, but the turn-based strategy gameplay doesn’t require quick, precise control, and is therefore more forgiving), but that takes full advantage of the your music collection; the songs on your iPod actually become ”Tune Troopers.” How cool is that...building an army based on your music. I just added this game to my collection, and can’t wait to see what type of soldiers songs such as Queen’s “Ogre Battle” and “Vultan’s Theme (Attack of the Hawk Men)” give me. Or, for that matter, “Particle Man” from They Might Be Giants. So, is there hope for iPod gaming, or is this too little, too late? I fear it’s the latter, but I hope Song Summoner does well enough to convince Square Enix to embrace the iPhone and iPod touch platforms. Support from big name developers and publishers will improve public perception within the gaming community, and that can only be good for sales. After all, showing friends Vortex on the iPod never convinced anyone to run out and buy one, but Super Monkey Ball could certainly have that effect. Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

World of Warcraft Preview: Up close with the Lich King

Blizzard has released its second full World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Chris Holt talks to Blizzard’s Alex Afrasiabi about the state of the World of Warcraft.

Note to journalists who don’t play games: The iPhone will not kill the DS or PSP

Section: Software + Apps, Games, iPod + iTunes, iPod touch, iPhone + Communications, iPhone, iPhone SDK & Apps, Originals I’m not an industry analyst, I’m a gamer. I have been since my brother and I used some inheritance money to buy an Intellivision back in the early ‘80s. And although I have my favorite systems (I’ve become a Nintendo fellow as of late, owning both the DS and Wii), I can appreciate the strengths of each system currently on the market. I don’t have access to the Microsoft and Sony platforms, but I find plenty of other ways to fulfill my video gaming needs. And because I review games for both Appletell and Gamertell, I probably spend more time playing games than a working man and father of two should. Productive? Perhaps not, but my broad exposure to the gaming lifestyle does make me question the logic behind articles about how the iPhone will take over the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP for handheld gaming. You can’t mash buttons if you don’t have buttons. The latest such article comes from Nick Winfield and Christopher Lawton of wsj.com (see Apple’s iPhone Faces Off With the Game Champs). To their credit, Nick and Christopher don’t state that the iPhone is a DS/PSP killer, rather that it’s simply “targeting” them; that big name developers and publishing houses are increasingly seeing the iPhone and iPod touch as valid gaming systems. But are these iDevices really in direct competition with the DS and PSP? Because if they are, they’re simply no match. This isn’t to say that iPhone games aren’t good. I’ve played quite a few that I enjoy, but it’s a completely different gaming experience. Games were an afterthought to the development of the iPhone and iPod touch, as evidenced mainly by the control system. Although the accelerometer is cool for some genres (racing, mostly, or the always popular moving balls), the combination of that and the touch screen make even the most basic of video games extremely awkward to control. Tilt. You’ve got no other choice. Take, for instance, Bomberman touch. Bomberman has appeared in some form on pretty much every computer/gaming system since the dawn of Atari. Its success has stemmed mainly from its simple, addictive gameplay, but the iPhone version is not simple because the touch screen controls are awkward and frustrating. And believe me, nothing kills “addictive” faster than “frustrating.” So, in order to make a game that actually plays well on the iPhone, the game has to be built around the controls. Yes, gameplay in some instances is conducive to the touchscreen, the accelerometer or a combination thereof, but quick, intricate movement cannot be obtained in this method. And considering that most games require skilled movement and control, the iPhone is hampered by its own design. What we’ll end up seeing, therefore, is some fantastic games built around the iPhone’s capabilities, along with a whole slew of games dumped onto the iPhone in an effort to cash in on its popularity, but that are almost unplayable and will therefore quickly be buried and forgotten under the thousands of other apps released that month. Wii owners know what I’m talking about. Games built specifically for the Wii Remote control system can be an incredible experience. Games dumped on the Wii to take advantage of its popularity without any thought for how to implement the remote technology are generally pretty horrid and unplayable. Rumored controls for rumored iPhone/iPod touch version of Quake 30 hours of gameplay! (Split nicely into iPhone-friendly 10 minute increments.) There’s also the issue of depth. Many DS and PSP games are designed for extended periods of play. They can be epic in scale, with everything from RPGs to RTSs to first-person shooters. Many games offer dozens of hours of gameplay. This is what hard core gamers want, and it’s how they choose their system. I suppose someone may eventually release games like that on the iPhone, but I haven’t seen them yet. In fact, the games coming close to offering such hard core experiences have generally been plagued by crashes, freezes and other problems. It seems the iPhone OS isn’t built to handle such resource heavy games, at least not in its current state, and the iPhone itself isn’t built for prolonged gaming sessions, at least not comfortably. Super Steveoid Brothers Prime: Liberty City...only on the iPhone? In addition, the iPhone has no platform specific titles. It has no Mario or Metroid or Zelda, and I don’t believe it ever will. Many gamers chose their system because of specific titles they know they’ll want. I, for instance, picked up the Nintendo DS specifically to play “The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.” Before that, I bought a GBA specifically to play “The Legend of Zelda: The Minnish Cap.” I’m certainly not alone here, as evidenced by the amount of time and resources game system developers put into creating, marketing and maintaining their franchise titles. Will Apple set up its own internal game development division? Will it just buy one out like Microsoft did? I don’t see that happening. Mario. More fun than Joe the Plumber, and apparently a better plumber, too. The “funnest iPod ever,” yes, but not “funner” than the DS or PSP. Don’t get me wrong, though. The ease of developing games with the iPhone SDK and the cheap App Store distribution model means the iPhone will be tremendously successful as a gaming platform. A Mac/iPhone game developer I spoke with recently confided that in a couple months they sold more copies of the iPhone version of one of their games than the Mac version sold in almost ten years. That’s absolutely crazy, and there’s no denying that there’s a huge potential for profit on the iPhone. Even better, the iPhone makes it easy for new companies to break into an industry that’s otherwise choked by the big developers with the large production/marketing budgets and dominance of the retail channels. That makes the iPhone an exciting platform with the potential for real innovation and originality (not unlike the WiiWare titles on the Wii), but it also means a glut of shovelware and “me too” game clones. Seriously, just how much better can your version of Bejeweled really be? Even with this potential, when I’m looking to play a game—and I mean when I’m thinking, “Okay, game time,” not “How can I kill 15 minutes while I’m waiting for my kid to get out of the dentist’s office"—I’m not reaching for my iPhone. Rather, I’m picking up the DS, because that’s where games are designed for gamers, not for cell phone owners. What’s likely to end up happening, then, is that the iPhone will be successful as a gaming platform, but completely independently of devices dedicated specifically to gaming. They have different core audiences, and always will. And although the iPhone could pull some buyers away from the DS and PSP, I anticipate it may actually drive people towards those devices. People may play Bomberman Touch on the iPhone, get a feel for what handheld gaming could be, and graduate to the better gaming experiences offered by Nintendo and Sony. And, if not—if the iPhone and iPod touch are enough to suit your gaming needs—then you weren’t likely to drop $130 to $170 on a gaming system to begin with. So, don’t panic, DS and PSP owners. You’re not likely to see Grand Theft Auto or Castlevania on the iPhone anytime soon. You’re also not likely to see these devices disappear from store shelves...at least not until new models are released. These systems will coexist peacefully with the iPhone/iPod touch, and we’ll all be one big, happy, gaming world. A much less productive world, granted, but a happy one. Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Review: Vegas Pool Sharks

Vegas Pool Sharks takes advantage of the touch screen, tilting, and gesture features of the iPod touch and iPhone. But flaws in the game’s artificial intelligence and gameplay detract from the experience.