iOS recommended games and applications

[mr_sockochris]

New NOVA2 trailer. Looks more like Halo than ever but it looks damn good

[Lebowski]

Same can be said for the DS. Far more **** on that than real games or at least here in Japan.

What I do is each day while taking a dump (yeah, you really wanted to know that ) I check out the latest releases to see if anything tickles my fancy. Mostly it's crap but at least once or twice a week I find a pure gem for free or very little money. I do agree that virtual D-pads are a load of crap though. Very rarely do they seem to feel right.

The thing about the ds or the psp is they have the budgets and the franchises, I'm yet to see something original of the quality of zelda, professor layton or god of war on ios. Games like monkey island and Phoenix wright have been converted to ios but I don't believe for a second it would of been developed solely for ios.

The gaming press helps us wade through the rubbish on more traditional consoles. Where as on ios I find recommendations are often blured by price.

[rmoxon]

The thing about the ds or the psp is they have the budgets and the franchises, I'm yet to see something original of the quality of zelda, professor layton or god of war on ios. Games like monkey island and Phoenix wright have been converted to ios but I don't believe for a second it would of been developed solely for ios.

The gaming press helps us wade through the rubbish on more traditional consoles. Where as on ios I find recommendations are often blured by price.

You sound to me like someone who hasnt been paying much attention to games released on the platform recently.

As ive already said just look at gamelofts latest releases, EA have put out alot of good stuff too recently actualy.

I realise that those two companies produce pretty much the most unoriginal games on the planet (gameloft make loads of clones and EA just do countless sequels) but the fact is what they are putting out is of better quality than what is coming out for other handheld devices, they are working around the smaller budgets and produucing games with great graphics, that play well and cost a fraction of the price they would on other systems.

The iPhone is great for gaming right now.

As for nothing that is original and of the quality of Monkey island being released, check out Hector badge Of Courage, its a very funny point and click adventure thats made for the system.

[Yakumo]

Hmm, I see your point and there's no getting away from the fact that idiots will say something is good because it's cheap. Not me though. Crap is crap no matter how much it cost or even free.

The problem you have with the iOS is that Apple don't own any franchise games so you're left with other companies bringing them to the system. Square are doing well with that Chaos RPG (made for iOS) as well as the remade Final Fantasy games as are Cave with their shooters. The bigger names are starting to understand that the platform is now accepted as a gaming one. In Japan things are only just picking up. 6 months ago there were next to no Japanese titles but now there are quite a few RPGs, Adventure games and even the likes of Namco, Konami, Capcom (their stuff seems to stink though) and Sega are starting to produce original titles. Sonic 4 on the iOS features exclusive levels and even a few nice rotation effects that the other versions don't.

Oh, have you guys heard of the Panasonic Jungle? Just take a look at that for an instant WTF failure. It will probably make the PSP Go seem like an amazingly successful bit of hardware

[Psyduck]

The thing about the ds or the psp is they have the budgets and the franchises, I'm yet to see something original of the quality of zelda, professor layton or god of war on ios. Games like monkey island and Phoenix wright have been converted to ios but I don't believe for a second it would of been developed solely for ios.

I though god of war was developed for PS2 and zelda was developed for the NES originally? Certainly not solely for handhelds. If we're talking decent spinoffs I think there've been a few on iphone - spiderman, assassin's creed for example - that haven't been too bad.

Then there's games like angry birds, cut the rope that have been developed for iphone and have had huge success.

[kernow]

Cut the rope is gash.

[EvilBoris]

What are you on?

[kernow]

I'm on quality games, chocolate digestives, and cups of tea.

[fuse]

I would agree that for quick, value for money experiences the iPhone is great, but if it was my 'main' gaming device I'd hate the thing... and myself. No way do I consider it a serious gaming device - yes, some games port across well and there's the odd example of some titles where they have designed game mechanics to work around the ****ty control mechanisms well, but there are no good, original titles on it that I would consider 'proper' games. Sorry but Angry Birds, Cut the Rope and the ilk are pleasant enough but I cannot fathom playing them for more than about 15 minutes at a time... or not on the bog, for that matter.

I've also spent way too much time in Game Dev Story. I'm 20 years in, with about 500million in the bank. I've released two consoles, each of which dominated the marketplace. My games consistently sell at least 4 million in the first week and always go over 15 million, and sometimes up to 20. But my ratings are always between 34 and 38, and I never won GOTY. I shall cry myself to sleep on my piles of money.

How on earth do you get a hardware developer? Majority of my staffers are hackers, but even when I get other people, level them to 5, and try and change their roles there is no mention of it. Same when I am looking at hiring, no hardware peeps. That being said, I finally got GOTY in year 22 with my epic sequel to "Tony Robinson", my geography online sim. After numerous 40/40 attempts it was a 37/40 that pushed me over the edge... beats me.

Is anyone still playing Words With Friends?

Not since mine started crashing when submitting. Every time I load the app it just takes me to my last screen where the 'submitting' wheel just keeps on spinning and I can do nothing. Paid version too, guh.

[Yakumo]

I must be one of the few who doesn't care for angry birds or cut the rope .

To me, no handheld is a main gaming platform, but something to do on the side. That's just me though. I've never been in to hand held gaming. By the way, it looks like Game Dev Studio didn't get a release in Japan . Sounds interesting too.

[kernow]

words with friends is alright but I wish it used an english dictionary, I won't be buying it despite playing it a lot because of all the server sync issues, the losing games, and the ridiculous words people come out with.

[Magnakai]

Yeah, I don't get the Angry Birds thing either. Cut The Rope is fun, however, and the levels are very well designed. But the only games that have grabbed me and wouldn't let go until I milked them dry were The Creeps, Dark Nova, Strategery, Bombardier's Guild (Retina update please!), Undercroft, Edge, Colorbind, Game Dev Story, and Aztec Quest. Most of those would normally only be seen as Flash games on a PC, but they're entirely appropriate for a portable platform. I do the vast majority of my gaming on my iPhone these days, because they're great little games that are tightly designed for quick bursts of enjoyment, and I rarely have time to dedicate to console gaming.

How on earth do you get a hardware developer? Majority of my staffers are hackers, but even when I get other people, level them to 5, and try and change their roles there is no mention of it. Same when I am looking at hiring, no hardware peeps. That being said, I finally got GOTY in year 22 with my epic sequel to "Tony Robinson", my geography online sim. After numerous 40/40 attempts it was a 37/40 that pushed me over the edge... beats me.

Yeah, me too! My 39/40 rated latest installment in the blockbuster Junior High themed Audio Novel series got game of the year. Teen Life 5, baby!

Hardware Engineer:

->Open Spoiler<-

Leave your hackers alone, they're too valuable as they are, and levelling them appears to do nothing. But get a good member of staff up to Level 5 in every job, and then Hardware Engineer will appear as an option. I now have two of them, and it doesn't seem to make any difference, so just bother with one.

[Dogg Thang]

In Game Dev, is there a specific balance of people I should be aiming for? I have so rarely changed jobs as their stats seem to take a big hit but I'm not sure just what I should be going for.

Also, how does unlocking the categories work? On my first playthrough, I got Fantasy pretty quick just by training a character. This one, I don't have it at all, but a whole bunch of others.

And, while I'm on the subject, I'm a bit surprised that my hit game, Egyptoshock 2, doesn't yet have a thread here in first play. It's easily the best Egypt-themed shooter you'll ever play.

[Magnakai]

At first, just have at least one person in each job, and outsource every so often, and you'l be fine. Later on, it's worth getting people to level 5 in multiple jobs because their overall stats get a lot higher, and once you do then you unlock better jobs.

Afaik, getting categories is only through training and getter high level characters.

[Yakumo]

Cubed Rally Racer is free today!