Infinity Blade is Full of Hot DAMN!

Earlier this week we gave you a look at Infinity Blade, the Unreal Engine 3 powered iOS game that looks like nothing we've seen on the iPhone before. Those were pictures and a loose release date. This is ice cold video, baby. 

Hot DAMN, this game looks good. I mean it's no fart app, but it's close. My one concern would be the lack of movement during battle. It looks like dragging across the screen makes your character attack in real time, but there's no movement during a battle. The limitations of control are understandable, but if you can't move, shouldn't there be an attack timer? We need to know more, now!  

Infinity Blade Coming to iOS This Holiday Season

Epic Games and ChAIR Entertainment have announced that their mobile title for iOS, previously known as Project Sword, will release this holiday season under the finalized title of Infinity Blade. 

The sword and shield, castle-faring, full 3D action RPG looks like it's raising the bar on iOS graphics. Powered by Unreal Engine 3, Infinity Blade is said to feature an intuitive combat interface and simple touch controls. 

Aside from the campaign mode, which features fun, furious, adrenaline-fueled sword battles, and large scale boss fights, players will gain experience, level their stats, and find more powerful items and weapons as they battle on. Free content will be added after the game's launch, which will add multiplayer and Game Center support amongst other things.

There's no denying the graphics are amazing, but the controls on the iPhone's screen are what truly worries me. Sure the exploration of Epic Citadel felt intuitive, but once you throw in sword fighting and possible spell-weaving, things become infinitely more complex. 

No exact release date or price has been announced yet, but keep it locked for more Infinity Blade news as it surfaces.

Say Hello to the New PSP: PlayStation Phone

It's heeeeeere. The oft-speculated PlayStation Phone has finally made its first appearance, effectively silencing its doubters and knocking the pants off anyone who didn't see it coming. 

The crafty folks at Engadget have gotten their hands on what appears to be a prototype model, which looks pretty impressive. Rumored to run the yet-to-be released Android 3.0 OS, the PSPhone runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655, 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, with an approximately 4-inch screen. Fancy! 

To go along with all that's under the hood, the PSPhone's touchscreen slides up to reveal a directional pad and the usual PlayStation face buttons. I suppose analog sticks would be too bulky for this tight little package, so they've been replaced by a multi-touch pad. Shoulder buttons included, Memory Stick not. In place of Sony's much pushed, less than ideal storage solution, is the more universal MicroSD slot. That's a good look. 

As a prototype model still, it's hard to say the PSPhone Engadget got their hands on won't change, but even if it didn't, it's still an impressive piece of phone. Sony turned a lot of heads when they confidently entered the console wars years back, can they do the same in the mobile market? Will they send the police to kick down Engadget's door and reclaim the device? Will the PSPhone be any good? Stay tuned. 

via Engadget.com

Playstation Phone gallery

REVIEW: Game Dev Story

We're all game enthusiasts here. We play, we watch, we read and write about, and then we play some more. Given the opportunity to develop a game, do you think you could? If you had the skills, knew the people, and was driven by a sense of entrepreneurship, would you create a game development studio? There's no need for could have and would have anymore, with Game Dev Story, now you can do just that. 

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Score, Huh! What is it Good For?

Written by contributing author Mark Hagan

Is it possible for two games, with similar premise, visual aesthetic, and even the same name, to be entertaining on their own accord? For the free platformers Mr. Runner, then by all means yes. So as not to confuse, we will arbitrarily refer to the Armor Games offering as Mr. Runner A, and the GameVision iPhone app as Mr. Runner B. The goal of each is to, oddly enough, get from point A to point B. As a runner myself, this couldn’t be easier or more complex.

Like most platformers, simple controls and objectives make for a minimal learning curve. You’ll be well on your way to scaling walls and avoiding pools of lava in Mr. Runner A, as what to me looks like an 8-bit charred fire nymph. The game ramps the complexity with an analog feel to the leaping and bounding as the running is just a means of locomotion, not besting the level. Mr. Runner B however, is stripped down even further. The style is of simple design, perhaps a developer nod to the eerily similar Limbo, which is rapidly becoming a widespread source of homage. Jumping is omitted in favor of a straightforward dynamic of acceleration and timing.  Your nimble twiggy (not that Twiggy) navigates in and out of pockets of safety a la the Super Mario underworld.  Anticipation is key as you scamper through the world while it comes crashing down, the only reprieve coming in the form of the world’s familiar landmarks.

These marathon men hold a common virtue beyond design or mechanics. The lack of a true scoring system is where these games, and others like them, bring a complex, if not peculiar, goal in their own rite. By score, I mean there is really no way to judge your performance other than the mere advancement of your miniscule avatar.  It could be argued that time is the ultimate score (a parable maybe in each), but is it truly? For the most part, our gaming culture is built upon these mysterious benchmarks we accumulate, gloat about, and yearn to best. Yet here I am, shunning precious sleep, in an attempt to avoid the crush of the world, both real and virtual, so to reach the sanctuary of a giant Easter Island head.

Should game studios can take a page from this playbook? There is a community of gamers out there that do not belong to the casual crowd, yet don’t quite fit in the hardcore community either, possibly due to their lack of tea-bagging tendencies and KG inspired primal screams. A daily dose of self-affirmation doesn’t always need to come by way of tokens collected, gamerscore achieved, or zombie decapitations (a zombie capitation is not only more difficult, but will contribute to the sustainability of zombie harvesting for future generations).

Mr. Runner, in either of it's forms, won’t win any Game of the Year votes, but they do understand that sometimes enjoying the escape is reward enough.

Play Armor Games Mr. Runner | Download GameVision Mr. Runner

Mark has been gaming since the days of the Atari 5200 and such classics as Dig Dug and Eggomania. The Dreamcast was a turning point for him with games like Seaman and Jet Set Radio. His love of gadgets, games and geekery stems from his curiosity of innovation through art, and vice versa. His turn-ons include the sound of cellophane wrappers and warm sake in the morning.

A Farewell to Kingmakers

Riding the rising popularity of the check-in app, Fable III standalone mini-game Kingmaker is set to release for your smartphone. Kingmaker, in similar fashion to Fable II's Pub Games, is a nice way to earn some in-game cash before the game's release.

You choose a fictional Albion alignment, Rebel or Royal, and proceed to run around your city, smartphone in hand, dropping virtual flags around territories to claim them for whichever faction you've aligned yourself with. It's like Foursquare, except you won't get laughed at when both your Facebook and Twitter account proudly announce you have become the mayor of the porta-potty on Bleecker Street. Instead, for claiming territories, you compile gold that can be transfered to Fable III and used to purchase armor, weapons, and player customization options.

Sounds like fun for us boorish Americans, right? Lionhead Studios doesn't think so, so they've decide to keep Kingmaker as a European exclusive. Do they not realize the check-in craze here in the States? You got people killing each other in the streets for that Foursquare mayorship, son! The New York Times, in all its prestigious glory, wrote a two page article on the battle for mayorship of a freaking alleyway. Shit is going down, this is serious business! We can't get any Kingmaker love? Okay Lionhead, I see how it is.