RPGs: Stop Making Bad First Impressions 
Is Hitman's Next Target Assassin's Creed? 
Why Kotaku Australia Should Never Work With Children... Or Robots 
Three Words I Said To The Man I Defeated In Gears Of War That I'll Never Say Again 
New Doom 3 For Xbox 360 And PlayStation 3 Supports Head-Mounted Displays 
Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land Trism, the clever iPhone puzzler from Demiforce, will be arriving in June for the very reasonable asking price of five American dollars, according to an update from the game’s developer. The Bejeweled-esque title uses the iPhone’s accelerometer for a hardware appropriate block matching twist on the genre, something Apple fans can try for themselves when the demo ships this summer. Demiforce writes that the final product will support online achievement rankings and teases the odd hidden feature. Still filed under “Do Want.”
I was pretty wowed by the Apple presentation of Super Monkey Ball on the iPhone last month. The use of the tilt controls for this game in particular seem really intuitive. So any news about it, and games like iPhone Spore, make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Today Other Ocean announced that they are working with Sega to develop a demo version of the iPhone game.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m getting pretty sick of seeing Doom/Quake games show up on everything from calculators to refrigerators too, but this port is a little special. It seems to support both multiplayer gaming and tilt controls. If it’s not being faked, it looks like you move around by tilting your i Pod touch in different directions. Now that’s pretty friggin’ sweet.
[Thanks Anthony]
Nokia’s second attempt at N-Gage-ing mobile gamers has unofficially gone live, with the official N-Gage blog announcing that the revamped platform is now available for download. If you have a Nokia N81, N81 8GB, N82, N95 or N95 8GB, you can bask in the warmth of the new N-Gage, bringing a try-before-you-buy, Xbox Live-like experience to your phone. Offerings from Gameloft, EA and others are available now or coming soon, which don’t look too terribly bad. Yeah! That was kind of a compliment. We won’t even make a sidetalkin’ dig!
Second place mobile manufacturer Samsung has revealed a Second Life client for their phones that will allow the relatively small horde of visitors to the virtual world and their legion of alts access to the grid and related services wherever and whenever the whole thing hasn’t crashed. This is a monumentally bad idea. As a Second Life resident for nearly a year now, I know people who only leave the world in order to buy groceries, and some of them already carry their laptops around when they do that, just in case they catch a stray wireless signal. We don’t need to be able to connect to SL from anywhere. Sure, you’ll be able to have quickie unicorn cybersex in the bathroom at work, but at what cost?
Samsung Unveils Mobile Application for Second Life [koreatimes via Gizmodo AU]
Yes, yes, everyone is jumping on board the iPhone bandwagon, and since I own an iPhone that makes me very, very happy.
The latest recruits include Namco, PopCap and THQ with talk of Pac-Man, Galaga, Bejeweled, Zuma and Peggle coming to the device.
“We’re very excited about Apple’s new SDK and reaching every iPhone user through the new App Store,” said Scott Rubin, vice president, Sales and Marketing, Namco Networks. “We can’t wait to show off great new versions of arcade classics like PAC-MAN and Galaga that use the revolutionary features of the iPhone and iPod touch.”
…
“Apple’s become an important mobile game platform with the iPhone SDK,” said Jason Kapalka, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, PopCap. “The new SDK gives us the tools to innovate and reinvent games like Bejeweled, Zuma and Peggle. With the new App Store we can reach every iPhone and iPod touch user on the planet.”
…
“The iPhone is the mobile platform game developers have been dreaming of,” said Scott Zerby, vice president, THQ Wireless. “We’re looking at how we can use the iPhone’s innovative user interface to create new game experiences for our big brand entertainment partners that consumers love.”
All I gotta say is that they better be making use of some of the iPhone’s neat capabilities and not just porting it straight over from a cell phone build. That and why the hell haven’t we heard about Puzzle Quest? Don’t make me email you Infinite Interactive!
iPhone SDK Downloads Top 100,000 [Apple]
Confession: I’ve never watched more than 5 minutes of Law & Order. But since I know most of the world is crazy-nutso for it, I feel it necessary to share the news on Law & Order: Celebrity Betrayal, a new game for cellphones coming soon for $US 6.99. With gameplay sounding a lot like Phoenix Wright (you collect clues at the crime scene, interview witnesses, and present clues during the proper moments of the trial) and a branding that, according to my mom’s DVR, is pure crack—who knows? It could actually be decent…for a cellphone game.
For the Law & Order buffs, here are all the details (cue that annoying Law & Order sound effect that’s played like 1,000 times/episode).
Mobile gaming? Ha! Oh wait. Our Apple zealotry and iPhone idolatry has made many of us reconsider what gaming on our cellphones means, especially in light of the demos for Spore and Super Monkey Ball shown yesterday. Those are things we might actually want. That passion will probably be more tempered for things like Bubble Bash (aka Puzzle Bobble aka Bust-A-Move aka Snood aka whatever) and the fourteen other Gameloft titles announced to be in development. We’ll be eyeballs deep in multicolored gems, jewels and blocks, if the “leading developer and publisher of games for mobile phones” has any say in it by year’s end.
Yes, this does mean you’ll most likely be playing some Paris Hilton-branded game with your accelerometer at some point. Feel better?
A fishing cell phone games? Not so exciting. Real fishing? Meh. Fishing cell phone game with real fish? THRILLING. Over in Fukuoka, Japan, an IT company has joined forces with a local fish seller to develop a cell phone game that gives players a shoot at winning real fish. Dubbed Ippon Zuri (“Pole-and-Line Fishing”), the game has player cast their lines in hopes of snagging crab, sea bream and other types of fish. If a virtual fish is caught, a slot machine appears. Players have to line up three numbers. If lady luck is on the player’s side, a message is sent to the wholesaler who then delivers the actual sea creature to the winner’s door. Three games will set players back ¥1,000 yen ($US 9.25). But can you really put a price on gambling for raw fish on a cell phone? Of course not! Cellphone Fishing [Giz]
