It’s E3, and that means we’ve learned quite a bit about the upcoming Sony PS4. We already have talked about the hardware and pricing, not it is time to take a look at some of the titles that are coming to the console.

First we have Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts 3, which is currently in development. We also have Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Versus XIII, rebranded as Final Fantasy XV.

Next we have The Order: 1886, from Ready at Dawn. This is a unique steampunk action game, and their first original IP.

Also coming is Transistor from indie developer Supergiant Games. The cyberpunk action RPG will be available on the PS4 sometime next year.

Then there’s Mad Max by Avalanche Studios, the folks behind the Just Cause series. And one of our favorites is Bungie’s first-person sci-fi game Destiny.

As part of Sony’s efforts to pull in more indie developers, they have announced many indie games for the PS4. The list includes Mercenary Kings, Don’t Starve, Octodad: Dadliest Catch, a remake of the original Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, and Galak-Z from the makers of Skulls of the Shogun.

Quantic Dream’s The Dark Sorcerer was also shown off, but that is a “concept only” according to Sony.

Stil not enough for you? Bethesda hasalso  announced that the beta for Elder Scrolls Online will be available exclusively for PS4. The game is expected to be available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in spring 2014.

Sony has also announced that earlier revealed titles such as Killzone: Shadow Fall, Drive Club, and Knack will be available when the PS4 launches. Last but not least, 30 PS4 games are in development at Worldwide Studios.

Are you excited for the Sony Playstation 4, or are you more interested in what Microsoft is bringing to the table?

[Source]

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At the Google I/O conference, the search giant unveiled their Google Play Games, a new gaming service, which will be competing against Apple’s Game Center.

With the new cross-platform service, you will be able to enjoy cloud-synced game progression, in-game achievements, leaderboards, and matchmaking. Some of the developers who have jumped in include Gameloft, Glu, Ironhide Games, and Miniclip. The service is integrated with Google+, so this could be a reason for you to finally start adding people to your circles.

And speaking of the social network, it appears like the old games that you have already been playing on Google+ will be removed on June 30. According to Google, “If you would like to continue playing a particular game, contact the game’s developer to find out if there’s a new destination site for the game“.

If you have made payments to play a game, you will be able to use your unused credits when the game will be migrated to another site, while some games will offer a grace period before shutdown.

[Source]

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Popcap, makers of my favorite plant-based zombie game, have announced that they will finally revive the ‘Plants vs. Zombies’ franchise in July. The long awaited sequel to the popular strategy game named ‘Plants vs. Zombies 2: It’s About Time’ is likely to be available on all popular mobile platforms as well as on PC, Mac and select consoles.

Details of the new game haven’t been announced, however a quick read of the Popcap blog seems to suggest that PVZ2 will be a ‘Freemium’ game with possible pay to unlock features and social network integration.

Popcap have also been strangely quiet as to why it has taken so long to launch the sequel, the acquisition by EA and staff layoffs are likely to blame, however they have posted the following video poking fun at themselves for the delay:

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Paramount recently dropped 78 seconds of Into Darkness online. The trailer comes to us over 6 months before the film’s opening date (May 17, 2013). Take a look:

“After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.” says IMDB.

There are a few things to note from the trailer. First, the trailer starts in what looks to be a funeral scene. Who died? Secondly, who is the villain in Into Darkness? Rumors have Benedict Cumberbatch’s role being Gary Mitchell or Khan. However, nobody really knows for sure.

Are you excited to see Star Trek Into Darkness? Will you be going to see IMAX screenings of The Hobbit to catch the full 9 minute trailer? Let us know in the comments below.

[ Source ]

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Oh Hi! Octopi! combines retro nostalgia with cute animal characters. With an interesting puzzle design, although Oh Hi! Octopi! sounds like a fun, casual game for any iOS gamer. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

GAMEPLAY AND CONTROLS

Oh Hi! Octopi! is a basic platform puzzle game with a few new mechanics. Waves of octopi will appear and walk slowly around the board. Use your character to hit the octopi with the hammer to stun them, and change their colors, then “smash” the button in the center to create a balloon. The balloon will destroy stunned octopi in groups of at least two matching colors. After clearing one level, you move to the next round, which is the same, but with more octopi. Sounds simple, right?

It is not as simple as it sounds. After going through a tutorial that is too short. Oh Hi! Octopi! suffers a lot from having bad controls. While the developer, kode80, had the players’ best interests in mind, the one-button to control everything only creates for a frustrating experience. You control everything by tapping the screen; everything from moving, hitting the hammer and jumping. This makes your character move around erratically on the screen and when you want to do accomplish one thing, you cannot because your character is moving around wildly. For example, if you want to hit the button that creates the balloon, your character moves around too much for you to efficiently release the balloon.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND

The sound and music of the game, while reminiscent of retro gaming, is very repetitive and you will likely be muting the music after a few minutes of play.

The retro-style graphics and cute octopi of Oh Hi! Octopi! instantly draw you in. It is a shame that the trouble with the rough controls outweighs the charm of the graphics. Also, the scenery and octopi never change, which can get dull quickly.

PROS

• Good retro graphics
• Interesting match-making puzzle idea

CONS

• Music that quickly becomes bothersome
• Too short tutorial
• Very bad controls that create a lot of problems for the player

I wish I could say I enjoyed Oh Hi! Octopi!, but the game is very close to being unplayable due to the poor controls. If Oh Hi! Octopi! had differing controls for some abilities, the character may be less erratic and I may have been able to experience more of the puzzle aspect of the game. This game had the potential to be a refreshing take on a reto-style puzzle game, but it has simply failed to deliver on multiple levels.

Download Oh Hi! Octopi! for $.99 here.

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In a world of super pinball and special fire pinballs, Pin Tiki Ball keeps pinball mostly traditional. While the game just released on September 5, 2012, it shows a lot of promise to expand in future updates making the game more and more fun with each version. That is, as long as Operatio Apps continues to move in the right direction.

Gameplay and Controls

Pin Tiki Ball only has one level to play at the moment. Yes, that seems somewhat dull, but that one level contains a lot for you to accomplish. If you open the little book at the top, right of the screen, it shows you all the special area you can unlock such as stopping the lava from flowing and secret caves. It is more difficult than you may imagine. Also, by hitting palm trees with the ball, you unleash pieces of fruit that you smash for bonus points.

The name of the game is much like traditional pinball, which is getting the most points. By using three flippers that are controlled by a simple tap of the screen you can hit the ball at any of the aforementioned bonus spots. The more points you get the higher your score and you can eventually earn a place on the Pin Tiki Ball Game Center Leaderboards. Even though you want to try for the bonuses for high scores, Pin Tiki Ball has its own list of achievements you can complete, as well. If you complete an achievement or beat your high score, you can share it immediately over Facebook with your friends.

Graphics and Audio

Pin Tiki Ball sports amazing 3D-esque HD graphics. The colorful environment and movement of the pinball “table” really make the game more enjoyable. One downside is that whenever the ball moves to the back of the “table” the camera zooms in to where the ball is. Understandably, the player may want to see what is going on, but at times the camera gets stuck zooming in and out while the ball is moving back out to the center of the screen.

Game audio is a simple and soothing tribal music along with sound effects that make you feel like you are on an island. The music and sound allow you to just sit back, relax, and have fun with the game.

PROS

• Facebook integration
• Amazing 3D-esque graphics
• Leaderboards via Game Center
• Nice sounds

CONS

• Only one level
• Slow flipper and ball movement
• Badly timed camera zooming

The current version (1.0) is the release version of Pin Tiki Ball, and already Operatio Apps has a list of fixes and additions for the next version (1.0.1), which includes faster game movement. This will definitely help give the game a more “real” pinball feel. I hope in the future Operatio will also release more levels; even if they release more levels as “packs” and want to charge a small fee. One level will get boring quickly.

In the end, though, the game is about fun and simply getting the most points. In that aspect, Pin Tiki Ball delivers.

Download Pin Tiki Ball here for your iOS device.

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When a typical new video game console hits the market, you can usually expect to spend several hundred dollars to buy it. You might even remember the frenzy surrounding the PS3 launch with systems going for up to $2,000 on eBay. The Ouya is not that kind of video game console. It’s only $100.

The unassuming silver box will be powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and a NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor. There is 1GB of RAM to go along with 8GB of flash storage, HDMI, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a wireless controller that looks similar to that of the OnLive console or the Xbox 360 controller. Those specs make it sound like a pretty decent smartphone or tablet, but this is meant to be a home gaming console.

Perhaps the even bigger kicker is that there is an open SDK where they promise to provide digitally-delivered titles for free. I imagine the marketplace will start with a handful of freeware titles and free-to-try games, but it has to open up to paid games eventually. In any case, the Ouya is only $100 and it’ll be interesting to see how it fares in an environment where we’ve grown accustomed to Android games on the go. Does this spell eventual doom for the Wii U, PS4, and Xbox 720?

[ Uncrate via Kickstarter ]

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This holiday season, there’s quite a few ways to save some money outfitting your smartphone, including getting both discounted and just some free apps.  Today, Gameloft is revealing its very enticing end-of-the-year sale: $0.99 for every download of apps and games. Their Twitter message goes like this:

Follow us to find out when you can grab ALL of our games, including Modern Combat 3, for $0.99 on the #AndroidMarket!

The post Gameloft Ready For A Week Of $0.99 Games appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Even though I’m not very good, I really enjoy playing a good game of pool. There’s just something about working out each shot, lining up those angles, and developing your strategy for the next couple of shots. But the visually static nature might not be enough for this generation of digitally-raised kids. And that’s where the CueLight comes into play.

Basically, it sets up a digital projector above the table and it adds a series of visual effects to the game. For instance, each of the balls can be made to look like they are floating on water, complete with realistic ripples and waves when they move around on the table. Another video option is to have a blazing flame trail after each ball, the kind you might get with an “enhanced” video game version of billiards.

Speaking for myself, I’m more of a purist and I think the video animations could just end up being too distracting. Then again, I can always use those as an excuse when I inevitably miss every shot: “All those ripples are throwing off my line of sight! How am I suppose to see where I’m shooting?”

Cuelight from Obscura Digital on Vimeo.

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Those of us who rely on bartering skills rather than financial know-how will now have to stick to the rules of the game. Using infrared light and cameras, the tower watches each player’s piece, reminding whose turn it is – complete with a spoken bank statement. Cup your hand over your piece and the tower rolls its electronic dice and watches to make sure you land on the right spot.

Once you land on a spot, the computer tells you how much you have to pay to the owner or to be the owner, with an optional utilities upgrade to green your new property.

Hasbro has also added a few random events such as a horse race and auctions, plus a gas tax.

And the computer never makes a mistake, says Hasbro designer Leif Askeland. But if you’re not looking to give up the nostalgic old-style paper game, the cheating and bartering; the creatively-twisted or twistedly-created house rules, the traditional version will still be in stores for $15.  The new Monopoly will cost $50 this fall.

[NYTimes]

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