Many a lunch hour during my university days was spent playing foosball with my friends. There was a table in the law building common space that was just there, free for us to play. It was great, but now that we’re in the digital age, there has to be something better, more digital and more portable.

Enter the appropriately named Classic Match Foosball Table. It’s a miniature foosball table where you can dock your Apple iPad and really engage in a game with virtual players on those virtual sticks. The cool thing is that you really do get eight 2-axis control bars that you would on a real table and turning them interacts with the digital game on your iPad’s screen. They’ve even included appropriate sound effects.

The iPad itself docks into the table so there’s no need to fumble with external power or clunky cables. It uses the 30-pin connector, though, so you won’t be able to use a 4th-gen iPad or the iPad mini.

I still don’t think it’s quite as good as having a rustic old foosball table with a couple of beers spilled on it, but the Classic Match Foosball Table will fit in a heck of a lot more dorm rooms. Find it for $99.99 on New Potato Tech.

[Source]

The post The Future of Foosball is on your iPad appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Tentacles: Enter the dolphin is a crazy new platformer with very original controls and a bizarre title.  The game makes about as much sense as the company associated with the development of Tentacles, Microsoft.

Gameplay

You play as a…well, I’m not entirely sure what you play as.  An anomaly of nature, named Lemmy.  Lemmy has three tentacles and a claw used to eat eyeballs.  Lemmy adventures through the body of a professor, after getting there by a crazy accident in the first place. Tentacles, is difficult, very difficult.  The control scheme is one that is very easy to use, but also very hard to master.  You tap the screen once to send out one tentacle to where you tapped, again for the second and once again for the third tentacle.  The movement is very fluid and precise.

There are dozens of death traps just waiting for you to come along as well.  These obstacles are very annoying  and in order to avoid them you must tap in the exact spot you want Lemmy to move to, a centimeter in the wrong direction could mean certain death.  Part of the time I found myself just tapping three times rapidly to send Lemmy flying towards the wall or corridor I was trying to survive. In this aspect, Tentacles can be an extremely frustrating game,  I was already cursing it before I reached level 12.  On the other hand, after level 20 or so, I began to feel pretty comfortable with maneuvering Lemmy through the nightmarish hellscape of the professor’s body.

Each level has three objectives, get all the pickups, complete a challenge, and get to the end without dying (yeah right).  The challenge one I find to be the most fun, there are two different types of challenges found in the different areas, speed challenge and damage challenge.  The speed challenge requires you to blast through a section within a time limit, which is tons of fun.  The damage challenge asks you to survive an area without getting hurt even once.  This one is a bit tougher.  Speaking of tough, the bosses in Tentacles are quite difficult as well, they are well designed and made to make you suffer.

Seriously, I hate this guy.

As the levels progress, the difficulty does not steepen as much as I anticipated, while this could be considered a good thing, I found that the later levels were actually quite a bit easier than the mid 20 – 30 levels.

Graphics

The graphics are gorgeous, even if they are gross. The colors are vivid and the backgrounds are very detailed.  If you thought Lemmy was ugly, check out some of the creatures he has to face.  Some of the creatures are just eyes,  in order to defeat them, Lemmy grabs their eye with his claw and eats it.  Some pretty grotesque stuff.

Overall

Pros

• Fantastic fluid controls
• Good level design
• Plenty of gameplay to justify a one dollar price

Cons

• More difficult early on rather than towards the end
• No storyline really
• Repetitive

Tentacles is a very enjoyable adventure through a fictional body and well worth the 99 cents. Download Tentacles from iTunes.

The post Game Review: Tentacles: Enter the Dolphin appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Wonderputt is a very quirky minigolf game where all 18 holes are on the screen at once, it’s brought to us by the developers at Damp Gnat.  The visuals are inventive and very interesting to watch.  After the 8th playthrough, I was still not tired of watching everything fit together.  Sadly, Wonderputt only works for the iPad 2 and newer.

Gameplay

The way each one works is very well put together.  The mechanics remind me of the old Grow flash games.  The player hits the golf ball into the hole and the scenery morphs.  Each hole is progressively more difficult than the last.  This is not saying much, because each hole is also quite simple to beat. I got an albatross on every single hole. It’s a very casual game, and it’s quick.  One of the achievements is to beat all 18 holes within 3 minutes.

To hit the ball, you pull back on the ball to adjust power and aim, release to launch.  I never encountered a hiccup from the controls.  They are smooth and simple and don’t need to be any more than they are.  The gameplay does require some skill if your goal is to get on the high score lists.   After the player beats the game once, there is a collectible mode where the objective is to collect all of the rainbow pieces scattered about on the course.  While not difficult, it does add some depth to the game and give reason to continue playing, if you aren’t playing just for the surreal experience.

Graphics

The graphics are quite beautiful in Wonderputt.  Each addition to the already awesome looking course was inventive and interesting to watch as it unfolded.  For example, after I finished a round where cows were abducted by aliens, snow fell on the field where the cows previously were and it was turned into a ski slope.

The animations are completely smooth and work great.  Attention to detail here really is quite something.  It’s no wonder this game was not ported to the iPhone and iPod, all the little details would not have been easy to see.  Wonderputt has more of an artsy feel to it, like a morphing painting with a relative amount of interactivity.

Overall

Although it does seem a bit too simple at times, which may be the games only downfall.  It would be awesome for the developers to get some more courses made for it as well.  The one course is great, but I would be very excited to see what new ideas may come.

Pros

• Great artistic style
• Simple yet effective gameplay
• enough replay value even if it is just a single course

Cons

• More of these gorgeous courses
• Far too easy

Find Wonderputt in the app store.

The post App Review: Wonderputt for iPad appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

World of Warcraft may not be quite as hot a topic as it once was, but the MMORPG is still hugely popular and Blizzard is looking into expanding the franchise onto mobile platforms. Yes, you could playing WoW on your iPhone.

This comes by way of an interview with John Lagrave, Senior World of Warcraft developer at Blizzard. Understandably, he voices concerns about how to package the huge desktop game into the smaller screen of a handheld device like the iPhone. The graphics may not be as much of a problem these days, given the high calibre we’re seeing in some higher-end iOS games, but how would you map all the controls?

Yes, they could come out with a simplified version that still lets you get into WoW on the go, but Lagrave is quick to point out that they “won’t do it until it’s decent,” meaning that they don’t want to water down the experience. You would likely have to consider the data usage ramifications too, since the game has to be played online.

Instead of porting the full WoW game, Blizzard may entertain having WoW minigames that tap into the same universe. There are rumors that the “Mists of Pandaria” expansion could have a “pet battle system” and minigames that could then theoretically be played on your mobile device. Lagrave says that they “look at that, but we haven’t solved it.”

[Source]

The post Would You Play World of Warcraft on Your iPhone or iPad? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Cats do the darndest things. They get stuck in boxes. They ask if they can “haz” a cheeseburger. And now, there is video evidence that our feline companions may really be the best at slicing up fruit with their paws. Fruit Ninja HD is a pretty popular game across multiple platforms, but this kitty has it running on an iPad.

I guess it’s just a natural instinct. I’ve played with cats by getting them to chase around a laser pointer. They like the fast darting motion, presumably because it’s the same kind of motion that would get them to hunt mice and other little vermin. The digital fruit in the iOS game presumably isn’t nearly as nutritious, but it can be just as fun.

The kicker? The orange tabby is actually really good, earning an impressive score of 128. I just hope for the iPad’s sake that it has a decent screen protector on there. I’ve seen what cat’s claws can do to furniture and other valued belongings.

The post The Ultimate Fruit Ninja Is A Fast-Swiping Cat (Video) appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

No, you don’t get that white plastic shell of a steering wheel like how you got in Mario Kart Wii, but the fundamental idea is the same. In fact, Real Racing 2 for OS X is pretty much a port of the iOS version, except this way you get a bigger view of the track in front of you without it tilting on every turn. There’s a 16 car grid, 15 tracks, and 30 officially licensed cars. These include the 2010 Nissan GT-R R35, the 2012 McLaren MP4-12C, and the 2010 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500.

Yes, a $600 iPad is probably the most expensive game controller you’ve ever purchased, but Real Racing 2 could point toward more iOS/OSX crossover support from other developers too. Pick it up for $12.99.

The post OSX’s Real Racing 2 Steered By iPhone And iPad appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Kids these days don’t know what they’re missing. Instead of playing Scrabble on a physical board, they’re playing Words with Friends on their smartphones. Instead of emptying out a bucket of Lego bricks, they’re constructing new worlds in Minecraft. That’s just not the same, so Disney is working to marry the app the physical worlds with a new series of iPad games and accessories. They’re called Appmates and they’re real toys that work in tandem with the iPad’s touchscreen.

The first in this new series ties in with Pixar’s Cars. The iPad app itself is free and kids (or their parents) can buy the Appmates toy cars through Disney Stores and Apple Stores, both brick-and-mortar and online. One car is £12.99 and a pack of two sells for £19.99. They hit shelves later this month.

The idea is the kid loads the app, places the toy on the screen, and plays the game. They have to pinch the car with their index finger and thumb to complete the capacitive circuit; alternatively, there is a game mode where they can just use their fingers, but then it’d be like any other iPad game for kids. Remember that this is the first in the series and there will likely be other Appmates toys and games for other Disney franchises.

Yes, iPad apps will take away from the usual imagination that the kids would need if they were to play with the toys on their own, but at least they’re exploring new ways to play. [Disney]

The post Disney Cars iPad app works with Appmates toys appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Easily one of my favorite arcade games of all time is Time Crisis. There were other on-rails shooting games, to be sure, but Time Crisis revolutionized the genre by adding in that pedal for duck-and-cover action. Now, you can have a similar experience when you pair your iPhone with your iPad and make use of the new iGunCon app.

At least, that’s the idea. Unfortunately, the (free) iGunCon app really doesn’t convert your iPhone into a functional iGunCon, because it doesn’t seem to convert it into a light gun at all. Instead, your iPhone gets connected to your iPad (or Mac) and then the touchscreen controls are mapped to your handheld rather than the gaming screen.

You tap on the trigger to shoot and tap on the different icons to switch guns, but it’s not like you’re really pointing at the screen. From what I can gather, Time Crisis 2nd Strike HD offers touch and tilt controls. With the former, you’d tap on the target, but you can’t really do that with the iGunCon app. So, it seems that you move the crosshairs to tilt your way to your target. That’s not the same at all… it’s like playing Lethal Enforcers on your SNES with a gamepad. It’s just not the same.

That’s how I interpret today’s announcement. Anyone want to give this app combo a try and let us know through the comments below?

The post iGunCon App turns iPhone 4 into gun for iPad 2 Time Crisis appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

If you really wanted to get a Nintendo-flavored hit of gaming on your Droid or iPhone, you could have already nabbed an SNES emulator and a few ROMs, but that’s hardly official. Well, that’s changing and I think some pigs may have just grown wings: Nintendo is finally developing for both Android and iOS.

This comes as quite the shocker, really, considering that Nintendo’s previous position had been an adamant avoidance of platforms that “competed” against its own DS line (and Game Boy before that). I guess the tides are changing. Maybe Shiggy, Iwata-san, and Reggie are finally seeing the smartphone-tinted light.

The official foray into Android and iOS for Nintendo is an app called Pokemon Say Tap?. As expected, it does the Pokemon thing, but it combines card game and rhythm game elements. I’m not so interested in seeing Pokemon on iOS and Android as I am in seeing Nintendo finally giving these platforms a shake. Should we expect to see Kirby, Mario, Samus, Link, Star Fox, and others soon?

Maybe not. Nintendo has officially iterated that while it has now jumped into iOS and Android, its overall strategy on developing games for smartphones, “hasn’t changed and won’t change.”

The post Official Nintendo games finally coming to Android and iOS appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The trouble with most iPhone games is that they are single-player experiences. The iPad, with its bigger screen, lends itself to multiplayer enjoyment and that’s exactly what you get with Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 HD. That, buckets of blood, and loads of severed limbs.

Quite unlike the iPhone version, the iPad version of the game offers a two-player on the same device mode. You get two complete sets of controls (I’m thinking that JOYSTICK-IT kit could come in handy here) and a nice roster of violent kombatants at your disposal. The graphics look like they leave something to be desired, but this is two-player Mortal Kombat on the go! Multiplayer mode will also work with two devices connected via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

People who are familiar with my gaming background will know that I’m a fighting games geek. While I prefer the Street Fighter franchise, Mortal Kombat holds a special place in my heart too. Who can forget their first experience as Sub-Zero, tearing a guy’s head and spine right out of his freakin’ body?

Get over here! Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 HD for iPad is regularly $4.99 through the App Store, but is on now for just $1.

[iTunes]

The post Fatality! Multiplayer Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 HD For iPad appeared first on Mobile Magazine.