Australians take note, you have a chance to partake in a Facebook based exercise that sees the pairing up of Transformers and Ford to celebrate the release of the latest Transformers game – Fall of Cybertron. Fans of the Ford Falcon will be especially pleased to note that their beloved vehicle is set to become a Transformer, with the particular model to be used up to voters. The results from the handful of polls will be used to create a unique Transformer concept which will either be a Deceptiford or an Autoford (these are two new categories of Transformer created right here, right now). Autoford sounds too dull for words but is still leading the first of the Facebook polls – give the Decepticons some love people! Made up words aside, if you would like to have some input into this collaboration, then head over to either the Ford Falcon Facebook page or the Ford Australia Facebook page to get voting.
As well as the alignment and model and colour of the design, Australians will also be given the chance to choose it’s name, potentially opening the whole process to massive abuse. Here’s hoping the options aren’t restricted so we can see the best that people can come up with!
The final design will be unveiled on the same day that Fall of Cybertron is released, which is August 22, in case you were a little behind with the times.
I’ve witnessed a few game jams, where small games are created during a madcap 48-hour marathon, but the upcoming App Aid event aims has loftier goals.
Hosted by Vodafone, and supported by Facebook and Samsung, App Aid challenges ten teams to develop a prototype of an app to benefit participating charities within 48 hours. The team who develops the most valuable app, as judged by a panel, will receive a $30,000 donation to the charity from Vodafone, with $10,000 going to the runner-up. Ideally, this can help fund further development of the app, to be integrated into the charity’s model. Vodafone are also offering their marketing services, to help promote the launch of the apps.
The successful app developers will also receive prizes, supplied by Samsung.
Developers and charities interested in taking part in App Aid are invited to apply here. The deadline is Wednesday 22nd August for charities, and Monday 10th September for app developers.
The Legend Of Zelda is probably one of the most renown and awesomest series’ in all of video game history. But, for those of you who do not know what it is, I will quickly skim over the series’ premise. In the The Legend of Zelda games, you play as the hero Link who must (usually) quest to rescue the Princess Zelda from the evil Ganon.
But what is it about Ganon that makes him evil? Well, it’s most definitely because he periodically invades and possibly enslaves Hyrule, he often kidnaps women and he utilises one of the three parts of the Triforce, the Triforce of Power – which we all know is the evil one. But, now, what if Ganondorf had perfectly good reasons for the kinds of bad that he did? Why does Ganon need to invade Hyrule? Why does he need the Triforce of Power? Why did he want to obtain the three parts of The Triforce to make a wish that had him ruling the world?
Maybe the villain in the series had a really good reason for this? I mean, in reality, most of us don’t behave in a black and white fashion, rather, we seem to do the best with whatever information we have. Some people are better at this than others and if you consider Ganon’s back-story, he was someone raised by a group of thieves – so wouldn’t that have impacted his logic just slightly?
So what was Ganon’s motivation? What does he get from invading Hyrule? Well, I’ll tell you. He gets a kingdom to rule over, or more importantly to him, he gets an army. Throughout each of the Zelda games, you see Ganon repeatedly trying to invade Hyrule to build this army, but why does he need it? Perhaps he knows something about the world that we do not?
I sometimes like to think of Ganondorf as a King Genome (from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann) figure, keeping humanity down so that he can raise his own army to fight some unseen threat. I mean, why would Ganon need the Triforce of Power specifically for this? This unseen threat must be -really- powerful for the character to go completely out of his way to chase down what was assumed to be a religious legend/myth. If you think about what his army consists primarily of, it only supports the theory of Ganon trying to triumph over some kind of threat. Why else would you need an army of mostly souless monsters other than to fight something much more powerful than yourself? Something the Hyrulian army alone couldn’t face.
It was for the babes. Obviously.
Lets take a look at the History of Hyrule shall we? We know from Skyward Sword that there was a land before Hyrule and it was one that was incredibly scientifically advanced, yet that group of people – people with enough technology to produce time-travel – somehow became extinct. What eradicated them? This same unknown threat that Ganondorf has lead the charge against, that’s who. Even better, what if this same unknown force were the ones that created the big bad in Skyward Sword and his Ghirahim?
The thing is, we don’t know who or what Ganondorf could have been fighting against. In Ocarina of Time, where his origin is told, we see him doing tonnes of bad stuff just to get power but it’s never explained why he’s doing it. I would love to see a The Legend of Zelda game where we delve into Ganon’s psyche just a little bit. I want to know *why* he’s so persistent in his conquest of Hyrule. It has to be for more than revenge, there has to be a purpose. Most people, when defeated, simply accept defeat. Something has to be driving him to continue this conquest, something that requires power and an army… something big.
There are so many questions surrounding the Ganon character and there is not enough answers. I refuse to believe that he is just a villain for the sake of making the hero heroic. What does everyone else think about this? Why does Ganon do what he does?
Bit of a slow week in terms of news, but there was still some golden nuggets for you to feed your knowledge bank with. Linkin Park will be again returning to the Medal of Honor franchise for it’s soundtrack, Persona 4: Arena sold incredibly well, Bleach manga is on hiatus and the trailer for the new JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure anime has landed. Is your knowledge bank not satisfied? No? Well, screw you. Go listen to one of our podcasts that went out this week and if that don’t satisfy you, stick your head in a shoe and never come back out.
We have 3 copies of Death Rally on PC STEAM to give away courtesy of Remedy Games
“Load your guns, start your engines…THE CLASSIC IS BACK! Brought to you from Remedy, renowned developers of Max Payne and Alan Wake, Remedy’s Death Rally classic top down racer is back, stronger and more vicious than ever. This is no Sunday Drive. This is Death Rally, so be prepared to be blown away, literally.”
TO WIN
All you have to do to win is to simply leave a comment below on why you want to win this awesome game.
Lucky winners will be drawn at random on the August 12th, 2012. Good luck to you all!
**SPECIAL NOTE**
Competition is open WORLDWIDE. When you enter please leave a VALID email address and also mention what part of the world you are from.
If you are anything like me, you spend a lot of time scouring the internet in the dead of night with your friends looking for something new and unique to play. It’s a sad existence but an existence none the less. These gems do exist, amazing online multiplayer games that you’ve never heard of. They are out there for you to find but after nights of searching with nothing to show for it aside from tired eyes and a sore clicking finger, one may grow weary and go sulking back to the old Steam library to play some worn out game. There’s nothing better than when you DO get lucky and find a great game to play with your friends though. I’m here to save you some time and tell you that Guns of Icarus Online is that great game.
If you have ever said to yourself ‘’I would LOVE to Captain a Steampunk airship!” now you can. Guns of Icarus puts you on board an airship outfitted with an array of weapons such as electric harpoons and flak cannons. Currently in the beta you can play as the Captain, a gunner or an engineer. Each position on the crew comes with its specific responsibilities. As Captain you will steer the ship, spot enemy vessels and delegate tasks to your crewmen. Working in unison with your gunner/s, you will plan engagements and maneuver your ship to get the best shot at enemies. As the name implies, the gunner does the shooting. Once his Captain gets him the right angle, the gunner fires on enemy ships and tries to take them down as quick as possible. Last but definitely not least is the engineer. The dirty job that someone has to do, engineers keep the ship in the air and under power. Repairing the engine, hull, turbines and blimp while also supporting the gunner if necessary, the engineers are easily the busiest people on the ship. Customization exists in the form of class power ups and tools. You can also choose which guns are positioned where on your ship as well as the name you want to sail her by.
On a personal note, it has been a long time since I’ve played a game that made me work with a team like Guns of Icarus has. A victory in GoI feels like you actually accomplished something with your friends. If you are tired of the usual drag of MMOs and feel it’s time for a change, do not miss this game.
Guns of Icarus Online is currently in beta, playable on and available to pre-order. As it stands now there is only a skirmish (arena) type mode but there are plans for an adventure mode. Check out http://gunsoficarus.com/ or their Facebook page for more information and the possibility of getting into the beta.
For those of you who have kept up with Valve news you might remember that they announced they will be releaseing some games on the Linux platform. Well this will come as a no shocker to all of you as it looks like Valve’s hit game Left 4 Dead 2 will be one of them and so far the Linux version of the game is performing the Direct X Windows version.
Even now, during development, the Valve team has L4D2 running at 315 frames per second on the Linux test platform, as compared to the standard Windows speed of 270.6 FPS. For those of you who like it in a more understandable way, the game is running about 15% faster on Linux than Windows. Keep in mind though that these are just tests since the game is still in development for the operating system but it does show some promise. If all goes well maybe we can expect to see more releases on the operating system in the future.
Welcome back for this week’s iOS Game Suggestions. If you missed or are new to the suggestions, click on the link below and check what cool games you should be picking up for your iOS along with the introduction and disclaimer on how the suggestions work. (suggestions 1 has the disclaimer and how it all works)
A great week on iTunes, as always it started slow and but ended with a bang! As always there certainly is a few must buy games this week in all departments, FREE, 99c and over 99c. This week i’ve suggested a total of 27 great quality titles. Make sure you check them all especially Monster Life, Funky Bee, The Infinity Project 2, Dungeon Village, Wizorb and Alien Breed just to name a few.
Break down below :
9 – FREE Games
8 – $0.99c Games
10 – Over $0.99c Games
As always for this week’s suggestions are all new titles that you should take a look at and consider spending your hard earned iTunes cash / time on. Well the Free games just below certainly should all be given a shot as they won’t cost you anything!
For The Cheapskates – FREE GAMES
MASTERABBOTT’S FREE GAME PICK OF THE WEEK!
Monster Life – Price : FREE – Publisher – Gameloft (Discover a magic world of cute monsters and exciting battles! This is the thrilling world of Monster Life!
A century ago, the islands of Numa were attacked by the mysterious Chaos. But a young monster keeper and his monsters fought back and brought peace to the islands!) on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Fix-it Felix Jr. – Price : FREE – Publisher –Funky Bee Games (DISNEY AND WRECK-IT RALPH PRESENT FIX-IT FELIX JR! IF THERE’S SOMETHING TO BREAK, THERE’S SOMETHING TO FIX AND THIS GAME’S GOT A LOT OF BOTH! Journey back to Wreck-it Ralph’s 8-bit origins in a brand new game with classic arcade looks and fun. Play as Fix-it Felix Jr. and use your magical hammer to fix whatever Ralph destroys! After all, it’s what you’ve been programmed to do. ) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Funky Bee – Price : FREE – Publisher –Funky Bee Games (Five hundred years ago, a terrible dragon destroyed the magical Funky Bee castle in a blaze of fire. Rallying around Her Royal Beeness, Queen Groovisma, the few survivors rebuilt the castle and peace was once again restored to the valley. And so it has been for centuries. But recently, a series of mysterious magic outages have plagued the castle and its inhabitants. To make matters worse, bears have been sighted on the banks of Honeydew River, near the Great Dam.) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Agent Dash – Price : FREE – Publisher –Full Flat (Run for Queen and country with a host of sidekicks in the blockbuster running game of the year! From the makers of Flick Golf, Flick Soccer and NFL Flick Quarterback comes the most intense, explosive, white-knuckle ride available! Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to destroy as many villainous bases as you can! Sprint through gorgeous environments, using secret agent skills to evade every hazard the evil megalomaniacs can throw at you, from laser beams and falling trees to skidding trucks and fiery lava.) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Clash Of Clans – Price : FREE – Publisher –SuperCell (Clash of Clans is an addictive mixture of strategic planning and competitive fast-paced combats. Raise an army of Barbarians, War Wizards, Dragons and other mighty fighters. Join a clan of players and rise through the ranks, or create your own Clan to contest ownership of the Realm. Driving back the goblins is just the first step – your quest isn’t over until your clan reigns supreme over all others!) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
16bit Trader – Price : FREE – Publisher – Forever Entertainment(Take revenge on your father’s killer, and become the richest merchant in the kingdom! Immerse yourself in this old-school nostalgia-inducing trading experience. Step into the shoes of a medieval traveling merchant, whose life boils down to one simple sentence: you got to buy cheap, and you got to sell high. Travel between the cities and villages of the realm in search of cheap goods to acquire, various quests to accomplish and wealth to accumulate) on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Gears & Guts – Price : FREE – Publisher –Glu Games (The zombies have taken over your town. Just wait until they hear the roar of your engines! In Gears & Guts, the city’s hopes rest on you and your collection of nitro-burning, bullet-spitting, four-wheeled engines of destruction. Crush the undead beneath your tires. Tear them rotten-limb-from-rotten-limb with whatever military gear and experimental weapons you can bolt to your car. Power-slide a path to victory! Grab your keys. Fasten your seatbelt. It’s time to put some blood on the highway.) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Book Cricket 2012 – Price : FREE – Publisher – Dot Com Infoway (Do you fancy cricket? Do you still cherish the days of playing cricket under your desk flipping through the pages in your text book with your friends? Well, here is the Book Cricket app to help you play cricket at any time and at any place, of course! This Book Cricket application tickles your childhood memories of playing cricket with a book. It’s a book which decides your game here.) on iPhone & iPad. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Silver Bullet – Price : FREE – Publisher – Dirtymartini (You are trapped in a laboratory infested with genetically engineered werewolves: it sucks to be you…deal with it! . To make matters worse, you are dying, and your health is rapidly decreasing every second. Stay alive by collecting the blue health spawns and shooting dead the werewolves with your M4 assault rifle loaded with silver bullets, and your grenade launcher charged with silver frag grenades…) on iPhone & iPad. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
For The Bargain Hunters – 99c Games
The Infinity Project 2 – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Crazy Robot Games (Stop the evil Talon High Commander from destroying Earth and enslaving mankind. The Infinity Project 2 is a new kind of First Person Shooter game with elements of free roam and linear gameplay blended to create a deep and interactive story. An evil alien race called the Talon’s have time traveled from the year 2243 to sometime in Earth’s past and drastically changed Human history. You must follow them and investigate when this happened to try to stop them. Along the way you find out humans may not be the innocent victims in this galactic battle for survival!) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
KooZac – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Square Enix (The concept of KooZac is simple: position the falling blocks on top of each other to create the target numbers. PUZZLE – Play through 60 levels, destroying the silver puzzle blocks and clearing the board by completing the targets. ENDLESS – No level, no stage – compete against the world in Endless mode and use multi gems to rack up huge scores. BLITZ – Take on your Facebook friends in the 60 seconds KooZac Blitz mode – compete for the top spot in weekly tournaments, use boosts the super charge your score.) runs on iPad & iPhone. BUY NOW
Magic Beach – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Skript (A restful wash, crying seagulls and golden sand – this enchanted beach is an ideal place to turn into the most luxurious resort along the seacoast. Build hotels and inns and invite the most extravagant tourists. Start with little buildings and discover new possibilities as you earn each new level. And, don’t forget about cafes and restaurants for tourists! Magic Beach is distinguished by high-quality graphics and beautifully drawn characters, with each character and building having its own unique template. In addition, your beach can be easily moved to a desert or viewed during a beautiful starry night. Just imagine the breath-taking, romantic moon above the ocean water!) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Caveman Dash – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Falanxia („Me Rocky. Me hungry. Apples yummy. Rocks not yummy. Dinosaurs ouch. Help!“ Clear out apples from all caves and avoid all dangers hiding in the dark. Use your wits, coordination and planing to keep up with the challenges of later caves. And don’t forget about the stars! The more stars you get, the better you are!) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Funny Wood HD – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Chillingo (Discover a magical woodland world in this enchanting hidden object adventure. Meet all manner of magical creatures and help Mossy in his quest to go to the greatest party the forest has ever seen! Six magical woodland scenes from a picnic in the woods, a crazy laboratory and the ominous Dark Forest. Swipe spiders aside, swoosh the clouds away and pop bubbles to uncover the scenes below.) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Carrot Watch! – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Bulkypix (Everybody knows that bunnies are sweet and innocent creatures leading a simple life filled with carrots and love…But beware, they won’t hesitate to unleash their wrath if you go after their precious orange gold. In Carrot Watch, the rabbits don’t beat around the bush: they use Rambo style techniques, ninja strategies, use shaman spells or hunter skills and exterminate these fiendish foxes once and for all. ) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Commando Jack – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Chillingo (Tower defense that truly puts you in control. You are Commando Jack, the baddest, meanest, toughest soldier planet Earth has to offer, and it’s up to you to save the world from alien invasion. Repel attacks by placing towers on the map, but that’s not all—when you need that extra bit of firepower, just jump in your turret and take those suckers down in first person mode! ) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Survival Penguin Battle Royal – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Althi Inc. (Battle Royal on ice! Final battle for survival now begins! 3D action game that unique characters such as penguin, white bear, seal, pirate battle on various types of ice battle fields. Use various weapon including bomb, bat effectively to beat the boss!
Although the enemies coming to attack you one after another, beat them and survive!) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
For The Millionaires – All games over $0.99
MasterAbbott’s over 99c Pick Of The Week!
Wizorb – Price : $2.99 – Publisher – Tribute Games (The once peaceful Kingdom of Gorudo is threatened by an evil presence. The only hope for salvation is Cyrus, a wizard versed in a secret magic art called Wizorb! Explore many strange places from the derelict monster infested town of Clover to Gorudo Castle atop Cauldron Peak. Danger lurks around every corner so you’ll need to keep your wits about you and have quick reflexes in order to survive. ) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Dungeon Village – Price : $3.99 – Publisher – Kairosoft (Welcome to an epic RPG world in which the town you build can grow from humble hamlet into a mecca for the land’s most ambitious adventurers! The enterprising warriors that stop by your blossoming burg will defeat monsters and earn you money. Conquering dungeons and clearing out hordes of monsters will bag you loot to stock your shops. And if your hamlet flourishes, adventurers will want to set up house and settle down!) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Judge Dredd: Countdown Sector 106– Price : $5.49 – Publisher – Tin Man Games (Drokk! It’s an adventure game. It’s an interactive book. It’s an RPG. You are Judge Dredd, the toughest judge to patrol Mega-City One, a vast futuristic city, set in the 22nd Century! You, the reader, control the direction of the story by making decisions for Dredd on each page, and choosing your path. Using a realistic dice-based battle system, you get to fight your enemies in exciting shootouts and roll your fate, as you use your array of skills against a variety of perps in an epic storyline.) runs on iPad. BUY NOW
Atlantis 2 HD– Price : $1.99 – Publisher – Microids (A thrilling new adventure in the heart of Atlantis. Play the role of Ten, a descendent of Seth, the hero of the first Atlantis. The forces of light and dark have awoken and are preparing to fight. Ten carries within him the powers of light. His destiny is to fight his mortal twin. His quest leads him on a dangerous journey through Tibet, Ireland, China and Yucatan.) runs iPad & iPhone. BUY NOW
Stolen Beauty HD: Fashion Mystery – Price : $5.49 – Publisher – Nevosoft (Take part in exciting investigation! You play from the perspective of Eva Sanders, a journalist working at a popular fashion and beauty magazine! Eva goes to Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, but instead of revelry, an exciting investigation begins!) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Alien Breed – Price : $5.49 – Publisher – Team 17. (The original Alien Breed is back in action, celebrating its 21st Anniversary! Alien Breed is the classic sci-fi, top-down shooter developed by Team17. Launching originally in 1991, Alien Breed has now been remade for iOS, which can only mean one thing… it’s time to turn down the lights, turn up the sounds and encounter Alien Breed again!) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Plight Of The Zombie – Price : $2.99 – Publisher – Spark Plug Games. (We are tired of all of these zombie games designed for those apathetic people who just want to kill poor, innocent zombies all the time. They’re just hungry! Plight of the Zombie features: Play over 30 deliciously brainy puzzles, More levels being offered after release, Be one with your inner zombie as you nom on yummy brains, Support a savory cause by helping end zombie hunger, Appetizing store with plenty of tasteful accessories for your zombies) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Justice League: Earth’s Final Defense– Price : $2.99 – Publisher – CJ E&M (The all-time DC Super Heroes are in one game! DC comics’ 5 super heroes-Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash-are standing together against Luther and the Villain. ) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Acheron Prime– Price : $6.49 – Publisher – InsurgentX Entertainment (Acheron Prime is a space shooter RPG set in the dystopian future of Earth and its colonized planets. Presented in a traditional jRPG style blended with western Sci-fi elements, stunning HD graphics, and an engaging storyline, Acheron Prime is a must-have for all fans of this genre. Join Kirika, an expert Cyborg Pilot as she tries to uncover an interplanetary conspiracy and learn more about her past. Join or rebel against four fully formed factions each with its own goals and agendas and find the secret behind the mysterious Acheron.) runs iPad & iPhone. BUY NOW
Kid Vector– Price : $1.99 – Publisher – UNCADE (Ever wish games were fun again, like when they were lovingly handcrafted line segment by line segment that your grandpappy used to make? Ahhh, those were the days. Yep, back then you played a game, instead of watching it through cutscenes. You didn’t need no fancy whizbang graphics either, and the dragons looked vaguely like ducks. Yes, Kid Vector is an homage to a simpler time, when games were only about fun, children listened to their parents, and coins were collected instead of bought in packs for $24.99.) runs iPad & iPhone. BUY NOW
There you have it folks, these games should keep you busy for quite some time, well till next week at least. I’ll be back next week for another dose of iOS goodness, in the meantime if anyone would also like to suggest their own suggestions, please feel free to share them in the comments section below or in the iOS forum section on the site here.
If Uprising44 – the WWII game focusing on the Warsaw Uprising – has peaked your interest with it’s third person and RTS gameplay mixture and fresh story, take note: the website for the game has just gone live at uprising44.com. An independent game developed by small Polish studio DMD Enterprises, the plot will base itself around the titular uprising which was the largest civilian revolt against occupying Nazi forces in the entire war.
The website will carry all the latest news about the game and should fill out as the late August release date approaches. The game is due to release on PC, iOS and Mac. A console version was slated to hit the Xbox 360 at some point, but has yet to be confirmed – keep your eyes on the website for the news as it happens.
Sony Computer Entertainment have announced the release date for LittleBigPlanet Vita. LBP Vita will be released on the 25th of September in North America. Those in Europe and Japan will both receive the game earlier than their North American counterparts. In Europe and PAL territories, the game will be released on the 19th of September. In Japan, the game will be released a day later on the 20th of September. Sony has also released a video detailing the development of the world of Carnivalia, where LittleBigPlanet Vita is set in.
For those who do pre-order the game, the player will receive one of two bonus DLC costume packs. One is based on the game Bioshock and includes a Big Daddy and Little Sister costume. The second pack is the Knights of the Old pack. This will feature four costumes based on Medieval fairytales (one of the costumes is in fact a dragon).
