Better act fast on this one! Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy is currently available for $4.99; half-off the usual $10 price tag.
This game was the predecessor to the excellent PlayStation title Heavy Rain. It’s an interactive adventure game with a rich story, detailed graphics, and full voice acting. If any of that sounds good, don’t hesitate for a second to grab this at the newly discounted price.
If you’ve been wanting to grab a SteelSeries Stratus XL, nows as good a time as any: Apple has quietly dropped the price to $49.99. At the same time, they seemed to have removed the regular Stratus from their online store.
I reviewed the Stratus XL, and while I found it to be much improved over its predecessor, I didn’t particularly like it. It wasn’t anywhere close to being worth $79.99 – it seems Apple now agrees with me on that point.
For what it’s worth, I’d still take one of the Mad Catz C.T.R.L.i pads over the Stratus XL any day. The full-size C.T.R.L.i may be $10 more, but it is a far better controller. Even the Micro C.T.R.L.i doesn’t suffer from the same crippling trigger sensitivity issues that plague the Stratus XL.
But if the Stratus XL is the controller you’ve been lusting after, now is a great opportunity. No telling how long Apple will keep this controller in stock – the regular Stratus is gone – so better act fast.
PocketGamer has the scoop on the latest entry in the classic turn-based strategy game Worms.
Factions, a big single player campaign, smaller levels, quicker gameplay, refined controls, and a premium price… that all sounds good to me! Lets just hope they fix the crippling framerate issues the iOS games have always suffered from.
When I was a kid, I'd spend hours up with friends playing Worms Armageddon from sunset to sunrise. The series has dropped in quality over the past decade, but these games are still worth playing.
Every time a new Worms game comes, I get my hopes up that they'll recapture the feel of the older games. Maybe this will be the time. The game will be out within the next few weeks, so we don’t have too long to wait.
I’ve been meaning to write a long article on as blocking, ethics, and the future. I still will, but Marco Arment summed up a lot of my thoughts on the matter.
Websites that serve ads that track your history and sell it to content companies – which most websites do – don’t deserve your sympathy. Block them, let them go under. I’d go even further – the fact they ever thought user tracking was morally acceptable in the first place shows that they deserve failure. Now, in iOS 9, we’ll have the tools to fight back.
Lost Echo, the graphically incredible adventure game / interactive story, is currently on sale for $0.99 – a significant reduction from its usual $2.99 price tag.
If you’re a fan of the genre, and you haven’t picked up Lost Echo, this is an incredible opportunity. Honestly, this game is worth way more than the usual $2.99 – it’s a steal for a buck.
The title is a bit of a troll, but this article does a great job at summing up some of the ways the current web standards people are going in the wrong direction.
Regular readers should know that I’m a big proponent of good, clean, standards-compliant web design. Until a few years ago, that’s what being a good citizen on the internet meant. Unfortunately, things changed. The current web standards proponents are more interested in building web sites that mimic the look and feel of native apps than they are in building websites that actually feel like websites.
This is a major conflict today. Apple is refusing to implement many of the things that standards bodies have decreed are to become “standard”. There are many reasons for this, not least of which is that Apple has no interest in having people build “native” style apps in HTML/CSS/Javascript. Apple is instead implementing non-standard features that they believe make the web a better place for traditional websites – think iOS 9 ad blocking.
It should come as no surprise that I side with Apple here. Sometimes the most important thing you can do is say no to a feature, even if that feature has been labeled a standard. Apple has said no to allowing websites to install plugins that run in the background of your device, constantly using battery life and processor power, even though standards bodies are in favor of this.
If it were up to me, I’d say Apple should pull some of the things they already implemented. There is no reason webpage should be allowed to hijack your scrolling behavior, for example.
It really doesn’t get much more classic than Pac Man. The original retro Pac-Man has been available on iOS for a long time, but for those of us looking for something a little more modern, Namco Bandai has us covered with their new DX Championship Edition of the arcade classic.
Truth be told, the Championship Edition of Pac-Man has been available on iOS for some time. The only problem is, it hasn’t been updated since 2012. That’s before modern niceties like widescreen, game controller support, and high resolution became the norm.
So in a way, this DX edition can be thought of as a paid upgrade. Considering the original arcade version of Pac-Man was entirely based around micro-transactions and consumable lives, the $4.99 premium price Namco Bandai is asking for isn’t bad at all, and arcade game fans would be crazy not to jump on it.
Well folks, it’s been a long wait, but it’s finally over. The Gamevice for iPad Mini just showed up on Apple’s online store. Right now. Today. If you want some of my personal impressions of the controller, check out the AfterPad Gamevice Preview. I’ll have a full review up very soon, once I get my hands on the finalized hardware.
For now, let me say this: I’ve been using various incarnations of the Gamevice since CES, and I can say with all honesty that it is by far the best MFi controller ever. It’s not even close – if you have an iPad Mini, and if you have any interest whatsoever in owning an MFi controller, this is the one to get.
I know there are going to be a lot of questions about this controller; to answer some of the most common ones, I conducted an interview with Gamevice CEO Fraser Townley. If there’s anything you want to know that isn’t covered here, head over to the forums and let me know.
Kevin MacLeod: It’s finally here – the Gamevice for iPad Mini officially launched on Apple’s online store tonight! I speak from experience when I say a LOT of people have been excited about this for a long time. It was supposed to be coming in March – can you give us some insight into why it took so much longer than anticipated?
Fraser Townley: We pushed back the launch date for various reasons. The main one is that we underestimated the time it would take to receive all of the approvals we needed to get to market. Gamevice is a new and unique product; labs around the world had no standard testing procedures, therefore time got lost in the certification process.
The Gamevice is a very unique controller, you’re right about that – I haven’t seen anything quite like it from any other manufacturer, MFi or otherwise! What were some of the challenges with building a controller of this design?
We actually conceived the idea in 2012 and quickly received the utility patent for two halves of a controller attached to two sides of a smart device via an adjustable bridge but, as they say, 5% of the work is the idea and 95% execution. Having the idea and being granted the patent is only the beginning of the journey. We actually needed to create new manufacturing processes and invent new ways of doing things in order to achieve the final product we will deliver very soon. There are a lot of bright and dedicated people that have been involved in the project, and I would like to thank them all for their contribution.
So the Gamevice has spent a few extra months in development from what was originally planned. I know that during that time, you’ve continue to develop and polish the Gamevice. What has changed in that time from the version that wouldhave gone on sale in March?â¨
Tiny mods really, but the kind that make higher production yields and a better feel. It also gave us time to develop our companion app, Gamevice Live. We always planned to create the app for the Christmas season, but now we can launch in parallel with the hardware.â¨â¨
With over 700 games already supporting MFi controllers like the Gamevice, there are a lot of different game styles and control schemes to work with. Are there any games in particular you’ve been testing the Gamevice for?
â¨We test all available games so that we can create a game map within the Gamevice Live app to help guide the gamer. Obviously we focus on the extended game play titles, and we are also in direct contact with key developers to help spread the word: “the world needs more controller compatible games”!â¨
There has been some confusion about device compatibility with the Gamevice. Can you set the record straight – which iPads can it be used with? And is it a one-size-fits-all design, or will prospective buyers need to pick a specific Gamevice for their iPad?
We will have two separate iPad models. One for the iPad Mini (1,2 & 3) and one for the iPad Air (1 & 2). As we are Lightning connected we cannot support earlier iPad versions.â¨
Only the iPad Mini version is available right now. How long will iPad Air gamers need to wait to get their hands on a Gamevice, and can you shed some light onto why this version is being delayed?
The iPad Air is a bigger and heavier puppy than the smaller mini. The Air II is also much thinner than the Air creating challenges that do not exist in the mini. When we first designed Gamevice we imagined that the mini was the optimum size and therefore the foundation for our ultimate gaming experience. Once we got prototypes into the hands of people like yourselves we realized that there would be considerably more demand for the Air variant than we envisioned but, we have to be sure that the quality and the experience is right before we place that on the market. It will be here soon enough.â¨
What about other devices? There has been some mention on your website about versions for the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, and Apple is rumored to be working on a 12-inch iPad model. Not to mention the possibility we might finally have a game-playing Apple TV in the near future. Are there any plans for products addressing these devices?
â¨Well, I cannot possibly comment on what Apple is planning as it would be pure speculation. We have been considering a one size fits all iPhone 6 Gamevice which we are studying very hard. We think we have come up with the solution, but the designers have to thoroughly test the theory whilst we focus what is in production â the iPad variants.â¨
What would you say to someone still on the fence about the Gamevice? $99 is a lot to ask for a controller, especially considering the questionable quality of some of the earlier controllers that retailed for that price. What makes the Gamevice better?
â¨We work with the finest manufacturers in the world and have chosen the highest quality components and materials. I cannot comment on what others have done in the past other than to say that our controller has so many more features than anything that came before and is specific to the iPadâs. It is everything you would expect from a premium quality product. I think once people get one in their hands, they’ll be able to judge for themselves.â¨
Thanks a lot for your time! Where should people go to find out more about the Gamevice?â¨
Our website at Gamevice.com, as well as our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram channels.
I’ve tried to cover some of the most important information about the controller here. One more time, if you have any questions at all about the Gamevice, be sure to swing by the forums and post them, and I’ll do my best to get answers. For more information, be sure to check out my exclusive in-depth preview of the Gamevice. And if you want one for yourself, visit Apple.com and place your order!
There must be something in the air. I’m not sure why so many games are on sale right now, but SNK, a publisher of classic arcade games, just joined the party. They’re running a massive $0.99 sale right now on all of their games.
There are lots of classics here. The King of Fighters series are great old-school arcade fighting games, and all feature full MFi controller support. The Metal Slug games are some of the best shoot-em-ups ever.
You really can’t go wrong with any of these games, especially if you’re a fan of arcade action games. Personally, the Metal Slug games are old favorites of mine, and I highly recommend them.
Amazon’s Prime Day sales have been a bit of a bust so far, but for one reason or another, a ton of excellent iOS games are heavily disconted now as well!
Lot’s of big-name games from companies like EA, Ubisoft, and Gameloft. If you missed some of these games during the various other times they’ve been on sale, now’s a great chance to pick them up.