The big updates just keep on coming; hot on the heels of another major controller support update, Rockstar’s all-time classic Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was just updated for full MFi controller support!
In many ways, I consider Vice City the peak of the entire Grand Theft Auto franchise. Future games were more serious in tone, more broad in scope, and more riddled with little “maintenance” features that required you to exercise, help computer controller characters, etc.
In contrast to those later games, Vice City is pure, unbridled sandbox fun. The plot is great, but this feels like the last GTA where you could completely ignore any story elements and just go crazy. And the radio stations… VCPR still cracks me up 10 years later.
If going on a rampage in 1980’s Miami sounds like fun, this is the best 5 bucks you’ll ever spend. Download it immediately.
First person shooter fans, The long, long, LONG wait is over: Modern Combat 5, Gameloft’s Modern Warfare “inspired” shooter, was just updated for MFi controllers!
Modern Combat 5 was originally released 8 months ago, with a promise that controller support would be added shortly to the first update. That obviously didn’t happen – Gameloft updated Modern Combat 5 multiple times, added pay-to-win elements, and ultimately made it free-to-play before adding controller support.
Premium game fans might be justfiably sad that they’ll never get a chance to play the original, non-freemium version of Modern Combat 5 with controllers. Still, in my opinion, this game plays so much better with a controller than it does with touch that it makes up for any questionable business model decisions.
Paper Monsters Recut, the remastered, controller-supported rerelease of the iOS classic Paper Monsters, is now available on the App Store!
I haven’t had a chance to dig into this version yet, but I’ll be changing that tonight. While a full review will have to wait until I get some real time with this game, I was a big fan of the first version, and have no qualms at all about recommending this remastering to any platforming game fans out there.
Update
Apple’s system status page is reporting that everything is back online now. Developers are reporting that some back-end functionality is still unavailable, but for most users, it seems the problem is addressed.
Wednesday, traditionally ânew release dayâ to the world of iOS gamers, is off to a rough start. The App Store, iTunes Store, iBook Store, and iTunes Radio are all currently offline.
The stores have been down for over 8 hours now, with no news from Apple about what happened or when it will be corrected.
Considering that Appleâs System Status page didnât even report the outage until several hours after it first occurred, Iâm not holding out much hope for an explanation.
This outage is has already cost Apple tens of millions of dollars in App revenue, and is potentially far worse news for developers hoping to release their games today. Which is also, of course bad news for gamers hoping to play those games. I was planning to sit back, relax, and enjoy Paper Monsters Recut tonight, but it seems that will have to wait for now.
Good news for Disney and / or sandbox game fans: MFi controller support is coming soon to Disney Infinity Toybox 2.0!
In response to an inquiry from Twitter user Anthony Usher, developer Sean Patton confirmed that support for Extended controllers would be added to Disney Infinity in March.
Controller support was rumored to be included with the big 2.0 update from a few months ago, but didn’t end up making an appearance. It’s good to hear that we won’t have much longer to wait.
Just a last-minute reminder, folks: todays Apple keynote starts in 20 minutes. Watch live on Apple.com, or via a special Apple Events channel on the Apple TV.
We know this event will cover the Apple Watch in more detail, but that’s about all we know. A 12-inch MacBook Air refresh and / or 12-inch iPad are widely rumored, but I think both would be more appropriate for WWDC.
An Apple TV refresh being shown, but not released, is possible. Again though, I think WWDC would be the venue for that – it would need developer support, and showing it now would detract from the Apple Watch message.
My wildcard guess: a more in-depth showing for HomeKit.
All will be made clear in 15 minutes.
Cult of Mac profiles the indie developers behind the excellent Sonic remasters.
No solid news on Sonic 3, but we can always hope…
Good deal on the Mad Catz CTRLi on Amazon right now: the red version of the controller is on sale right now for $46, which is over 20% off its usual $59 asking price.
Not sure why the controller is on sale, but if you’ve been holding out on what I consider the best controller for iPhone gamers, this is the lowest the price has ever been; now is as good a time as any to grab one for cheap.
Good editorial at Six Colors on the repercussions of the freemium monetization rampant on the App Store. People running sleazy business models can ruin things even for those trying to play fair.
Touch Arcade has a great hands-on gameplay video of the upcoming remaster of classic iOS platformer Paper Monsters, as well as a release date: March 12th.
I’ve been looking forward to Paper Monsters Recut for a long time now. Controller support is already confirmed; even if that was the only addition to the original game, I’d give it a strong recommendation.