Namco Unveil Unite SDK .. iPhone-to-iPhone Gaming is so 2009.
One for the game developers now. Since the iPhone’s launch and the App Store’s debut, we’ve seen a slurry of companies take it upon themselves to create a “social” medium or space in which gamers of all ages and skill levels can communicate and interact with each other on a device to device basis. But so far, supposedly due to the limitations of the iPhone SDK, this has been restricted to three methods of gameplay for us here gamers; iPhone to iPhone. iPhone to iPod touch or iPod touch to iPod touch.
Namco, most famous for its worldwide Pac-Man franchise, have announced at GDC yesterday that they have been working on a new, different method. Unite is a cross-platform gaming technology that will allow users to play against gamers using different types of devices and machines and challenge each other in the same game. Acting very much like a social network, Unites aim is to unite gamers the world over, no matter which device they choose to play on.
“For example, an iPhone gamer could play a game against a PC player in Pool Pro Online 3. Unite will have a single login across all platforms supported by the platform. Gamers have a profile fronted by an avatar and a score, boosted by the accumulation of achievements in Unite-powered games.And having a central web site (and soon, an iPhone app) where you can manage your account should also make it an attractive alternative to developers looking for a social solution for their games.”
The big news here is that unlike the current social platforms like ngmoco:)’s Plus+, Open Feint and Crystal, Namco’s Unite platform will apparently allow gamers to chat live with each other during gameplay. So, as well as bringing along the ability to play non-iPhone gamers the world over, this new SDK should also bring some functional aspects of a platform like Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE, for example, to the iPhone.
As with Open Feint, Namco says they’ll soon have a “central” iPhone application on the store, which you can keep track of all your Unite platform achievements on the the go! Currently there is little more information known about Unite, but we’ll be following this closely and keeping you up to date with news and announcements which come out of this new SDK – I’m sure you’ll agree, this is pretty exciting stuff!
Source: IGN UK
Read more here:
Namco Unveil Unite SDK .. iPhone-to-iPhone Gaming is so 2009.
Spirit
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Reviewed on: iPhone 3GS
Gameplay Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Controls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Graphics and Sound Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for good-looking games. Recently, I came across another … Spirit. Spirit is a game that didn’t get much air time or pre-launch hype for that matter. It just … appeared. Resembling an art style much like Critical Thought’s geoDefense, Spirit is a tower defense title with a twist. Most tower defense titles in their genre are at this point pretty generic. They usually consist of a bunch of enemies following a pre-defined path, with your aim being to stop them in their tracks using any means necessary. Instead, Spirit’s wildly varied array of enemies choose when and were that path will be, and how they move along it.
In the game you control a vector shaped spirit with the touch of your finger. As your enemies pile into the gridded room, your aim becomes to avoid capture at all costs by dragging this little spirit around your enemies, encapsulating them. As you do, you’ll create a vortex like structure which will suck up any immediately close enemies. As with most of Spirit, the use of smooth animation makes this a kind of addicting experience. Of course, dependent on the amount of enemies you capture in the circle, you’ll earn a certain amount of points. Its important to note that you will only be able to capture your enemy or (group of enemies) if the speed of your circuit around them is fast enough. Visually, this circling of your enemies is accompanied by a stream of ghostly mist. Your speed within the room will trigger the environment to bounce at move, like elastic. Along the way you’ll meet a number of colour-coded enemies all of which will take a different path around you.
As with other tower defense titles, Spirit works off enemy waves. As you move on to defeat more waves, the games difficulty increases. Whether it be in the way of your enemies getting faster and more agile than you, or becoming elongated and twisted, as you progress through the game your enemies will become tougher to defeat. The more and more waves you manage defeat the more bonus levels you will unlock. Bonus levels are simply a frantic grab for points. In bonus levels, the game throws down hundreds of different coloured virtual chips … and against the clock, you aim to collect as many as you possibly can. The more you circuit around and manage to collect, the higher your overall total score. If you come into contract with your enemies or they touch you, you die. To re-spawn you simply tap anywhere on the screen, and you will re-spawn from where you tapped. Handy for when you’re in a sticky situation and need to get out of it!
Visually the game has an arcade modern-retro feel to it, with bright neon-like elements playing a huge part. If you’ve ever seen geoDefense, you’ll probably understand what I mean. They’re the sort of visuals you can’t really explain in full details, other than to say they look pretty damn gorgeous. The controls are extremely responsive and with the ability to tweak this responsiveness on the app’s options menu, controlling the spirit is a pleasant experience.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with Spirit. Being an avid fan of geoDefense and Spirit’s visual style resembling parts of that, the game just seemed to click with me. Controls were both fluid and responsive. I for one highly recommend you give this one a look!
Read more here:
Spirit
