Games

Ubisoft’s upcoming social racing title, Trials Frontier, arriving April 10

Ubisoft yesterday announced that it will be releasing a brand new iOS game, Trials Frontier, on April 10.

Trials Frontier is being billed as a social racing title with physics-based gameplay, featuring a compelling storyline, friendly competition and "a massive content stream."

The game will release for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad and you can trust us to keep you in the loop.

In the meantime, jump past the fold and check out a nice gameplay video and learn more about this promising looking title...

Scan barcodes to build your own kingdom in this original game

I know what you are thinking. A game that requires you to scan products… Why would I go down to the grocery store to take pictures of cereal boxes with my iPhone just to play a game? Well, for one thing, it will get your lazy butt out of the house for a few minutes. Plus, if you are clever, you can find ways to scan barcodes without having to leave the house. Lazy.

Barcode Kingdom is a role-playing game that mixes a bit of real world technology with a fantasy world of fighting. Scan items from around the house to get more soldiers, weapons, armor and potions. Hopefully, you have plenty of boxes lying around the house…

Facebook is buying Rift headset maker Oculus VR for $2 billion

Facebook on Tuesday issued a press release announcing it is buying Kickstarter-funded startup Oculus VR for approximately $2 billion in cash and stock.

For those who have been sleeping under the rock lately, Oculus VR is the maker of the Rift virtual-reality headset. This major move reveals Facebook's intent to make use of virtual-reality technologies, not long ago the stuff of science fiction.

The announcement comes just days after the Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony announced Project Morpheus, its own head-mounted five-inch full HD display with a 90-degree field of view that could mainstream virtual reality gaming by connecting to the PlayStation console...

Report: upcoming Apple TV refresh to serve as full-on cable box replacement

Two months ago, the reliable blogger Mark Gurman was first out of the gate with a report painting a pretty rosy picture of an upcoming Apple TV hardware refresh, said to include full-blown downloadable games via an Apple TV App Store of sorts.

He also learned from sources that the box could sport a built-in TV tuner to effectively control your existing cable boxes and TV stations, helping put the real TV into Apple's $99 set-top box.

A new report yesterday by former WSJ writer Jessia Lessin's new outlet, The Information, provides additional tidbits regarding the gaming and cable box functionality...

Braveland is a turn-based game inspired by old-school strategies

I recently watched an adventure movie from 2008 called “In the Name of the King.” It told the story of a farmer who didn’t want to get involved in any kind of battle, but found himself fighting against an enemy who invaded his land, burned his village, and destroyed his way of life (I don’t recommend it).

Braveland reminds me of that movie, only with better dialogue, more exciting battles, and a more interesting storyline (sorry to fans of the movie). It is also a turn-based strategy game with elements of board game mechanics, which is right up my alley…

Devious Dungeon offers simple platform RPG fun for the casual adventurer

Ravenous Games have made a name for themselves with such titles as League of Evil, Beat Down, and Random Heroes (check out our review of Random Heroes 2). They’ve single-handedly made a retro style version of practically every genre in the App Store.

Devious Dungeon is the developer’s most recent addition to its pixelated collection of games. This dungeon crawler is a platform style game that is a lot like the Random Heroes franchise, but with knights and goblins instead of gun toting mercenaries…

Astro Mined mixes minesweeper and Sokoban into one

Minesweeper is a puzzle game where players must avoid landing on mines by selecting a square on a grid and determining the mines’ whereabouts based on the revealed number of adjacent mines that appear when a square is selected.

Sokoban is a puzzle game where players must get through a labyrinth by moving boxes around to push them out of the way. Boxes can’t be pulled, so players must use strategy to determine the best way to clear the path without getting boxes stuck in the way.

Astro Minded: Galactic Bombsquad is a puzzle game that includes both minesweeper and Sokoban. Good luck with that…

First Strike Game review: start a nuclear war from your iPad

At risk starting a political debate amongst our readers, this past year or so has triggered a fear of nuclear attack that I haven’t really felt since the dying throes of the Cold War in the late 1980s. Ever since I watched Red Dawn (the original) I’ve wondered what a nuclear war would be like.

First Strike Game is a real-time strategy game that lets you act as the government power in charge of a nation that is either determined to overthrow the world, or just wants to protect the country from a nuclear attack…

Apple highlights indie games via new App Store section Indie Game Showcase

Apple has created a new section in the App Store to feature iPhone and iPad games by independent devs.

Titled 'Indie Game Showcase' and available on iTunes here, the section highlights such highly acclaimed titles as Year Walk ($3.99) by Simogo, an eerie adventure game based on the ancient Swedish phenomena of year walking, Space Invaders Infinity Gene ($4.99) by Taito, Bumpy Road ($2.99) by developer Simogo Handelsbolag and more...

Avadon 2: The Corruption HD review – the role-playing adventure continues

Spiderweb Software makes amazing role-playing adventure games that let players follow deep storylines and utilize teams of fighters in order to complete missions and destroy bad guys.

Avadon: The Black Fortress HD first launched in mid-2011, back when companies were not as interested in putting expansive, explorative games on the iPad. Today, there are plenty of team-based RPGs to satisfy my love of the genre, but Avadon holds a special place in my heart.

Two-and-a-half years after the first story made it to the iPad, Spiderweb Software has finally launched its sequel, Avadon 2: The Corruption HD, in the App Store…

Ridge Racer Slipstream goes free until next Thursday as Apple’s Free App of the Week

Today, like any given Thursday, Apple is refreshing its Free App of the Week promotion by making a new iOS tittle free for the next seven days.

Last week's promotion brought us the free download of Mildmania's Darklings [review], a gesture-driven endless atmospheric adventure game that incorporates visually enticing Noire-style graphics akin to Limbo and Badland.

Today, Namco Bandai's Ridge Racer Slipstream has gone free as the App Store's new Free App of the Week.

Normally a $2.99 download, but now available free in the App Store until next Thursday, Ridge Racer Slipstream recreates this ultimate arcade racing franchise on your iPhone and iPad with pretty graphics, Career and Arcade game modes, twelve beefy cars with plenty of horse power, over a hundred racing competitions across six Grand Prix series, real-time multiplayer and lots more...

Asphalt 8 with Twitch broadcasting, The Great Wall tracks, new cars and more now available

Earlier this week, Gameloft, the prolific maker of mobile games, has announced a partnership with the live streaming video game platform Twitch that would bring the first ever mobile streaming game experience to Asphalt 8: Airborne.

The following day, Gameloft teased the forthcoming update and it's now live in the App Store so best thing you grab it now and live stream some action right away.

In addition to Twitch integration, Asphalt 8 now includes six new tracks scattered throughout the gorgeous Asian-inspired location, the Great Wall, as well as new soundtrack, new cars, new events in career mode, an improved main menu and more...