Deus Ex: The Fall is sneaking / punching / stalking its way to iOS on July 11th, Square Enix announced this morning. When it arrives, it'll cost you nearly a sawbuck ($6.99 / £4.99 / 5.99€), and work on a wide variety of iOS devices (iPad 2 and above, iPhone 4S and above, and iPod Touch 5 and above). But which way will you play it? Us, well, we're all aboutrefrigerator stacking.
London, 8th July 2013 - Square Enix is happy to announce that Deus Ex: The Fall, the winner of seven "Best Mobile/iOS Game" awards at E3 2013*, will be coming to iOS devices this Thursday, 11th July. Deus Ex: The Fall will be available for $6.99/£4.99/5.99€ from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, or at www.AppStore.com. Developed by Square Enix's Mobile division in Europe, in collaboration with the original Deus Ex: Human Revolution® team at Eidos-Montréal and N-Fusion, Deus Ex: The Fall is a full story driven action-RPG and the first Deus Ex in the series to be developed for and released on mobile and tablet devices. Deus Ex: The Fall will be compatible with iPad 2 and above, iPhone 4S and above, and iPod Touch 5 and above.
All Windows Phones were not created equal. Nokia's managed to snag exclusive access to this year's FIFA game -- it's only available for Lumia smartphone owners, so HTC and Samsung users are apparently out of luck. EA Sports claims that FIFA 13 offers some enhanced graphics and significant control improvements, featuring game play that includes 30 leagues, 500 teams, 15,000 players and 32 authentic stadiums. The Xbox Live-enabled 951 MB download can be yours for $4.99 at the source link below.
Remember that gaming treadmill that we sweated all over during E3 last month? Virtuix's Kickstarted Omni is still firmly in the prototype stage, but that's not stopping the company from putting the gigantic peripheral through its special-shoe-requiring paces. CEO Jan Goetgeluk headed to the machine shop where the first Omni was built to demo some multiplayer gaming. And what better title to try things out than with a little Minecraft? If the below video is any indication, things went relatively smoothly. Says the exec, "even though the Minecraft graphics seem unsuited for VR, the game is actually a blast with Rift and Omni." Who needs the gym?
As if its flock of angry fowl weren't already near-ubiquitous, Rovio's today announced an August 13th release date for the Wii and Wii U versions of Angry Birds Trilogy. The Finnish company had previously committed to the two Nintendo ports earlier this year, prompted by the success of the title on the 3DS, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Rovio's not just pushing out a repackaged redo, either -- this collection bundles the original Angry Birds game with Seasons and Rio, while also adding some new levels. And given the finger-flicking origins of the franchise, gamers will be able to make use of the Wii U's GamePad for that famed asymmetric play (read: GamePad-only) and touch controls. If you haven't already exhausted your lust for flipping Rovio's birds, then the dog days of summer should see you and that Wii U making nice. Of course, by then you could also be flinging zombie-like Pikmin with reckless abandon. What's a Wii U owner to do?
A few days ago, NVIDIA announced that their Android-based portable gaming console – the NVIDIA Shield – will start shipping today, on June 27, along with a price drop from $349 to $299. Unfortunately for NVIDIA and those who were waiting to get their hands on the Shield, it seems it will take a bit longer to actually start shipping. Citing a mechanical issue that turned up during quality-assurance testing, NVIDIA has decided to push back the launch date of the Shield. NVIDIA isn’t giving any specific dates this time, saying only “next month” as the approximate launch date for the Shield. Hopefully, the issues get sorted and those who pre-ordered it are able to get their hands on it soon.
Shortly after Microsoft released its Xbox 360 HD update to Halo: Combat Evolved -- a game which allowed players to seamlessly switch between the original game's graphics and the update -- the company filed a patent for games "having a plurality of game engines." That patent filing just got published today, and it seemingly attempts to specifically lock down the concept of gaming classics being re-released in an updated form while also allowing longtime fans to switch between the original game and the update. Microsoft-owned Halo developer 343 Industries is at the forefront of the filing, with executive producer Daniel Ayoub's name listed first and two other 343 employees rounding out the list. The description of the patent does allow for some flexibility. "A game having a plurality of engines is described. In one or more implementations, a computing device displays an output of a first engine of a game by a computing device. An input is received by the computing device to switch from the output of the first engine of the game to an output of a second engine of the game, the first and second engines being executed concurrently by the computing device," it reads. However, later on in the filing, it specifically speaks to "remakes of games" that "attempt to captivate their audiences by leveraging emotions associated with the initial game." Certainly a blunt way to put that, eh?
Last week Sony released the 4.45 software update for the PlayStation 3 console, which, instead of fixing things made them worse, with many users complaining about their systems locking up after installing the update. The update was pulled back shortly afterwards but the damage had already been done to several consoles. Sony later promised and has now delivered an update for the problem in the form of the new 4.46 update, which is now available for download on the console and on their website. Other than fixing the issue caused by the 4.45 update, the 4.46 update also lets you hide notifications which you receive when you collect a trophy in a game. You can download the update from within the console’s interface or from the link below. If you’re having trouble loading the XMB interface, click here and follow the instructions to install the update. Download
Gameloft’s Modern Combat series of games have gained a bit of infamy for being heavily based on Call of Duty games. Still, despite that fact, one can’t deny that these have always been some of the best first person shooters on mobile. The last one, Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation was a particularly good game and with the latest one, Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour, Gameloft seems to have turned every dial to eleven to produce, at least on paper, one of the best first person shooters on the mobile platform. But does it actually deliver where it counts? Let’s find out.
Title
Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour
Developer
Gameloft
Platform
iOS
Android
Release Date
December 2012
December 2012
Content rating
17+
Medium Maturity
Size
1.44GB
1.9GB
Price
$6.99
Premise
The United States is under a terrorist attack and the terrorist group in question is being led by Edward Page, a former American soldier who has since then seemingly betrayed his country to wipe out the corruption within America. You get to play as American soldiers fighting this terrorism and at times as Page himself, watching the story unfold from the other side. The story is not much, really, and it’s hard to get involved with any of the characters.
Gameplay
Modern Combat 4 for most parts is a first person shooter but also includes other gameplay elements that we have seen in recent times, such as guiding an unmanned vehicle or directing drone attacks onto enemies. Other than that, however, it’s your usual run and gun action, occasionally separated by sniping, rocket launching and vehicle sequences. The action in the game has a very mature and grown up feel to it, which makes it stand out over most mobile shooters out there. It’s hard to tell sometimes that you’re playing a mobile game and not a console game. Granted, not all of the missions make complete sense and a lot of situations in the game seem to be there just for the sake of it, or to make it seem more like a console game, but the end result is very impressive. Most of the missions will have you running around with at least one other team member by your side. The AI team mates do a good job taking down enemies when you are not around and don’t just stand there and absorb bullets. The AI is not exceptionally bright and often don’t turn around when you’re besides them but they make good use of cover and tend to spread out to maximize the damage. In turn, you too have to take cover, otherwise you won’t last five seconds in the battlefield. Considering this, the cover system is rather basic and you just have to move behind object and crouch down to reduce damage. The game offers a lot of different weapons to choose from. You get your usual assortment of rifles, handguns, shotguns and grenades. When you get too close to an enemy, it automatically switches to a knife. You can carry three guns at a time, along with the grenades. You can also purchase additional items such as safety vests, health kits, grenades, etc. using the points you earn while playing the game. The game makes good use of the aforementioned gameplay elements to space things out, so you don’t feel like you’re constantly shooting at things. I mean, you still shoot at things, but events such as controlling UMVs are quite fun and make the game seem less repetitive. There are also some quick time events thrown in for good measure. Occasionally, during cut scenes, you will be attacked by an enemy, at which point a swipe command will appear on screen. Swipe immediately in the right direction and you pull off an instant kill. Fail, and you die and the game starts from the last checkpoint, which are always nearby. One major problem with the game, however, are the controls. Now this is not something exclusive to the game but more of a problem with shooters on touchscreen devices in general. The touch controls feel slow and unresponsive and at times are just hard to find when you’re not looking directly at them. It takes several hours to get used to them and even then you’d find yourself struggling in tight situations. Thankfully, Gameloft lets you customize the layout by letting you move them around and even increase their size by pinching. With a bit of experimentation you can get a playable layout but the controls still end up being the weakest link in the chain. The controls also end up making the game a lot more difficult than it is. Had you been playing the game with a keyboard and mouse you’d probably breeze through the campaign in not more than a couple of hours but it would take you twice as much otherwise with the touch controls. The game offers many aids to help you out, by automatically snapping the crosshair at the nearest enemy, etc. but it still feels quite difficult, which can occasionally be quite frustrating. Gameloft has also built-in a multiplayer element into the game. You can either play over a local Wi-Fi network or use a Gameloft ID to play against people online. The multiplayer is quite fun, actually, and although you don’t have a lot of players online at the moment there are still enough for you to enjoy yourself when you get bored of shooting at AI soldiers. Also, the playing field seems to be level as seemingly everyone struggles with the controls, so you have a decent chance of getting a good score and a rank.
Visuals and Sound
This is one area where Modern Combat 4 blows practically every mobile game out of the water. It looks absolutely, jaw-droppingly spectacular. The game is based on the Havok engine, which brings with it some incredible particle effects and rag doll physics, which makes the game look highly realistic. You also get the Battlefield 3/Frostbite 2-esque lens flare effect on the screen, which also looks nice without being too distracting. It’s insane how good the game looks at times and you just want to stop and stare and be amazed at how far technology has come in the past few years. The sound is equally good in Modern Combat 4. The background music is gritty and exciting and the sound effects are all well done. The guns sound powerful and lethal and explosions can be daunting. Even the voice acting is done very well, although the dialogues themselves are often unnecessarily aggressive and seem to be trying too hard to appear tough.
Verdict
In terms of production value, Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour can beat the pants off of most mobile and even some console games that have arrived this year. The game looks absolutely incredible and plays just like something you’d find on a console or a PC. Sure, the developers could have spent more time working on a better story and characters but despite that the game still manages to be quite enjoyable. Complementing the short but solid campaign is an enjoyable multiplayer mode as well, which you’ll find yourself playing days after the you’ve finished the single player mode. The only thing holding this game back are the controls, which is largely the fault of the platform. But if you’re someone who has made peace with this shortcoming or can use a controller with your mobile device then it shouldn’t be too much of a concern. Priced at at $6.99, Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour offers a lot of bang for your buck and is highly recommended for fans of first person shooters. Rating: 8.5/10 Pros: Varied, enjoyable campaign, fun multiplayer mode, stunning audio visual presentation Cons: Controls mar the overall experience and make the game a lot tougher than it should be Download:iOS | Android
Microsoft has teamed up with Japanese mobile game studio KLab to bring its best-selling title Age of Empires to Android and iOS devices, according to Reuters. KLab will be responsible for sqeezing the game onto smaller screens and making the real-time strategy thumb-friendly. Reuters cites a KLab spokesperson, who has said that Age of Empires for mobile will be released before the end of March, but that clearly hasn’t happened yet. A Microsoft employee familiar with the development of the game has revealed that the game will be free to play, but didn’t specify if there’ll be a trial version or the game will embrace the freemium model. He also added that a Windows Phone version of the game is in the works and will be released in the future. It’ll be available in a couple of languages, too. It’s quite plausible for Microsoft to wait with the launch of the game for its own platform until it releases the Windows Phone GDR3 update. We’ll have to wait and see.
The latest version of Firefox (22) is full of big new features. Most notably, the latest update adds support for 3D gaming (care of Epic Games), for video and voice calls as well as file sharing "without the need to install additional software or use third-party plugins," and for a new version of JavaScript that Mozilla's calling, "supercharged." Mozilla's even got a 3D game for you to play called BananaBread, so you may put the company's claims through the wringer. Should that not be enough for you diehard Firefox devotees, there's also a thrilling update that'll show download progress on OS X directly in the Dock icon. Take a breath and a seat, and maybe download the latest Firefox build right here when you've cooled down.
Microsoft is selective about where its first-party game franchises appear -- outside of lightweight releases like Kinectimals and Wordament, it prefers to use games as technology showcases and system sellers. It may not be picky for much longer, though, as Nikkei claims that Microsoft has reached a deal with Japan's KLab to develop Android and iOS versions of its first-party titles. The deal reportedly includes adaptations of both PC and Xbox games, and would start with a free-to-play variant of Age of Empires that could launch before the end of the 2013 fiscal year. We've reached out to Microsoft to verify the rumor, but it's clear that the arrangement could be a breakthrough for gamers who aren't wedded to Microsoft's existing mobile strategy.
Editor’s note: Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research and blogs at Techspressive. Follow him on Twitter @rossrubin. Now that there are enough wearable sensors on the market to track one activity per day each week, we’ve seen some sensor-based products turn their attention to chilling out already. There’s the Melon headband that helps determine how you best focus, Phyode’s W/Me wristband that aims to monitor a broad aspect of your physical state, and the PIP that uses a combination of software and biofeedback to help you learn how to de-stress. At least one project owner is gearing up to add another technological tool to the active arsenal. Part videogame accessory and part exercise equipment, the Virtuix Omni was inspired by the success of Kinect a few years ago, itself a response to the “Wiimote controller” that defined Nintendo’s last gaming console. While both products get you off the couch, they don’t necessarily give you any place to go once you’re there. Just like virtual reality goggles expand the viewing area beyond what is possible with conventional displays, the Omni expands where one can walk in conventional rooms where games are played. It is an omnidirectional treadmill. Indeed, the success of the crowdfunded Oculus Rift virtual reality headset that netted over $2.4 million on Kickstarter convinced inventor Jan Goetgeluk that the funding site would be a good route to market for a technology that had seen a lot of IP patents filed but few consumer products. Backers, many of whom were undoubtedly idle on their chairs as they pledged, were driven by promise (and perhaps a bit of guilt) to meet the initial funding goal in three-and-a-half hours. Two weeks and still with a month to go, the campaign has raised $860,000. As is the case for Oculus, gaming is only the first market for Omni, which can be used in simulations, training and other applications. Even better, unlike the Oculus Rift, which has elements of input and output and requires that games be modified for compatibility, the input-only Omni is compatible with PC games out of the box and is much easier to demonstrate. Nevertheless, while both products are slated to ship in consumer versions in early 2014, VR is still a niche market. Part of the reason for the reality check relates to the Omni’s size (about that of a standard treadmill although it’s designed to be disassembled quickly) and price, which will be around $500 or $600. That will make it more expensive than either of the next-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft launching in the fall, with the latter including a souped-up version of Kinect. In addition, while using a Kinect can also require a wide berth, the Omni has its share of encumbrances during use, including a belt and shoes that require special soles. (The company is partnering with an existing shoe manufacturer for the uppers.) And competition is already using crowdfunding to compete with the Omni. A simpler, smaller and cheaper omnidirectional surface called the WizDish developed in London dispenses with the Omni’s frame and integrated sensor. The WizDish is expected to ship before the end of the year for less than $300, but a demonstration video on its Kickstarter page has a first-timer stepping onto it as one a wet bathtub surface with a remote voice urging the user to be “really careful.” In these early days of omnidirectional treadmills, the feature sets — as well as some of the users — will struggle for balance.
Description With Shotgun Free you’ll turn your Android smartphone into a pump action shotgun. To work it, simply “pump” your phone back and forth to load the virtual gun, and then simply swing your phone upward to fire. Read phone state and identity permission: Just used for ads. No personal information collected.
A tilt-based labyrinth game featuring realistic physics, 3D graphics and more! Check out our newest game, Four Days: World Defense! It’s a free tower defense game with awesome 3D graphics! aTilt is a labyrinth maze game with an emphasis on realistic physics, 3D graphics, and a top-notch gaming experience. Roll your way past walls, holes, and rotating pieces in order to move the ball into the goal. aTilt includes 258 levels, and you can create and share your own levels online! And with OpenFeint support for high scores and achievements, there’s always something to new to do! This version of aTilt is fully functional and supported by ads.
Talk to Pierre, his responses are always unexpected and extremely hilarious. Talking Pierre is a very energetic and lively parrot, who lives in Talking Tom’s kitchen. He’s still a teenager and he likes to cause as much noise and destruction as possible. PLEASE NOTE: When running the app for the first time you will be required to download additional 4-26 MB to get the best graphics quality for your device. When you talk to Pierre, he doesn’t just repeat your words … being a parrot, he remembers what you said previously and repeats it later at random. Thus he combines different parts of your sentences to create new funny ones. Sometimes he repeats just a part more than once and then adds something completely different at the end. Try talking to Pierre, his responses are always unexpected and extremely hilarious. *** HOW TO PLAY *** - Talk to Pierre and he will repeat with a twist. - Poke him in the head or belly and see what his reaction is. - Poke him in the feet and enjoy his little cowboy dance. - Tickle his head or body to make him happy. - Press the Blender button to switch the blender on. Once the blender is making noise, Pierre cannot hear you anymore. - Press the Tomato button to throw tomatoes at him. - Press the Cracked Teacup button to see him throw stuff to the floor making lovely noise. - Press the Water Faucet button to see Pierre start sprinkling water around the kitchen. - Record videos and upload them to YouTube & Facebook or send them by email or MMS. *** PAID FEATURES *** You have to purchase the paid app: - If you want for a tomato to actually hit Pierre (in the free app he just keeps dodging them). - If you want to see Pierre throw more stuff to the floor. - If you want to see Pierre sprinkling water around the kitchen. - Switch Child Friendly Mode ON in the settings and remove all the places your toddler can get lost in (video recording, info screen etc.).
Grab your Saber, activate the concentrated beam and battle! The most powerful weapon in the Universe is back – and now in your pocket! That’s right – the Force Saber of Light is now an app! Swipe your device through the air and feel the power within as you sway and swing with your futuristic weapon! Engage in battles with your powerful beam – battle to the death and betray your friends, strangers, pets and maybe even your own son! No one will want to be your father when you unleash your inner-force and change your Saber to suit your personality! Become a knight of light as your beam responds to your slight movement! Choose between different crystals, each giving your more power and a different colour saber! Swap your hilt for 12 different bars for even more customization of your Force Saber! Even choose the dual-blade if you think you can handle the force! The Force Saber of Light will make noises as you battle – adding even more tension. Move your Android device and feel the power from your powerful weapon, have battles with your friends as they download the Force Saber of Light app onto their phones! Watch as your camera flash lights during battles for the ultimate night battle experience! The Force Saber of Light app is free to download and great fun for the whole family! All ages will love how responsive the Force Saber feels in their hands and they will really feel like a Knight of Light! Features: - Choose from various crystals to change the beam’s color with more coming soon! - Choose from 12 hilts, with more coming soon! - FEEL your Force Saber – it’s best feeling-saber app! - Hear different sounds from your Force Saber - Upload and play your own music into app! - Flashlight turns on when you hit saber!
CURRENT VERSION : 1.9.7 REQUIRES ANDROID : 2.2 and up
The latest version of Firefox (22) is full of big new features. Most notably, the latest update adds support for 3D gaming (
Editor’s note: Ross Rubin is principal analyst at 
As is the case for Oculus, gaming is only the first market for Omni, which can be used in simulations, training and other applications. Even better, unlike the Oculus Rift, which has elements of input and output and requires that games be modified for compatibility, the input-only Omni is compatible with PC games out of the box and is much easier to demonstrate. Nevertheless, while both products are slated to ship in consumer versions in early 2014, VR is still a niche market.
