IPhone/ITouch/IPad Game App Thread

[Naples39]

I hear the cars slide a little less? If so that's fine with me.

Also, I have been loving Kingdom Rush, which is currently $1. Definitely my favorite tower defense game I've tried on iOS.

[Macca00]

I hear the cars slide a little less? If so that's fine with me.

Could be because there are more asphalt tracks/longer asphalt sections in the new tracks(?)


Ghost Trick is also out on iOS and has cloud saves. The game is free for the first 2 chapters (which are very hand-holdy but give you a sense of the gameplay) and then a few bucks for each chapter, $10 for the whole game. Considering the DS game is $30+ that's a good deal - I'm enjoying it quite a bit.


Will definitely check out Kingdom Rush.

[sportdan30]

Because of the iPad 3 rumors that have been swirling lately, I figured I'd throw my 16GB wife iPad 2 up on Craigslist to see if there were any bites. Honestly, I didn't care one way or another if I sold it or not. I can't imagine how much better it can possibly get, but I thought what the heck. Well, I got a couple interested people. Ended up selling it today for $400 including the smart cover. Thought it was a pretty fair deal. I wasn't that happy with the smart cover to begin with as it didn't provide sufficient enough protection for the back.

Anyway, I'm ipad-less for the next month or so.

[Murph]

If the 3 ends up being as hard to find as the 2 was initially, it may be longer than a month, Dan.

I'm still trying to decide if I want a 3 right away. My 2 is treating me just fine.

[Naples39]

For the people that immediately pre-ordered a 2 online, they got it within a few days of release. Anyone who waited until release day to order, or went to the store, had to wait a few weeks.

I feel pretty confident passing on the 3. Looks like it will be better a GPU, Siri and a hi res screen. I'm not terribly impressed with that upgrade package.

[sportdan30]

As I recall, they didn't take pre-orders for the iPad 2.

Last time, I stood in line at Best Buy for a couple hours and snagged one. I probably won't do it again this time. I'll just reserve one at the Apple Store and hopefully get
one within a few days time.

I'm less excited about the iPad 3 than I was about the iPad 2, but I figured the price was right. It's only been a day, but I already miss it! Hopefully the next month
will go by quickly.

[wco81]

I skipped on the 2 when the rumors of the high res display circulated.

Hard to imagine a feature or spec. which would be more dramatic. There aren't too many things they could add to tablets at this point. Sure they could add things like USB ports (or even better, Thunderbolt or USB 3 ports for faster transfers) but it's not as if they've suffered sales at the hands of tablets with ports.

If you look at the road map of processors and GPUs for mobile devices, yes there will be big improvements every year for a long time. In the next year or two, there will be claims that tablets and smart phones have GPUs comparable to consoles (and passing up the Vita performance by a good margin). But then there still will be big jumps on the horizon.

So a high res display seems like as good a jumping in point as any.

[Naples39]

Hmm, I guess there were no preorders, but those that ordered right at release got them within launch week.

I also don't fully understand the appeal of the hi-res screen myself. It's going to be running the same software with the same design and art designed for the lower def screens. Unless you are zooming in pics and graphics, will you even be able to tell the screens apart?

[greggsand]

It's going to be running the same software with the same design and art designed for the lower def screens. Unless you are zooming in pics and graphics, will you even be able to tell the screens apart?

I'd be willing to bet apple will have an OS (5.x) to coincide with iPad 3's release to take advantage of the 'retina display'. There's also speculation about iPad 3 running Siri (which would require an OS update as well).

[wco81]

The developers would obviously have to upgrade the apps. Is there any doubt they will over time?

I think the remote apps. for controlling computers like Splashtop and others, once updated, would work better with desktops as you wouldn't need to scroll around as much.

All the reading apps. would probably benefit from the higher dot pitch as well.

[Naples39]

My point is that our eyes don't magically get better, nor do our fingers smaller with a new idevice release. Of course there's no reason not to res up over time, but for 95% of device usage the difference is going to be inapplicable or not noticeable.

It's not like the iPhone 4 saw much (any?) change in apps or ios with the retina display. Even with an app like splashtop, most of your time zooming isn't because the screen isn't good enough, but because the text is just too damn small for the human eye. For instance if they merely threw up a 2048x1536 desktop onto the 10 inch iPad screen you wouldn't be able to read a thing.

I guess I'll just wait and see how the extra res is utilized in time.

[dbdynsty25]

Your eyes may not improve but you can definitely see the difference between displays. Just going from iPhone 3G to 4 is huge so I am pretty sure it'll sell like crazy. That's my main complaint w the iPad 2 at this point. Its just getting destroyed from a display point of view by other manufacturers. If it ups the display quality there will really be no reason to look elsewhere.

[wco81]

Well, other manufacturers are going to come out with HD displays too. Asus announced they will have a Transformer in the spring with 1920x1200 resolution and Samsung are rumored to be coming out with something like a 2500x1600 display on a 10.1 inch tablet.

These high DPI displays are being manufactured for the first time so yields may not be high, which could mean shortages. Hopefully no issues with flawed screens on the first production lots.

[Rodster]

I'm interested in an Ipad this time but will consider another Android if the Samsung pulls out a sweet looking Tablet with ICS.

What i'm waiting for is a Tablet that can do switchable 3D display. I think that's the next thing the Table makers can try. But as wco said there's very little you can do other than just improve the hardware. I would love to see a tablet maker pull off an edge to edge display.

[wco81]

Samsung just came out with a 7.7 inch OLED tablet. I think it's almost $600. Without a backlight, it should be easier to have thinner bezels using OLED than LCD.

[dbdynsty25]

Tablet with edge to edge? HELL NO. What are you going to hold on to? It's not like a phone where it can rest in your hand...you need something to grip. It'll never happen ergonomically.

[sportdan30]

iPad 3 rumors...

http://www.imore.com/2012/02/13/ipad-3- ... re-4g-lte/

[Macca00]

If anyone is interested in a neat story/puzzle game, Ghost Trick is brilliant. I was stuck on call doing nothing and played the crap out of it on the iPad.

[Naples39]

If anyone is interested in a neat story/puzzle game, Ghost Trick is brilliant. I was stuck on call doing nothing and played the crap out of it on the iPad.

I hadn't heard of this game, and quickly looking at the videos I don't quite understand it yet, but hey, it's free!

[Macca00]

If anyone is interested in a neat story/puzzle game, Ghost Trick is brilliant. I was stuck on call doing nothing and played the crap out of it on the iPad.

I hadn't heard of this game, and quickly looking at the videos I don't quite understand it yet, but hey, it's free!

First two chapters are free and while they're very hand-holdy (and overly verbose) you get a decent sense of the gameplay - the puzzles and story (while being very Japanese) are excellent later on. The DS version had solid reviews (in the low 80% range).

The cloud save stuff is great - you can switch from iPhone to iPad pretty easily with the same save file.

[Naples39]

For the bargain hunters, both GTA3 and GTA: Chinatown Wars are on sale for $1.

Also, EA is having another holiday sale with a bunch of titles marked down to $1.

Personally, I'm kind of addicted to Ticket to Ride, which was free last weekend but is $1 right now I think.

[Zeppo]

Personally, I'm kind of addicted to Ticket to Ride, which was free last weekend but is $1 right now I think.

Bummed I missed it if it was free last week. It shows up at $6.99 for me right now.

[Naples39]

Personally, I'm kind of addicted to Ticket to Ride, which was free last weekend but is $1 right now I think.

Bummed I missed it if it was free last week. It shows up at $6.99 for me right now.

It was the iPhone version, which is usually $2 and is currently $1.

The iPad version is $7 and has never been on sale (I've been waiting).

The iPad version is obviously HD, and has three extra maps for IAP at $1 each. Right now, only the iPhone version has asynchronous multiplayer though, so I'm going to stand pat on the iPhone version.

[Naples39]

Wind-up Knight is currently free---worth picking up.

[wco81]

Anyone try Baseball Stars 2012? It's a freemium game with some kind of online play.