Cellpassion » Games

Angry Birds for Android gets a big update

Rajat Agrawal — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:31:01 +0000

Rovio, the developers of runaway hit game, Angry Birds, has just unleashed a big update for its Android version that not only fixes a few bugs but also adds a completely new episode. The bugs fixed include support for QVGA displays, blank screens on Android 1.6 devices and white lines on some devices. The new episode – the Big Setup – pitches the infuriated birds against construction worker pigs, taking the game to a whopping 195 levels in all. Whatcha waiting for, go to Android Market and hit download. NOW!

SOURCE: Rovio

Angry Birds wreak havoc after Android launch

Rajat Agrawal — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:16:34 +0000

One of the most popular, time-eating, addictive games of recent times, Angry Birds, is now available for Android. Rovio Mobile, the developer of the game, first made the full version of the game available on GetJar and later unleashed it on the Android Market. Earlier, only a Lite version of the game was available for Android. Surprisingly, the full version is available for free for the moment while one needs to buy the game for iOS and Nokia smartphones.

Today’s launch also demonstrated the popularity of Android as well as the lack of good games on the platform. There was such a rush to download the game that it crashed both Rovio Mobile and GetJar servers. GetJar reported over 95,000 downloads within the first three hours despite its site going down initially. Now it is recommending users to download the game from its mobile site m.getjar.com or from the Android Market.

When was the last time we witnessed such a rush for any Android app before? Can anyone remember, cuz we certainly cannot.

Real Football 2011, FIFA 11 coming to App Store this week?

Aman Kapoor — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 05:48:42 +0000

The biggest mobile football game rivalry is expected to get a refresh this week, with Gameloft’s Real Football and EA’s FIFA series going toe to toe again. If rumours are to be believed, both Real Football 2011 and FIFA 11 are likely to hit the App store in the coming few days. We have heard no official confirmation but sources within both companies are reasonably sure that footy gaming fans will have reason to celebrate this week. Both games claim to offer radically better graphics and support for the retina display as well as official affiliations with different clubs and countries, letting you mess around with real players.

However, what we are really curious about is the gameplay – will the two games take a page out of Konami’s Pro Evo Soccer book and minimise the need to hit onscreen buttons? And erm…call us skinflints, but we are also wondering about the price tags and are offering prayers that they will be as far from the USD 10 mark as possible. We are waiting and watching!

Shark Alert! Jaws arrives on the iPhone

Aman Kapoor — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:52:37 +0000

This is going to bring a sentimental tear to the eyes of all techies who were around in the seventies when Mr Spielberg had stunned the world with his film on a shark with a taste for human flesh which terrorises a small town. Well, now a game based on that film – and even featuring its spine-chilling soundtrack – has appeared on the App Store. Called (surprise, surprise) Jaws, the game puts you in the shoes of police chief Martin Brody (the role essayed by Roy Scheider in the film, remember?) in the town of Amity Island. And your job, just as in the movie, is making sure that the waters surrounding your town’s beach are safe. Basically, this amounts to getting people out of the sea before they become shark food – and the game does feature a “25 foot long, 3 ton virtual shark.” You can “touch, drag and flick swimmers to beaches and boats” and play through ten levels. Call it a bit like Air Traffic Control with water and a shark thrown in and some very nice graphics, but we reckon that there will be quite a few takers for the game at $2.99.

Microsoft announces Xbox Live games for WP7

Rajat Agrawal — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:52:39 +0000

We have all known that Windows Phone 7 has some sort of connection with Microsoft’s Xbox range of games. Initially, our impression was that one could only log in to their XBox Live profile, view their avatar, check out their friends… We couldn’t have been farther from the truth!

Microsoft today released a portfolio of over 50 games that will be available on launch and they include many Xbox 360 titles like Halo: Waypoint, and Crackdown 2. Users will also be able to try demo versions of the games before buying them from the Marketplace or the Games Hub on Windows Phone 7. You can check out the titles and a video demo of Xbox Live on Windows Phone 7 here.

FarmVille spoof Farmvillain dodges Chuck Norris, arrives in App Store

Aman Kapoor — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:59:19 +0000

It was only a matter of time, we guess. Hot on the heels of the Farmville app on the iPhone comes its spoof, Farmvillain. Designed by Jolt Online Gaming, the app is a merciless spoof on the gathering and animal caring ways of Farmville with jokes and anecdotes that are so risque that the app was allegedly turned down three times by Apple (including once because it appeared “to include features that identify Chuck Norris”) before it finally made its way into the official download zone of iPhone/iPod touch users. The game costs $0.99 and as to what it contains, well, we will let the game description on iTunes do the talking:

“Sick of cutesie FamrVille posts on your Facebook page? Fight back with Farmvillain. Send hilarious dark and humorous posts to yourself and your friends’ walls. Want to give your friends some mad cow disease? Allow animal testing on your farm?…Farmvillain is most assuredly not a game, nor is it affiliated with any part of FarmVille. We’re much funnier than that.”

What can we say to that? We are downloading, folks. No offence meant to Mr Norris.

Sony Ericsson’s PlayStation phone plans get detailed

Rajat Agrawal — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:25:40 +0000

Engadget is claiming to have been briefed by one of its sources about Sony Ericsson developing a gaming Android smartphone that might get the PlayStation branding – something that gamers worldwide have been begging for. The PS Phone will run on Android 3.0 aka Gingerbread and will have a 3.7-4.1-inch touchscreen and a slide-out gaming pad. Rather than having a joystick, the device will have a big touchpad. Probably, with this phone, Android will finally see some rich games and gaming experience. You can check out more details of this phone by heading over to Engadget.

We have all reasons to believe that Google would be closely involved in this project. In our opinion, Google will not showcase Android 3.1 aka Gingerbread on the Nexus One. Instead it will demonstrate it on a variety of devices, which would include this gaming phone from Sony Ericsson and an Internet Tablet from Motorola.

SOURCE: Engadget

Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution on iPhone Goes Free

Aman Kapoor — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 04:32:47 +0000

All right, in terms of gaming bonanzas, we do not think it gets any bigger than this. The legendary Sid “Civilization” Meier’s strategy game for the iPhone, Civilization Revolution, is available for free download “for a limited time” (we suspect it is just for a day but are praying like the deuce that it is longer). The game is considered by just about every hardcore strategy gamer as the best mobile game for those who love the gather-build-conquer model with lots of intricacies (hey, this is a Sid Meier game, after all) thrown in for good measure, not least the option of being able to lead any of 16 civilizations throughout history to lead to glory (or utter disaster, if you have a bad run, or heck, just want to.”

The original price of the game is $6.99, so we would urge all of you with gaming genes in your blood to go right ahead and download it while it is free. There is bad news for Indian gamers, though – the game ain’t available in the Indian App Store. Talk about getting the best things in life for free but being unable to download them. But ah…that is another story for another now. As of now, all those who can get Civilization Revolution, go right ahead. “Free”dom never tasted this good.

Download time! Glu slashes game prices to sub-dollar levels

Aman Kapoor — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:05:21 +0000

It is the best way of celebrating Independence Day that we can think of. Nope, not just the US independence day but the film of the same name that garnered millions at the box office fourteen years ago. Well, the folks at Glu have decided to mark fourteen years of that particular blockbuster by offering a number of their Palm, iPhone and Android games for $0.99 from July 1-6. Available for this bargain price will be iPhone and iPad worthies like 1000 – Find Them All, Bonsai Blast, and Deer Hunter 3D, as well as Android game goodies like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and World Series Poker – Hold’em Legend.

Now, if that is not a great bargain, we do not know what is. Download time beckons, if you love mobile games. Or heck, even if you do not.

World Cup app fever: zombies and animals boot it!

Aman Kapoor — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:53:16 +0000

As the football World Cup goes into overdrive, app developers are getting really – and we mean REALLY- creative with their appy interpretations of the Beautiful Game, going well beyond routine footy kick me arounds and news updates. Two of the latest games that have descended on the App Store have got football themes with thorough twists. While Animal Soccer World: Jungle Cup Party sees elephants and lions literally having a ball in the jungle, courtesy a football that washed up on their shores, Pro Zombie Soccer (see the screenshot) lets gamers step into the shoes of a talented football player and take on an army of the undead by kicking – you guessed it – footballs at them. Both games come for $ 0.99 in the App Store.

Of course, followers of “pure football games” like the FIFA and Pro Evo series will scoff at such titles, but those users who want to get a flavour of football without getting too involved in the sport might just love them. Pro Zombie Soccer in particular struck us as being a whole lot of fun with its comic-based graphics, while Animal Soccer World seemed to be targeted more at the cutesy, kiddy crowd. What both titles prove is that when it comes to the App Store, there is clearly more to football than, well, football.