Over the years, there have been plenty of attempts to deepen our experience when playing games.
Long remembered - how could I forget? - was the smell-o-vision system that plugged into your PC and puffed out appropriate smells depending on what you were playing.
It claimed it could provide nasal cues ranging from damp swamps to burning rubber, but 'sadly' it got crushed as dotcom bubble poppe...
Halloween has come and gone, leaving the mobile gaming community with a mixed bag of tricks and treats.
While some companies reported a rich, chocolaty haul of profits in the last quarter, others were left with handfuls of loose change and boxes of unwanted raisins.
Still, there's plenty of sweet and tasty news to be found under the flood of red ink that ran through the headlines this week -...
*WARNING*: We would like to advise listeners that the Halloween edition of the Pocket Gamer Podcast contains talk of ghosts, zombies, and other unholy emissaries of Satan.
There's also a terrifying anecdote about Peter being accosted by a drunken Ukrainian man in a restaurant, and at least one instance of the word 'boo'.
Plus: We talk about the upcoming second season of The Walking Dead, the...
This week saw a lot of love for the smartphone's big brother, the tablet.
When Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPad back in 2010, it was met with a hefty amount of scepticism and scorn. "It's Andre the Giant’s iPhone!", some crowed, while others saw no reason for the gadget to exist.
Now, it's hard to imagine a world without tablets - Apple-powered or otherwise - as they're helping to propel t...
Hoarse and weary from a day spent judging games at Steel Media's Big Indie Pitch in London's Earls Court, Keith and I park ourselves behind the podcasting mic to chat about the week's mobile news.
Naturally, we kick things off with a breakdown of the newly announced iPad Air and iPad mini, and ask 'how thin can an iPad get before it technically ceases to exist?'
We also cover the week's new ...
Sometimes, it's hard to beat the classic arcade games of the 1970s and 1980s. Unless, that is, a game comes along that adds a whole new dimension to them.
That's what Terrene appears to be doing.
Terrene wears a disguise. It shares the exact same look as the arcade game Asteroids. But it's far from a replica.
For starters, instead of shooting the asteroids surrounding your space ship, in ...
Well, it finally happened. Nokia has only gone and announced a tablet. It's called the Lumia 2520, it's powered by Windows RT 8.1, and it looks like quite a nifty little number.
The 2520 boasts a 10.1 inch full HD screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and a 16:9 aspect ratio. That gives you a pixel density of 218ppi.
Nokia is proud to say that the 2520 sports the brightest display on the m...
A few weeks back, I took this space to opine that 'the sun might be setting on the wild west days of gaming'.
That analogy was oddly prescient as it turns out, since this week saw what could arguably be considered the 'golden spike' moment of mobile gaming when Japanese companies SoftBank and GungHo Online Entertainment joined forces to purchase a 51 percent majority stake in Finnish success st...
After missing last week's episode on account of a non-specific family crisis (something about a wilting peace lily), Keith joins me behind the mic to discuss the hot topics in the world of mobile gaming.
This week, we take a tour of Star Wars: Tiny Death Star, look at free-to-play brawler Batman: Arkham Origins, and contemplate the possibility that Angry Birds Go! might actually be quite good.
...
Every two weeks, I like to look back at the three big topics of conversation that got everyone talking over the past 14 days. And mention them here.
This round-up represents the perfect opportunity for you to catch up on the latest happenings from around the world of Pocket Gamer.
So, yeah, competitions you might have missed, big features we've launched. That sort of thing.
In this partic...
Games as are changing almost daily, with each new evolution pushing the boundaries of what was once considered impossible.
When Allan Alcorn created Pong some 43 years ago, chances are good that he had no idea that his training exercise would eventually pave the way for pocketable games that allow players to spend hundreds of dollars on virtual goods, compete against other players from around t...
This week, Peter and I offer some valuable insight into Apple's new in-app purchase protocols.
Having got the public service announcement out of the way, we proceed to babble on about 3DS Game of the Year Pokemon X and Y, and discuss whether Square Enix will make good on its threat to port Final Fantasy VII to iOS.
Also: how to control Ellen Page's tiny legs with you phone.
Download episo...
There's always a certain amount of controversy involved in running an online app store and deciding what should and shouldn't be allowed on it.
In the past, for example, Google has been criticised over the number of emulators on its digital marketplace. And for failing to immediately remove copyright-infringing games from Google Play.
Next in the firing line, seemingly, is Microsoft, whose W...
Sometimes gravity can be cruel. I need four points from my last throw to win the game, so I aim carefully, sliding my pirate ship along the base line to get the perfect angle of attack. I imagine the mood in the galley is one of trepidation.
Dragging a finger back towards the edge of the screen, I wait for the swinging circles to align and then release. The ship pings forward, nudging a failed ...
The sun might be setting on the wild west days of mobile gaming.
While the App Store was once an area where a talented and passionate developer could strike it rich with a game that broke all the rules and flew in the face of triple-A console releases, we're starting to see patterns emerge in mobile gaming that threaten the success of smaller studios.
Iconic pillars of mobile gaming like Cla...
In this week's episode of the Pocket Gamer Podcast, Peter, Keith, and I tackle the big issues currently facing humanity:
Who is buying all the military shooters? How did Dragon Quest crash the Japanese economy? What the hell is a Lumia, anyway?
We also cover all the latest updates, new releases, previews, and reviews from the world of mobile gaming.
Download episode 245:
MP3
iTunes
...
Welcome to our video walkthroughs for Angry Birds Star Wars 2. Watch the pros in action, and mimic their movements, and you'll unlock those all-important stars in no time at all.
This is the reward chapter, where you can unlock bonus levels for every character in the game. You simply need to earn a great number of points while playing as that bird or pig. Then, come to to the reward chapter to ...
Historians feel it's impolite to map out the military axioms of Sun Tzu onto business proceedings, but it's amazing how well they apply if you look at them correctly.
Over two millennia ago, Sun Tzu wrote "Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted."
BlackBerry...
This week's podcast is chock-full of scandalous conjecture.
Did Apple pay EA fat stacks of cash to ensure Plants vs Zombies 2 was released on the App Store before it went live on Google Play?
Is Tesco's new Hudl tablet the bargain of the year, or is it made of sawdust and despair?
Can a warrior still be considered noble even when he doesn't have any trousers on?
Listen as Peter and I a...
SimpleRockets is exactly what it sounds like - a game about firing simple rockets into space, and then perhaps getting them back down in one piece.
It's a wonderful pick-up-and-play take on the budding rocket genre, letting you whip your rocket out on the bus and easily achieve lift-off within seconds.
Those looking for a -depth and involving experience may find that SimpleRockets is ...
Over the years, there have been plenty of attempts to deepen our experience when playing games.
Long remembered - how could I forget? - was the smell-o-vision system that plugged into your PC and puffed out appropriate smells depending on what you were playing.
It claimed it could provide nasal cues ranging from damp swamps to burning rubber, but 'sadly' it got crushed as dotcom bubble poppe...
Halloween has come and gone, leaving the mobile gaming community with a mixed bag of tricks and treats.
While some companies reported a rich, chocolaty haul of profits in the last quarter, others were left with handfuls of loose change and boxes of unwanted raisins.
Still, there's plenty of sweet and tasty news to be found under the flood of red ink that ran through the headlines this week -...
*WARNING*: We would like to advise listeners that the Halloween edition of the Pocket Gamer Podcast contains talk of ghosts, zombies, and other unholy emissaries of Satan.
There's also a terrifying anecdote about Peter being accosted by a drunken Ukrainian man in a restaurant, and at least one instance of the word 'boo'.
Plus: We talk about the upcoming second season of The Walking Dead, the...
Sometimes, it's hard to beat the classic arcade games of the 1970s and 1980s. Unless, that is, a game comes along that adds a whole new dimension to them.
That's what Terrene appears to be doing.
Terrene wears a disguise. It shares the exact same look as the arcade game Asteroids. But it's far from a replica.
For starters, instead of shooting the asteroids surrounding your space ship, in ...
Well, it finally happened. Nokia has only gone and announced a tablet. It's called the Lumia 2520, it's powered by Windows RT 8.1, and it looks like quite a nifty little number.
The 2520 boasts a 10.1 inch full HD screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and a 16:9 aspect ratio. That gives you a pixel density of 218ppi.
Nokia is proud to say that the 2520 sports the brightest display on the m...
Every two weeks, I like to look back at the three big topics of conversation that got everyone talking over the past 14 days. And mention them here.
This round-up represents the perfect opportunity for you to catch up on the latest happenings from around the world of Pocket Gamer.
So, yeah, competitions you might have missed, big features we've launched. That sort of thing.
In this partic...
There's always a certain amount of controversy involved in running an online app store and deciding what should and shouldn't be allowed on it.
In the past, for example, Google has been criticised over the number of emulators on its digital marketplace. And for failing to immediately remove copyright-infringing games from Google Play.
Next in the firing line, seemingly, is Microsoft, whose W...
Sometimes gravity can be cruel. I need four points from my last throw to win the game, so I aim carefully, sliding my pirate ship along the base line to get the perfect angle of attack. I imagine the mood in the galley is one of trepidation.
Dragging a finger back towards the edge of the screen, I wait for the swinging circles to align and then release. The ship pings forward, nudging a failed ...
Welcome to our video walkthroughs for Angry Birds Star Wars 2. Watch the pros in action, and mimic their movements, and you'll unlock those all-important stars in no time at all.
This is the reward chapter, where you can unlock bonus levels for every character in the game. You simply need to earn a great number of points while playing as that bird or pig. Then, come to to the reward chapter to ...
SimpleRockets is exactly what it sounds like - a game about firing simple rockets into space, and then perhaps getting them back down in one piece.
It's a wonderful pick-up-and-play take on the budding rocket genre, letting you whip your rocket out on the bus and easily achieve lift-off within seconds.
Those looking for a -depth and involving experience may find that SimpleRockets is ...
