Every so often, I'm reminded of the advice my college fencing coach gave us at the beginning of one semester.
"You don't need to be flashy to win, hell - you don't even need to change what you're doing. If something works, and it scores a point, keeping doing it until it doesn't work. Then change what you're doing."
That's paraphrased somewhat, and you can picture him barking out a la Vince L...
This week's podcast is sponsored by rage. The kind of rage that arises from seeing a universally beloved game like Peggle supplanted by a god-awful free-to-play imposter.
Though this new version of PopCap's pachinko masterpiece has only been launched on the New Zealand App Store (and is reportedly just an experiment on behalf of EA and co.), seeing the classic game defaced in such a sloppy fash...
Gunfinger will be tempting to anyone who thought Sega's mobile port of The House of the Dead: Overkill could have been significantly better.
It's a free-to-play on-rails arcade zombie shooter that'll be hitting the App Store this Thursday. We first spotted it at PG Connects, but I've just gone hands-on with it to see how it's turned out.
As you'd hope for a touchscreen shooter, Gunfinger tur...
Yes, the rumours you've probably heard by now are true - Flappy Bird is coming back.
In case you're just logging onto the internet for the first time this year, Flappy Bird is the game that the majority of the mobile gaming industry lost its mind over a few months back when it shot to the very heights of success. And then, as quickly as it appeared, it vanished.
Now, it's confirmed to return thi...
In a watershed moment for the Pocket Gamer Podcast, this week's show contains a guest who doesn't have any ties whatsoever to this website OR to any its sister sites.
You even might go so far as to call her a 'proper guest'. There's a first time for everything, I suppose.
The newcomer in question is Alysia Judge, who is a writer for online tech publication ITProPortal and a general gaming en...
Here you go again, dumped in a dank, dreary land suspiciously full of spiky traps and infested with evil forces, with nothing but steely resolve and a sharp sword to keep you alive.
Dark Lands is a battle-running time, with a typical mix of side-on Canabalt-style leaping about and frantic sword-slashing, all dressed in somewhat still in-vogue silhouette garb.
Two modes are available: Surviva...
The twin-stick shooter is a difficult beast to get right. It's easy to stray too close to the Geometry Wars template, creating a neon-bright blaster that pays homage to the greats but little more.
JoyJoy paints its violence in different hues. Calming blues and salmon pinks swill around its tight arenas, the curved edges of its spaceships swooping through a pastel carnage that's easy on the eye ...
As part of our daily Twitch streaming schedule, the Pocket Gamer Podcast will be broadcast live at 5 today (well, in the UK at least).
Our special guest this week is ITProPortal's Alysia Judge, who'll be joining forces with our hosts James and Peter to bring you all the latest handheld news and reviews.
This is your chance to not only hear the podcast a day early, but to also participate in ...
The correct reaction to Hyper Square upon playing it for the first time is "Aghhhh". Yup, it lives up to its name.
The game starts with minimal instruction and gets you right into the fumbling.
Your task here is simple: put the squares into the hollow ones before the time runs out.
The first level involves dragging or flicking the squares into the holes. You'll have eight phases, each mad...
When we were told Godzilla was heading to cinemas across the UK on May 15th, we weren't prepared to take it so... literally.
You see, there are rumours that the King of the Monsters has surfaced in the UK. There's only one thing we, as Pocket Gamer, can do to track down his location.
We're calling on you, dear readers, to use your gaming prowess to seek out the radioactive crash site in ...
Once again, we're here to offer a sneak peek at what you can expect in the world of handheld games in the next seven days. Including a subterranean adventure and a loot-em-up shoot-em-up.
Plenty more good stuff will surface throughout the week, too, as we explore the swampy bayou of the various shops and unearth some new surprises.
You should also note that dates, platforms, and details are ...
It's tempting, easy even, to look back at the past 129 days of 2014 as a collection of numbers and figures, but doing so risks extreme oversimplification.
Take, for example, King (née King.com)'s performance to date - with quarterly profits of some $127 million and its year-on-year revenue up 194 percent, it’d be easy to think that it’s been having a great time of 2014.
But looking back at the h...
This week, Peter, Harry, and I take Nintendo to task for the way it has handled the same sex relationship "glitch" in upcoming 3DS sim Tomodachi Life.
Group scolding delivered, Peter talks about his experience with Rovio's latest project RETRY, and I share the newest details regarding the plot of Telltale's upcoming adventure Tales from the Borderlands.
New release Warhammer 40,000: Carnage...
Those busy bodies (or rather, that busy body) at Radiangames have announced the launch of a new game next week, but it isn't the kind of stylised puzzler we've come to expect from the developer.
Rather, JoyJoy is a super-slick twin-stick shooter - the kind that used to be ten-a-penny earlier in the decade, but which aren't quite so common any more.
Of course, that's probably because JoyJoy o...
There are some new cold-themed levels available for disappointing kart racer Angry Birds Go!
They appear to introduce some sort of snowmobile based transports for the birds and pigs to drive about.
The promotional picture released to coincide with these new levels also suggests a helicopter might be involved. Whether or not you have to 'get' to this 'chopper' remains to be seen.
The ...
It's really amazing how quickly spring bleeds into summer, especially in the gaming industry.
In rapid-fire succession, you've got PAX East and GDC at the end of March, then those in the US trip over their taxes in April, while the F2P summit in London draws crowds at the end of the month.
In May, you've got GMIC in China, Digital Dragons in Poland, Intergame in Estonia, and the Nordic Game Conf...
This week, Peter, Harry, and I dive back into the Twitch stream to talk about super frogs, space milk, and glowing mushrooms.
It makes more sense when you listen, trust me.
First, we check out the first images for Nimblebit's latest iOS venture Tiny Tower Vegas, and ask why George R.R. Martin is sending his assistant to consult on Telltale's Game of Thrones game instead of a dragon or someth...
Updated on April 28th, at 14:00: Don't worry, Windows Phone users: you haven't been forgotten.
Gameloft has now updated the Windows Phone version of Asphalt 8: Airborne with all the new content detailed below. So, yes, that includes the Great Wall of China tracks, new dream cars, and a few requested tweaks.
You can download the freshly updated Asphalt 8: Airborne from the Windows Phone Store...
Welcome to PocketGamer.biz's weekly rundown of the past 168 hours in the gaming industry.
A lot can happen in a given week, and it's natural for some stories to slip past the most eagle-eyed among us. Luckily for you, we're here - as ever - to present the stories that we feel made the biggest impact over the past seven days.
If you're looking for a quick snapshot of the major trends and news in ...
Appy Nation is enticing our competitive spirits out to play once again via its new game Tile Temple Tactics.
It's a digital boardgame for up to two people, either through network multiplayer or same-device gaming.
Tile Temple Tactics starts with a grid filled with numbered tiles. The first player picks up one of the tiles, and the number on that tile is added to her score.
The second play...
Every so often, I'm reminded of the advice my college fencing coach gave us at the beginning of one semester.
"You don't need to be flashy to win, hell - you don't even need to change what you're doing. If something works, and it scores a point, keeping doing it until it doesn't work. Then change what you're doing."
That's paraphrased somewhat, and you can picture him barking out a la Vince L...
This week's podcast is sponsored by rage. The kind of rage that arises from seeing a universally beloved game like Peggle supplanted by a god-awful free-to-play imposter.
Though this new version of PopCap's pachinko masterpiece has only been launched on the New Zealand App Store (and is reportedly just an experiment on behalf of EA and co.), seeing the classic game defaced in such a sloppy fash...
Gunfinger will be tempting to anyone who thought Sega's mobile port of The House of the Dead: Overkill could have been significantly better.
It's a free-to-play on-rails arcade zombie shooter that'll be hitting the App Store this Thursday. We first spotted it at PG Connects, but I've just gone hands-on with it to see how it's turned out.
As you'd hope for a touchscreen shooter, Gunfinger tur...
Here you go again, dumped in a dank, dreary land suspiciously full of spiky traps and infested with evil forces, with nothing but steely resolve and a sharp sword to keep you alive.
Dark Lands is a battle-running time, with a typical mix of side-on Canabalt-style leaping about and frantic sword-slashing, all dressed in somewhat still in-vogue silhouette garb.
Two modes are available: Surviva...
The twin-stick shooter is a difficult beast to get right. It's easy to stray too close to the Geometry Wars template, creating a neon-bright blaster that pays homage to the greats but little more.
JoyJoy paints its violence in different hues. Calming blues and salmon pinks swill around its tight arenas, the curved edges of its spaceships swooping through a pastel carnage that's easy on the eye ...
As part of our daily Twitch streaming schedule, the Pocket Gamer Podcast will be broadcast live at 5 today (well, in the UK at least).
Our special guest this week is ITProPortal's Alysia Judge, who'll be joining forces with our hosts James and Peter to bring you all the latest handheld news and reviews.
This is your chance to not only hear the podcast a day early, but to also participate in ...
The correct reaction to Hyper Square upon playing it for the first time is "Aghhhh". Yup, it lives up to its name.
The game starts with minimal instruction and gets you right into the fumbling.
Your task here is simple: put the squares into the hollow ones before the time runs out.
The first level involves dragging or flicking the squares into the holes. You'll have eight phases, each mad...
When we were told Godzilla was heading to cinemas across the UK on May 15th, we weren't prepared to take it so... literally.
You see, there are rumours that the King of the Monsters has surfaced in the UK. There's only one thing we, as Pocket Gamer, can do to track down his location.
We're calling on you, dear readers, to use your gaming prowess to seek out the radioactive crash site in ...
Once again, we're here to offer a sneak peek at what you can expect in the world of handheld games in the next seven days. Including a subterranean adventure and a loot-em-up shoot-em-up.
Plenty more good stuff will surface throughout the week, too, as we explore the swampy bayou of the various shops and unearth some new surprises.
You should also note that dates, platforms, and details are ...
Those busy bodies (or rather, that busy body) at Radiangames have announced the launch of a new game next week, but it isn't the kind of stylised puzzler we've come to expect from the developer.
Rather, JoyJoy is a super-slick twin-stick shooter - the kind that used to be ten-a-penny earlier in the decade, but which aren't quite so common any more.
Of course, that's probably because JoyJoy o...
There are some new cold-themed levels available for disappointing kart racer Angry Birds Go!
They appear to introduce some sort of snowmobile based transports for the birds and pigs to drive about.
The promotional picture released to coincide with these new levels also suggests a helicopter might be involved. Whether or not you have to 'get' to this 'chopper' remains to be seen.
The ...
![[Update] Asphalt 8: Airborne updated with six Great Wall of China tracks, new dream cars, and Twitch integration](http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/artwork/thumbs/na-ynmasu_asphalt8_1_650_jpg_100.jpg)
Updated on April 28th, at 14:00: Don't worry, Windows Phone users: you haven't been forgotten.
Gameloft has now updated the Windows Phone version of Asphalt 8: Airborne with all the new content detailed below. So, yes, that includes the Great Wall of China tracks, new dream cars, and a few requested tweaks.
You can download the freshly updated Asphalt 8: Airborne from the Windows Phone Store...
Appy Nation is enticing our competitive spirits out to play once again via its new game Tile Temple Tactics.
It's a digital boardgame for up to two people, either through network multiplayer or same-device gaming.
Tile Temple Tactics starts with a grid filled with numbered tiles. The first player picks up one of the tiles, and the number on that tile is added to her score.
The second play...
