Gameloft’s Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes is a great take on first-person shooting for the iPhone. I’ve seen a lot of companies attempt to make a good FPS but there are many limitations. The most basic form of FPS involves a virtual d-pad on the touchscreen. This isn’t the best way to do controls because the d-pad requires the ability to slide your fingers between directions, and with a touchscreen, you’re more pressing individual directions. Diagonal is difficult too. The other FPS I’ve seen involves using the accelerometer to move the individual. This isn’t perfect either because it requires you tilt the screen making it difficult to focus on what you’re trying to shoot. Gameloft’s approach is a touchscreen style thumbstick, much like the one you would find on an XBOX 360. Watch the video to see it in action.
Brothers in Arms is available on the App Store for $9.99
[Update: It should be noted that Gameloft is following a trend of "Guitar-hero style" gaming by announcing their own franchise called Rock Tour. It is in no way affiliated with the brands and is just another title among many in the genre]
Guitar Hero has managed to put itself on every platform out there. There’s Guitar Hero for BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Nokia, Wii, XBox, PlayStation. Gameloft is following this trend by releasing their own version for iPhone. Gameloft has released Guitar Rock Tour making the popular genre even more popular.
Gameloft’s build offers 17 tracks and the app is £4.99/€5.99.
Tricia Duryee is with paidContent.org and I had the pleasure of meeting her at a Glu press event in San Francisco. In any case, she interviewed Gonzague de Vallois of Gameloft about the state of mobile gaming and he had some interesting things to say.
Back when QuicklyBored first started, we were 100% mobile gaming. The industry was in a terrible state. The industry was bogged down with heavy royalty payments, inefficient distribution and seemingly never ending porting.
This is starting to change. The industry is now blessed with perfect distribution models such as the iPhone App Store, as well as innovative technologies such as Google’s Android. On top of that, there are platforms such as N-Gage which are developing graphically intense games to match the high power hardware they’re putting out. Continue reading about the current state of the mobile gaming industry
Over at the N-Gage blog they’ve got an announcement of a new sweepstakes from Gameloft and Nokia. Simply download and play a Gameloft game on your N-Gage device and a submit a high score. If you win the weekly drawing you’ll get… an N-Gage device? Yup, apparently you can win an 8GB N81 or N95, plus some other assorted goodies from Nokia and Gameloft. Check here for full prize list and rules.
Gameloft has announced that they’ve signed a multi-year agreement with Ferrari, reports Games On Deck. The first game to be developed as part of the partnership will be Ferrari World Championship, which should be released any day now. While there are no details available, it’s safe to assume that the future games will be racing games as well.
Just like Gameloft before them, Artificial Life has pledged to release games on the iPhone and iPod, reports Arjan at the Mobile Games Blog. The company will be releasing both licensed and original content, as well as re-makes of some classic games. Artificial Life has also taken note of the iPhone’s sensors, such as the accelerometer, and the touch screen capability, causing CEO Eberhard Schoneburg to say that it’s “more like [a] game console” than a mobile phone platform. The comments from both Gameloft and Artificial Life are a bit surprising, considering that the iPhone wasn’t considered to be a “game changer” back in March of ‘07. Regardless, Artificial Life will be releasing their games, changed or unchanged, in the second and third quarters of this year.
Gameloft has announced plans to develop over 15 titles for Apple’s iPhone, using the recently-released iPhone SDK. They plan to make heavy use of the large screen, the touch screen features, and the 3D processor in the as-yet-unnamed games. They also mention the iPhone’s accelerometer, the device which allows it to determine the angle it’s being held at, although there are no specifics as to how that will translate to gameplay. Unfortunately, no games will be available until June at the earliest, with the release of the App Store.
Gameloft has announced the release of Derek Jeter Pro Baseball 2008, the fourth game in the series. The game focuses on a realistic baseball feel, featuring a 58 game season and advanced roster management. They’ve also included a more difficult pitching mechanic in the game’s harder modes, to give veteran players a bigger challenge. And, of course, detailed starts for every team are available for the looking. The game is available on most US carriers, and you can text “JETER” to 82174 to check availability.
Gameloft has announced the release of Bubble Bash for Apple’s iPod.
The puzzle game puts gamers in charge of Malia and Kale as they explore for treasure in an island paradise. Players toss multi-colored bubbles into the air and attempt to match three or more bubbles of the same color. 100 levels are available, ranging from the clean beaches to the tropical rainforest of the island setting.
Gameloft has announced that the mobile game Block Breaker Deluxe is now available for the iPod via the iTunes Store.
The game features 50 levels in 5 locations, 5 bosses, 11 types of bricks to break and 14 power-ups. It also features a level editor, unique to the iPod, which allows gamers to create and player their own levels, as well as share them with others in the iPod community.
Over at the N-Gage blog they’ve got an 
Gameloft has announced that they’ve signed a multi-year agreement with Ferrari, 
Gameloft has announced plans to develop over 15 titles for Apple’s iPhone, using the recently-released iPhone SDK. They plan to make heavy use of the large screen, the touch screen features, and the 3D processor in the as-yet-unnamed games. They also mention the iPhone’s accelerometer, the device which allows it to determine the angle it’s being held at, although there are no specifics as to how that will translate to gameplay. Unfortunately, no games will be available until June at the earliest, with the release of the App Store.
Gameloft has announced the release of Derek Jeter Pro Baseball 2008, the fourth game in the series. The game focuses on a realistic baseball feel, featuring a 58 game season and advanced roster management. They’ve also included a more difficult pitching mechanic in the game’s harder modes, to give veteran players a bigger challenge. And, of course, detailed starts for every team are available for the looking. The game is available on most US carriers, and you can text “JETER” to 82174 to check availability.