Dev Box Interview: Press Start Studio’s Philippe Rapin

It usually takes a small army to create the video games that we play, and, most of the time, all of the focus gets put on the game itself, and not on the people that came together to make it. Our Dev Box interview series takes a look at some of the unsung heroes (developers, producers, artists, etc) that have committed their lives to entertaining all of us. In this week’s Dev Box we are letting Press Start Studio’s Producer Philippe Rapin, who recently worked on “Twin Blades: The Reaping Vanguard,” for the iPhone and Xbox Live’s Indie Games provide us some insight into who he is as a gamer, and how he ended up working in the game’s industry.

Name: Philippe Rapin
Title: Producer
Company: Press Start Studio
First title worked on: The Legend of Spyro : The Eternal Night (mobile)
Most recent title worked on: Twin Blades: The Reaping Vanguard (iPhone/iPod Touch, XBLIG)

What game has most influenced you, and why? [Continue Reading]

Dev Box Interview: Little Guy Games’ CEO Tom Frencel

It usually takes a small army to create the video games that we play, and, most of the time, all of the focus gets put on the game itself, and not on the people that came together to make it. Our Dev Box interview series takes a look at some of the unsung heroes (developers, producers, artists, etc) that have committed their lives to entertaining all of us. In this week’s Dev Box we are letting Little Guy Games’ CEO Tom Frencel, who recently worked on “Battle Blasters,” provide us some insight into who he is as a gamer, and how he ended up working in the game’s industry.

Company: Little Guy Games
Name: Tom Frencel
Job Description: CEO
First title worked on: “Cars” for Disney/Pixar on J2ME and BREW mobile devices
Most recent title worked on: Battle Blasters (iPhone)

What game has most influenced you, and why? [Continue Reading]

Dev Box Interview: ANIMA Entertainment’s Tobias Weber

It usually takes a small army to create the video games that we play, and, most of the time, all of the focus gets put on the game itself, and not on the people that came together to make it. Our Dev Box interview series takes a look at some of the unsung heroes that have committed their lives to entertaining all of us. In this week’s expanded Dev Box we are letting ANIMA Entertainment’s Tobias Weber provide us some insight into who he is as a gamer, and how he ended up working in the game’s industry.

Name: Tobias Weber
Company: ANIMA Entertainment
Most recent title worked on: “Bomb Commander”

What game has most influenced you, and why? [Continue Reading]

Transformers CyberToy Review: Robots In Your Pocket

Sometimes the worst things bring out the best in people. “Transformers Revenge of the Fallen” has been getting mixed reviews (at best) at the theaters this past week, but that doesn’t mean that some good can’t come from it, and I’m not talking about getting to see Megan Fox more (I’m also not complaining about it either). While Rotten Tomatoes can fill you in on some of the choice adjectives used to describe the movie, its release has brought about a much more interesting iPhone innovation – the virtual action figure.

Just prior to the film’s release, Glu Mobile released the Transformers CyberToy, which is really just a fancy way of saying interactive doll … I mean action figure. It’s a really simple app that allows you to “play with” with one of the films stars (again, sadly, not Megan Fox), Bumblebee, in a manner very similar to the one you may remember from your childhood, when the Transformers only existed in plastic form. The movie version of Bumblebee now exists in a fully rendered, posable, 3D model exclusively on your iPhone. And, while G-1 diehards may have something to say about that – it’s still pretty cool. [Continue Reading]

Dev Box Interview: The Jackie Button’s Creator Jackie “The Joke Man” Marling

Normally in our Dev Box interviews we profile someone that worked on the development of a game, but this week we are making a departure from that on all fronts. This week we are going to feature one of the creative minds behind an iPhone App – “The Jackie Button.” While it isn’t exactly a game, it had to go through a very similar creative and production process at Bolt Creative (”Pocket God”) as most video games, and Jackie “The Joke Man” Marling was the driving creative force behind the App. You may know best for his work on The Howard Stern Show, but he published a number of books, and cds. We tweaked our standard Dev Box questions to try to get inside the head of one of the best known comics around. Find out what he had to say about his career and “The Jackie Button.” [Continue Reading]

Dev Box Interview: Bolt Creative’s Founder Dave Castelnuovo

It usually takes a small army to create the video games that we play, and, most of the time, all of the focus gets put on the game itself, and not on the people that came together to make it. Our Dev Box interview series takes a look at some of the unsung heroes that have committed their lives to entertaining all of us. This week we are letting Bolt Creative’s Founder Dave Castelnuovo take a break from working on iPhone Apps “Pocket God” and his latest creation “The Jackie Button” and give him a chance to get on the Dev Box and tell us a bit about himself, and what he thinks about the games industry. [Continue Reading]

2XL Supercross Review: The Prettiest Dirt On The iPhone

Saying that there have been a lot of apps released for the iPhone since the launch of the App Store would be an understatement. There isn’t really any way to describe the deluge of digital gadgetry that the “cell phone” offers other than awesome, and, along with that, the sheer number of games that have been released for it is staggering. While many of these games have been shovelware, demos, and blatant rip-offs, there is no denying that there are actually good games available on the device… some that even take full advantage of all of the unique features that the iPhone has to offer. “2XL Supercross” from 2XL Games is one of these games, and it has come out of the gate with a strong lead in the graphics and features usage races.

Motocross games have never really been my thing. In fact, up until the recently released, and aptly named “Dirt” any racing games involving a lot of… well… dirt haven’t been my thing. Not since since Ivan Stewart slapped his name on arcade machines have I really sat down with any game that focused on a man-made indoor arena made completealy of earth. However, one look at “2XL Supercross” on my iPhone, and I started thinking a bit differently. Sure, it’s your basic motocross game; but it is beautiful. If you are a fan of motorcycle racing, motocross, watching people fly through the air, loud noises, or just generally playing in the dirt, then this game is for you, but everyone else might need a little more convincing. [Continue Reading]

3 Ways To Enjoy Baseball Games Without The MLB

In case you hadn’t noticed, Major League Baseball started yesterday. Yeah, I hadn’t either. I stopped following MLB quite some time ago, dissillusioned by the great strike of 1994. However, that’s not to say that I don’t still enjoy a good baseball video game every now and then. While I’ll admit that I tend to find some of the newer baseball sims a huge hassle to really dig into, if you give me a solid arcade-style baseball game, I’ll play for hours. I miss the days of games like “R.B.I.,” “Little League Baseball: Championship Series,” and the often overlooked classic “Dusty Diamond’s All-Star Softball.” Also, baseball video games has lost a bit of their appeal when pro ballers stopped having their names on games – Roger Clemens, Bo Jackson, Ken Griffey Jr. just to name a few. What’s a gamer to do if they want to play a little baseball, but has been scorned to the point of no return by the Majors? Here’s three options that should help solve your problem, and kill more than a few hours at the same time. [Continue Reading]

Is The Free iPhone Game of Hangman Racist?

Yup I said the R word. Now I know that us gamers usually get into a tizzy because we don’t necessarily think in those terms (see Resident Evil 5 debacle). But I’ve recently purchased an iPhone and was browsing through the new apps and games (I’m thisclose to buying Spore) and noticed the Top Free Games list.

On September 10, 2008 it read like this:

1.    Puzzloop
2.    Blackjack
3.    Cannon Challenge
4.    Free Hangman
5.    Labyrinth Lite
6.    21 Pro: Blackjack
7.    PapiPole
8.    Hanoi
9.    Sol Free Solitaire
10.    BreakClassic Lite

Looking through the list I saw a few mainstays that I’ve heard of but gravitated to Hangman, due to the fact that I’ve played other touch games on the iPhone and figured this one would be cool too.

Little did I know I would be faced with this graphic for the game.

Now I know that hanging means different things to different people. But is it not incentive period? School children play the game all the time with chalk on blackboards and sidewalks. You lose when you complete the body. The rating on this game is 9+ for “Frequent/Intense Cartoon or Fantasy Violence”

Seeing the gallows and a stick figure doesn’t really strike most as something to think about, but I do believe in this particular iteration of the game the graphics intensify the experience. Of note the hanging mechanism is a tree and not execution gallows.

During play when you begin missing letters, a black line stick figure appears. First the head, then torso, right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg, and then on the next miss the body goes limp.

Have we been duped all these years? I mean according to Wikipedia the first use of the game Hangman can be traced back to 1894. The KKK is known to have been lynching people (white and black) as far back as 1868, ample time for a game to be made of the act.

How does this make you feel? Should the developers Mobilityware change the imagery? Or iTunes remove the game altogether? Or should nothing be done at all, because “It’s just a game”?

-DaveDaGamer