[Every week, Gamasutra sums up sister iPhone site FingerGaming's top news and reviews for Apple's nascent -- and increasingly exciting -- portable games platform, as written by editor in chief Danny Cowan and authors Louise Yang and Jonathan Glover.]
This week, FingerGaming highlights notable titles like
Mass Effect Galaxy and
Annie's Wild Shot, and details the upcoming release of
Touch KO and
Timeloop.
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New and Notable Free App Releases
"This week's free releases include demo editions of
Eliss and
Castle of Magic, along with free full versions of
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and
Bent It!"
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EA's Mass Effect Galaxy Hits App Store
"
Galaxy's gameplay is a familiar mix of action and narrative, modified to fit the iPhone's capabilities. Players will take on enemies from an overhead perspective, choosing targets and firing via a touch-based interface. Dialog sequences feature a new narrative wheel mechanic."
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Connect2Media Announces Summer iPhone Release Lineup
"The company plans to release four more titles in the iTunes App Store in the coming months, including
Timeloop, Tumblebugs, String 'Em In, and
365 Sudoku.
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Top Free Game App Downloads for the Week
"After becoming free to play last week, OOO Gameprom's
Wild West Pinball finishes as today's top free App Store download. The App Store's previous chart leader
Paper Toss drops to second place, as
Target Practice rises up to take third."
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Tecmo Releases Wild West Shooter Annie's Wild Shot
"While Tecmo's previous iPhone games were safe bets, it seemed likely that Tecmo would soon devote its efforts to creating a more ambitious title for Apple's platform. Today, Tecmo releases its first original, non-blackjack game for the iPhone -- the arcade-style shooter
Annie's Wild Shot."
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Interview: Diorama Developer Finn Ericson
"Developer Dromsynt's
Marble Madness riff is as enjoyable to marvel at as it is to play – and it's a lot of fun to play. FingerGaming briefly chatted to developer Finn Ericson about the game's development, and managed to wrangle some new details about what he calls
Diorama '2.0'."
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Flick Fishing Hits One Million Downloads; Freeverse Details In-App Purchasing Success
"iPhone publisher Freeverse announced that its popular accelerometer-controlled fishing sim
Flick Fishing has become the first paid application in the iTunes App Store to surpass the one million download mark. Nearly ten percent of
Flick Fishing owners have used the iPhone OS 3.0's In-App Purchasing functionality to purchase additional game content."
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Chillingo Reveals Touch KO, Vampire Origins
"App Store publisher Chillingo has released details and screenshots for two of its upcoming iPhone titles -- the boxing simulator
Touch KO and the third-person action game
Vampire Origins."
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Top-Selling Paid Game Apps for the Week
"Gameloft's weekend-long price drop for
Let's Golf! appears to have been a success, as the title finishes just behind reigning chart champion
Sally's Spa in this week's App Store sales figures."
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22Moo Reveals GameBone Pro iPhone Controller Peripheral
"Little has been said about the iPhone OS 3.0's support for third-party gaming accessories, as no such peripheral had yet been announced at the time of the firmware's release. Today, Australian iPhone accessory manufacturer 22Moo revealed one of the first controllers to take advantage of the iPhone's new functionality -- the GameBone Pro."
