Every Monday from now on, I'm going to try to package up all the mobile, iPhone and Android news into one convenient post - that way you'll know exactly how to waste your commutes and lunch hours for the next five days...
News
First up, Asbjoern Soendergaard used to work at Crytek, but left to do something completely different - and he's not messing about. Just about the polar opposite of a bleeding edge PC first-person shooter is... an openworld pet sim for the iPhone, entitled Pocket Creatures. In what looks like a cross between Pokemon and Viva Pinata, your job is to nurture a cute creature living on an exotic island (well, the setting is quite Far Cry, then...), teaching it what to eat, which animals are safe to talk to, and how to use seeds to grow a garden which will provide magical ability-enhancing fruits. Naturally, you earn new customisation elements with which to personalise your creature (horns, wings, flowers, jewelry), and in an eco-friendly touch, the critter's interactions with the world have wider effects on the environment.
The visuals are rather nice, especially the way your creature's various moods are captured in the facial animations. There's a trailer here, and it's due out later this month, courtesy of Soendergaard's studio, Tactile Entertainment.
Eight years ago now defunct publisher Acclaim Games announced a hybrid brawler/top-down shooter based around the online comic, The Red Star. When Acclaim went down, the title was bought by New York boutique publisher XS Games, and now, three years after the PS2/Xbox release, there's a PSP and iPhone version on the way. Set in an alternative reality in which Soviet Russia has developed incredibly sophisticated weaponry, you guide one of three characters around a series of futuristic arena-based and scrolling environments, developing an ever more powerful armoury. It's sort of Streets of Rage meets Gauntlet, with a few bullet hell stages mixed in for good measure. Release is set for early Spring and there's more info at the official site.
Paperboat Race is a promising little sailing game from I-Play. Due on iPhone later in the spring, it mimics the offbeat functionality of Nintendo DS games like Lost in Blue, allowing you to blow into the mike to simulate the wind hitting your sails. Apparently, you can also control your tiny delicate craft with a button-bashing interface, but in this mode an occasional blow into the mic provides a quick speed boost.
The action takes place in a swimming pool, where flags and obstacles need to be avoided via precise use of the accelerometer. There's no word on whether you'll be able to customise your paper craft, but surely that's a no-brainer in this age of user-generated social content?
Finally, the Wall Street Journal has posted speculation that Sony is, once again, ready to announce a PlayStation-branded mobile phone. This rumour has been floating about for years, but it seems the announcement of the iPad may have finally kicked the project from the R&D labs to the release schedule. The handset is due to feature smart phone functionality, including ebook reading, and will apparently sync with Sony's (latest) answer to iTunes/App Store, which is launching in the States at the end of the month. It's not clear what sort of games the phone will be able to access - will it be dedicated iPhone-like titles or PSP Minis? Will the phone also have access to PSN? And will users be able to complete against PSP owners? That's assuming it isn't another false alarm of course...
Other stuff
There have been a couple of notable releases in the last few weeks that I've not had chance to get a good go on yet. At the end of Feb, Gameloft launched Brothers in Arms 2: Global Front, an ambitious strategy shooter based on the console-based WW2 series and featuring a multiplayer mode for up to six competitors. You should also check out Tag Games' cute 'n' colourful Astro Ranch, an expansive combination of Harvest Moon and Pokemon (again!) for the iPhone. And if you get the chance, go and test drive Radio Flare Redux, a tuned version of the imaginative and absorbing rhythm action shooter from Chillingo.
Pocket Gamer recommends
Every month I ask Pocket Gamer's Jon Mundy to recommend a selection of the latest mobile and iPhone releases. Here's the best stuff from the last four weeks...
Plants vs Zombies (iPhone)
"PopCap's PC line-defence masterpiece makes its way to iPhone startlingly intact, and possibly (in terms of the touch controls at least) even a little improved."
Parachute Ninja (iPhone)
"A deliciously quirky slice of casual puzzling that sees you pinging your ninja around the screen with lengths of elastic, tapping to unfurl your parachute at key moments."
Battle of Puppets (iPhone)
"A brilliantly odd take on the action-strategy genre as you take your army of operatic puppets on a military tour of America."
Space Miner (iPhone)
"The controls might take a little getting used to, but they're well worth persevering with for the funny, involving story. A surprise hit."
Riddim Ribbon (iPhone)
"The developer of Tap Tap Revenge puts the 'game' back into 'music game' with this inspired effort. It should improve considerably with new (hopefully non-Black Eyed Peas) 'levels', too."
