The iPhone/iPod Touch Multiplayer Gaming Bible

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (11/9/2009):

1. I’ve uploaded two new videos:

iTressette X4 by doclouisjones.com: a brand new card game. YouTube video

HERE

HERE

.

Clarie’s Bar by CDE: a typical bar serving game with cooperative multiplayer (one of the players need to play the role of the bartender, which isn’t the case with the non-multiplayer version). Note that the game has been removed from the AppStore. YouTube video

HERE

HERE

.

2. Does anyone know how I could programmatically get the official categories of each and every app? I plan to rework the category-related column(s) in the chart and I really need this info. Unfortunately, it seems only the $400+ AppStore API’s / SDK’s allow getting such info. Not even the manual way (just getting the given AppStore page) works as it doesn’t list the game category; that is, currently, it seems to be impossible to get (via the human iTunes interface or a free app / Web service) the category tags of a game.

3. There have been some updates; for example,

a. iFishing has been updated to incorporate social features.

b. the price of Real Racing (probably the best racing simulator) has been (further) reduced to $5. It has also received a (now, minor) update.

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (11/12/2009 3:13 CET): I’ve reworked the chart. Now, it has two additional columns (both can be dynamically hidden as usual):

- Official genre (the genre(s) officially given by Apple). Note that the engine will be able to filter content based on the contents of this field too. Also note that I’ve renamed the old “Genre” column to “Genre given by me”.

- “Demo screenshots” (last column), which has long been asked for. Now, you can see all the five demo screenshots for (almost) all the titles. Just remember to click the left/right arrows! Note: by default, nothing is visible for you to avoid excess data use.

This week, I’ll try to spend more time on enhancing the chat further and, at last, write a decent writeup instead of the long-outdated introduction. Stay tuned :)

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (11/14/2009 11:40 CET):

1. I’ve added three FICS-compatible chess clients (one of them, Cyber Chess - FICS & ICC by clickgamer.com - being also compatible with ICC; the other two are Magnus' Super Online Chess by Magnus Lidman and Handy Chess Online (FICS) by Anton Zemlyanov) to the very bottom of the chart and have also updated the iChess-related entry. I’ve also posted the accompanying videos for all the new / modified entries.

2. As has already been announced, I’m working on a complete rewrite of the entire article. I have some good news for you: about half of the final article is already ready. It’ll kick some serious butts, I promise :)

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (11/15/2009 23:52 CET): I’ve posted a video (it’s

HERE

HERE

) of the just-released SteamPong. (Also see the last row in the chart.)

As you can see, it’s a pretty nice Pong clone in multiplayer mode. Single player isn’t bad either.

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (11/16/2009):

1. Two new videos posted: Call of Duty: World At War: Zombies (video

HERE

HERE

) (a brand new FPS title with very versatile multiplayer capabilities, supporting all the three most important connection types: BT, local Wi-Fi and online lounge) and Spot-O-Mania (see

THIS

THIS

) (a simple “where’s the difference” game with collaborative multiplayer over Bluetooth). They’re both brand new titles.

TouchArcade news item (with comments) of the former title HERE; dedicated thread HERE.

In the Call of Duty: World At War: Zombies video, first, I show local Bluetooth. Then, at 3:20, I quickly switch Wi-Fi on and return to the game to show you creating local, private Wi-Fi games (which involves having to enter a code on the client; this needs to be set in Profiles inside the game). Unfortunately, I exit this mode by mistake right at the beginning (couldn’t lay down the phones as, then, the pause is displayed right away) – nevertheless, at least you saw how password-protected games are joined. After this, I show online (lounge-based) gameplay. As you can see, online play is even slower on the 3G (it’s on the right) than local play – it’s pretty close to unplayable. The 3GS has absolutely no speed problems with online play, though. Also note that there are several online players; in this regard, you don’t need to be afraid of the same fate as with (the not recommended) iFPS, where you can meet hardly any human opponents.

Also see the just-added two bottom-most rows in the chart.

2. I’ve almost finished the (huuuuuge) chapter on the recommended games in my forthcoming, complete rewrite of the Multiplayer bible. I really hope to be able to get the entire thing ready tomorrow – I still need to explain the chart, the different game types (head to head vs. collaborative vs. parallel etc.) etc.

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (11/19/2009 12:55AM CET):

1. MiniSquadron – a 2D flight shooter has just been released. YouTube MP video

HERE

HERE

.

Probably the only comparable title is Air Force Online by CDE. MiniSquadron is FAR better than Air Force.

Unfortunately, it only supports two-player local Wi-Fi connections (no BT, no remote lounge, no more than two players.)

See THIS TouchArcade news item and THIS thread.

2. I’ve created a video (see

THIS

THIS

) for Flipside by Igloo Games, released in late September. Dedicated TouchArcade thread HERE.

3. There is another puzzle game, bitFLIP by Hands-On Mobile, which seems to be very popular. Dedicated TouchArcade thread HERE. It doesn’t work between a 3G and a 3G S. I've tried with both Wi-Fi and BT (with the other disabled); neither worked - I coulnd't even create connections.

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (11/19/2009 8:45AM CET):

1. There is an excellent MiniSquadron (see the update from earlier today) review HERE.

2. As I’ve pointed out (see THIS) in the bitFLIP thread, you need to actively start a game on the client machine - waiting for the client to automatically join the server won’t work. You can see all this in

the YouTube MP demo video

the YouTube MP demo video

I’ve just posted.

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (11/21/2009):

1. Harry Potter: Spells by Warner Bros has been released. If you're a HP fan, you might like it. If, on the other hand, you aren't, you may want to look elsewhere – there are far more interesting titles.

Note that, at first, the gestures won’t be easy (actually, this is why this title has received so many one (worst) stars in AppStore); also see THIS demo video showing using them. Also note that in

my demo video

my demo video

I also show these – hence the bigger-than-usual distance between the camera and the two iPhones. TouchArcade thread HERE.

2. Now that EA has completely abandoned (and removed it from the AppStore) its previous (special edition – non-regular) monopoly title, MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World Edition, they have come out with a better-looking and, at last, regular one simply called “MONOPOLY”. Dedicated TA thread HERE; frontpage news item HERE. YouTube demo video

HERE

HERE

.

3. I’ve posted to videos and other info (to the chart) of two other, new puzzle titles, EXtreme Puzzle Mania: Rock Paper Scissors by EXintricity (YouTube demo video

HERE

HERE

) and NoyZyoN Online by GFG (YouTube demo video

HERE

HERE

)

4. There are some bugfixes / updates; probably the two most important are that of Robocalypse (added saving during game) and Play Marbles (major bugfixes).

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (11/22/2009): the article has officially been deprecated. Please read Everything you’ll ever need to know about multiplayer games instead. This thread remains only as an update catch-up thread as is also explained in Chapter 6 of the new article.

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (11/25/2009): Major price drop for the holiday season: Blades of Fury for $1 only!

One of the best Street Fighter clones is Blades of Fury (iTunes link) - no wonder I've featured it in my recently-published "Everything you’ll ever need to know about multiplayer games" (and also the paper version of it, which, hopefully, gets published in the newsstand version of iPhone Life). Now, it’s offered for $1 only during the Thanksgiving season. For this price, it’s a steal!

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (Later, the same day):

1. Gameloft has made some other multiplayer-enabled games $1 for the holiday season; all of them well worth this price:

Real Tennis 2009 (iTunes link)
Shrek Kart (iTunes link)

Note that there are some other single player titles too; please see THIS for more info. The following single-player titles are on sale:


Castle of Magic ($1.99 -> 99¢)
Terminator Salvation ($4.99 -> 99¢)
Brothers in Arms – Hour of Heroes ($4.99 -> 99¢) (ouch! I’ve paid some $7 for it back in March!)

BTW, speaking of single-player titles, EA also runs some sales. Not as outstanding as those of Gameloft (titles are only up to sale at 50%); nevertheless, well worth checking out if you like their titles. See THIS for more info. Among the titles, there are some multiplayer ones too:

FIFA 10 ($9.99->$6.99)
Monopoly ($4.99->$2.99)
Command & Conquer ($9.99->$6.99) (this is promised to receive multiplayer support some time)

Their single-player titles on sale:

Wolfenstein RPG ($2.99->$1.99)
Surviving High School ($2.99->$1.99)
Auditorium ($2.99->$1.99)
Command & Conquer ($9.99->$6.99) (again, this MAY get multiplayer some time)
NBA Live ($9.99->$6.99)
Mystery Mania ($1.99->$0.99)
Madden 10 ($9.99->$6.99)
Boggle ($2.99->$0.99)
The Sims ($6.99->$4.99)
Tiger Woods Golf ($4.99->$2.99)
SimCity ($4.99->$2.99)
Tetris ($4.99->$2.99)
Need For Speed Undercover ($4.99->$2.99) (some half a year ago, I’ve paid $10 for this…)

IUGO, celebrating the release of A.D.D. (see THIS for a discussion), also has a black friday sale. The following multiplayer titles are on sale: Star Hogs ($4.99 => $2.99) and Cliffed ($1.99 => 99¢), both nice ones (and a lot of single-player ones; for example, the highly recommended Toy Bot Compilation / Diaries). Please see THIS for a discussion.

2. It seems (fortunately) there is a constant flow of turn-based strategy titles for the iPhone - Battle for Wesnoth has just been released. Please see THIS for additional info / the TouchArcade story; dedicated thread HERE. Note that it has some performance issues – most people state it only runs on the 3G S without major speed problems. I’ll post my remarks later.

3. Still speaking of turn-based strategies, Rogue Planet has also been released and is an excellent title I’ve purchased right away - also as a "thanks" for their excellent, earlier titles: 1112 for the iPhone, Fade for Windows Mobile and Acedior for Palm OS. BTW, speaking of 1112, the developers have told me they've been working on the long-demanded Episode 2 for two months. Hope it indeed gets released soon - based on the excellent quality of Ep 1 (and Fade on Windows Mobile, which 1112 is based on), it will surely kick some serious butts.

I’ve also posted a multiplayer demo video of it

HERE

HERE

. Please see THIS discussion; there, we’ve been discussing, among other things, strategies to missions. TouchArcade’s first impressions are HERE.

Again - all of these titles (except for the just-released Battle for Wesnoth) are elaborated on in my recently-published Everything you’ll ever need to know about multiplayer games - consult it for more info on each of these titles.

[priodienemofe]

Hi all

I am newbie and need some asistance with few cases, hope to find here answers to my questions.
Great site and many interesting topics. (:

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (11/27/2009):

1. I’ve added a video of Line Racer by inXile Entertainment, a line racer game, which received Wi-Fi / BT local multiplayer support some days ago. TouchArcade discussion HERE; I especially recommend THIS mini-review .

2. As far as multiplayer game sales are concerned, Warfare Incorporated (the excellent RTS) is at a $1 sale – go get it! So is SlotZ Racer, which, along with Orions, I’ve found worthy to be the only one title to be included in the (otherwise, wireless-only) Multiplayer Bible.

3. My full, recently-released, brand new multiplayer guide has been considered worthy enough to be included in the “User Reviews” section of TouchArcade (see THIS).

4. Speaking of new TA reviews, there’s a nice user review of Battle for Wesnoth (see previous update) HERE. THIS frontpaged, official Rogue Planet (an excellent TBS also highly recommended in my Multiplayer bible) review is also worth reading.

5. You may want to urgently (some of the sales end today) check out THIS TouchArcade list of the games currently in sale. In this (and previous) post, I’ve already listed the multiplayer titles on sale; however, the full list (which has single-player titles as well) contains some other, nice stuff; most importantly, C64 (review HERE) for $3 (as opposed to the regular $5). (I’m still happy I purchased it right after being released in September because I can still play hacked games under version 1.0. With version 1.1, as far as I know, no one has managed to find out how hacked games can be added.)

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (11/27/2009, somewhat later):

1. MiniSquadron (iTunes link), one of the best multiplayer retro 2D flight shooters, is also at a $1 sale. Don’t forget to get it if you’re into the genre – you’ll like it. (Also see my video

HERE

HERE

and TouchArcade’s article HERE; dedicated thread HERE)

2. The Line Racer (inXile Entertainment) video (see previous post) is

HERE

HERE

.

[Dilansank]

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