Games

Iron Man 3 takes to the unfriendly skies on Android, iOS

Like most superhero fanboys, I'm pretty jazzed about "Iron Man 3," which opens one week from tomorrow.

And like most superhero movies of late, this one has an official game to accompany it. Gameloft's Iron Man 3 just landed for Android and iOS. And it's probably not what you'd expect.

Indeed, based on Gameloft's last movie tie-in, the Amazing Spider-Man game, you might envision something similar here: a running, jumping, and flying Tony Stark, with a mixture of ground- and air-based combat.

But this game takes its cues from Temple Run and throws … Read more

EA announces SimCity for Mac coming in June

Today game developer Electronic Arts has announced that the much-anticipated SimCity for Mac will be available for purchase on June 11.

The latest version, which is stripped of any version number and is being simply called SimCity, was announced on March 5 for both OS X and Windows, and was initially released for Windows early last month, but in an EA blog post today Lucy Bradshaw, senior vice president and general manager of EA's Maxis label, is quoted as saying the Mac version of the software will be out in two months' time:

SimCity is coming to Mac on … Read more

The game I'm playing all weekend: Vector

Mirror's Edge. Rush City. Temple Run. Subway Surfers. Agent Dash. Pitfall. If endless runners are your thing, you'll find no shortage of them in Android and iOS app stores.

So when Vector (Android | iOS) came along, I thought, "Meh, big deal, more of the same." So why can't I stop playing this game?

Because it's awesome, that's why. A side-scrolling endless runner (aka "free runner") that borrows its formula (if not its dystopian plot) from the likes of Mirror's Edge, Vector grips you from the first frame of its dramatic … Read more

Name your own price for six (really) good Android games

I feel like I'm on bundle overload these days, what with some new software or game collection cropping up on an almost weekly basis.

That said, when I see a good one, I gotta share. And if you're an Android user, this is definitely a good one.

For the next week or so, the Humble Mobile Bundle offers six surprisingly good Android games for whatever price you want to pay. Well, sort of.

It works like this: There are six apps on the table. Four can be had for any amount: a penny, a dollar, whatever. If you … Read more

International Mobile Gaming Awards hit San Francisco

After existing as a peripheral event during Mobile World Congress each year in Barcelona, Spain, the International Mobile Gaming Awards this year moved its ninth annual show to San Francisco.

Launched in 2004, the IMGA is a competition for mobile games developed in countries across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Awarding is based on two rounds of judging by a jury of twelve, with 10 category finalists announced in the months leading up to the event, and one winner ultimately winning in each category. In addition, the IMGA also gives awards for Honorable Mention, People's Choice (based on online … Read more

Mozilla wants you to get your game on -- in your browser

SAN FRANCISCO--If you could play high-end, 3D games in your browser at the same speed as on a console, would you? Here at the annual Game Developers Conference, the maker of Firefox revealed a plan to get you to do just that.

Mozilla's current holy grail is getting the mix of HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS that powers the modern Web to run apps at speeds that rival native code, the operating system-dependent languages underpinning apps on iOS, Android, Windows 8, and other proprietary systems.

The not-so-secret weapon in Mozilla's plan is something called ASM.js, said Director of Engineering Vladimir Vukicevic. "It's a dialect of JavaScript that can optimize [code] much better. It's around two times as fast," he said.… Read more

Coming soon: Verizon Games Portal for Android devices

Announced today, Verizon's Android devices will soon come loaded with a new Games Portal, a standalone app marketplace for games (separate from Google Play) combined with a social network similar to Apple's Game Center.

Powered by PlayPhone, an experienced builder of gaming networks, Verizon's Games Portal figures to be an attractive marketplace for developers. The platform not only offers distribution to millions of Verizon customers, but it also allows these customers to take advantage of direct carrier billing, a low-friction option that could result in more games-based purchases. What's more, since Android doesn't (yet?) have … Read more

The most fun I had all weekend: Pinball Arcade

True story: Attracted by the sounds of Star Wars, my kids wandered over to where I was playing a game on my iPad. "What's that?" they asked. "Star Wars Pinball," I said. "What's pinball?" they replied.

I told them pinball was a game people used to play at the arcade, before video games came along. They said, "Whats an arcade?"

I said an arcade is where kids used to go after school when they got tired of listening to records. All together, now: "What's a record?"… Read more

Get PopCap's Peggle (PC/Mac) for free!

How much do you value your productivity? If you're smack in the middle of an important work or school project, or you've got important life events to deal with -- eating, drinking, and so on -- you might want to steer clear of this deal.

Because I warn you: once you start playing Peggle, you won't want to stop.

Don't believe me? Peggle comes from PopCap Games, makers of such addictive pastimes as Bejeweled, Bookworm, and Plants vs. Zombies. And I'd say it ranks just as high as those classics on the time-suck scale.

It'… Read more