In just a few months, the iPhone has become a gaming handheld to be reckoned with, uttered by some in the same breath as the Nintendo DS.

While day-to-day charts give us a glimpse into what people are buying for the device, Apple has just released the most downloaded applications of 2008.

“Texas Hold ‘Em,” “Moto Chaser,” “Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D,” Super Monkey Ball,” “Cro-Mag Rally,” and “Enigmo” took spots in the top paid applications period, across all iPhone applications, while “Tap Tap Revenge” was the first most popular free application that was a game.

But games specifically, what were people interested in playing on their iPhone this year? Apple divided the list into the ten top paid and ten top free games.

*When we say iPhone, we also mean iPod Touch, unless noted.

Top 10 Paid Games:

1. Texas Hold’em
2. Moto Chaser
3. Crash Bandicoot: Nitro Kart 3d
4. Super Monkey Ball
5. Cro-Mag Rally

6. Enigmo
7. Air Hockey
8. Bejeweled 2
9. Flick Bowling
10. Line Rider iRide

Top 10 wFree Games:

1. Tap Tap Revenge
2. Labrynth Lite Edition
3. Sol Free Solitaire
4. iBowl
5. Pac-Man Lite
6. Touch Hockey:FS5
7. Cannon Challenge
8. Audi A4 Driving Challenge
9. Sudoku
10. reMovemh

What these lists don’t tell us, however, is which game was most popular — period. Was there one game people were willing to seek out, regardless of price? Or does the prospect of paying nothing for entertainment trump everything?

Did you download any of these?

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If you are interested in purchasing this Philips 7-Inch LCD Digital Photo Frame, click on that link. This link will take you to Amazon where you can buy this Philips 7ff3FPW digital photo frame on sale for $86. That is over 40% off.

Continue reading Don't mess with this guy, he built a real Lancer

Don't mess with this guy, he built a real Lancer originally appeared on Xbox 360 Fanboy on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Former Electronic Arts executive Neil Young, now leading an iPhone studio called ngmoco:), believes there’s a very specific reason for that.

“My read on the market is most of the games that are $9.99 don’t really deserve to be there right there,” said Young to MTV Multiplayer over the phone last week. “If that’s the premium tier of pricing on the device, my expectation would be the premium tier of pricing would have premium games built for the platform that fully take advantage of that, versus a cross-port from a Symbian [a mobile operating system] or a DS game.”

Young will try to prove that himself; ngmoco:)’s “Loco Roco” style puzzler, “Rolando,” will cost $9.99 in December. He also thinks it could’ve sold for $29.99 on the PSP.

So, why not price it at $29.99 on iPhone? Young explains…

*When we say iPhone, we also mean iPod Touch, unless noted.

“The only mega hit that’s existed today at a $9.99 price point is ‘Super Monkey Ball’ [Editor's Note: It's $7.99 now],” he said. “We’re excited to get to the place where you get the first thing that’s been built for the device, so the gamer could go, ‘You know what, this is every bit as good as a DS or a PSP game and, not only that, it’s actually built from the interface out.”

ngmoco:)’s “Loco Roco”-inspired title, comlete with accelerometer controls

That doesn’t mean Young expects to see games at more than $9.99 soon. Furthermore, he’s expects that when it does, it won’t happen very often.

“On the DS, users, on average, spend $62-a-year on software and on the PSP they spend $45-a-year on software,” he explained. “I think it’s unlikely you’re going to get an average user buying 62 99-cent games, but I do think you could get an average user two or three $9.99 games and those $9.99 games to some segment of the audience are extended with microtransactions or delivered episodically.”

He even recommends his company and others should start looking towards Nintendo. Having déjà vu? Young also told us developing iPhone games reminded him of early Wii and DS development.

“[On iPhone] maybe there’s four $4.99 games or multiple SKUs of product, the kind of lessons learned from Nintendo, where they have ‘Pokemon Saphire’ and ‘Pokemon Ruby,’” he said. “Just like we’re at the very beginning of the life of the platform from a quality of software platform, we’re also at the very beginning of the life of the platform in terms of the economics. They’re going to grow and evolve and shift and change over time.”

Would you ever pay more than $9.99 for an iPhone game?

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There is a bit of a value vacuum developing around today s PayTV offerings. Rising dissatisfaction with service value, the lack of flexibility implicit in tiered strategies, and a growing interest in watching online video on the TV have combined to create a unique opportunity for alternative video services -- an opportunity not at all lost on console vendors.

Microsoft and Sony know that today s console gamers are perfectly suited for new TV offerings. The segment is dominated by males between the ages of 18 and 35 -- a prized advertising demographic -- with little sense of loyalty to their 'local' cable or telephone company. They are also heavy viewers of online video and quite comfortable spending money for online digital media.

Simply stated, console vendors are inimitably positioned for success in the OTT (over-the-top) space because their gaming audience already owns the enabling device, and they are highly likely to already have an Internet-to-TV relationship with the vendor.

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Gears of War 2 is an excellent game, but it is also little more than testosterone-soaked gun porn. It should come as little surprise then, that the ultimate firearm fetishists have taken to producing a real life version of Gears of War's sexiest weapon -- the Lancer.

Just in case you didn't know, the Lancer is an assault rifle with a chainsaw bayonet attached. It is at once the most awesome and most ridiculous concept on Earth, and now there is a real-life version of the bloody thing. 

The weapon's creators seem to not be taking Gears 2 as the inspiration -- instead claiming this to be a "Firearm Mounted Anti Zombie Device." The resemblance, however, is certainly uncanny and worth a look. Just take a peek at the above video to see this thing in action.

If I were a zombie, I'd certainly be sh*tting myself.

Gears of War 2 is an excellent game, but it is also little more than testosterone-soaked gun porn. It should come as little surprise then, that the ultimate firearm fetishists have taken to producing a real life version of Gears of War's sexiest weapon -- the Lancer.

Just in case you didn't know, the Lancer is an assault rifle with a chainsaw bayonet attached. It is at once the most awesome and most ridiculous concept on Earth, and now there is a real-life version of the bloody thing. 

The weapon's creators seem to not be taking Gears 2 as the inspiration -- instead claiming this to be a "Firearm Mounted Anti Zombie Device." The resemblance, however, is certainly uncanny and worth a look. Just take a peek at the above video to see this thing in action.

If I were a zombie, I'd certainly be sh*tting myself.

Some NBA teams are using NBA Live 09 as a testing device to explore the potential impact of trades and other front office roster decisions. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Rockets GM Daryl Morey said that he uses it to gauge team effectiveness when certain players have the ball. He elaborated with an example:

... you can tell how often, if [Kevin] Love throws an outlet pass, how often his team scores on the possession. You can tell how often [O.J.] Mayo goes right versus left, how effective the team is with Mayo pulling up and shooting versus when he pulls up and passes instead.

The article goes on to state that up to 15 teams are currently using Electronic Arts’ latest basketball product to their own advantage. What makes NBA Live 09 better than the competition, NBA 2K9, is a feature called Dynamic DNA. Essentially, the DNA system is a statistical aggregator that feeds new information such as shot and scoring tendencies directly into the game. The reason why GMs would want to use it is that it is constantly updated and directly affects gameplay.

The one thing Dynamic DNA can’t do is stop Ron Artest from beating up people who care enough to show up for a basketball game. It also can’t stop Shaquille O’Neal from rapping, or the Pacers from being terrible.

[Via Kotaku]

Some NBA teams are using NBA Live 09 as a testing device to explore the potential impact of trades and other front office roster decisions. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Rockets GM Daryl Morey said that he uses it to gauge team effectiveness when certain players have the ball. He elaborated with an example:

... you can tell how often, if [Kevin] Love throws an outlet pass, how often his team scores on the possession. You can tell how often [O.J.] Mayo goes right versus left, how effective the team is with Mayo pulling up and shooting versus when he pulls up and passes instead.

The article goes on to state that up to 15 teams are currently using Electronic Arts’ latest basketball product to their own advantage. What makes NBA Live 09 better than the competition, NBA 2K9, is a feature called Dynamic DNA. Essentially, the DNA system is a statistical aggregator that feeds new information such as shot and scoring tendencies directly into the game. The reason why GMs would want to use it is that it is constantly updated and directly affects gameplay.

The one thing Dynamic DNA can’t do is stop Ron Artest from beating up people who care enough to show up for a basketball game. It also can’t stop Shaquille O’Neal from rapping, or the Pacers from being terrible.

[Via Kotaku]