When Apple unveiled its iPhone 15 Pro last September, it also announced the device would be capable of running some major AAA video games, including the Resident Evil 4 remake and Assassin's Creed Mirage. While cert??ainly impressive and a great way of drawing attention to the iPhone 15 Pro, I had to wonder how much demand there was for such games to see native mobile ports. Turns out the answer is not a lot.

Recently, Mobilegamer.biz shared an analysis, based on estimates by Appfigures, on the performance of the mobile ports of Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil Village, Assassin's Creed Mirage, and Death Stranding. To be blunt, it seems not a single one of these games has been profitable on mobile. Resident Evil 4, for example, launched on iOS on December 23, but is estimated to have only made $208,000 from roughly 357,000 unique downloads. For the sake of comparison, the console/PC release pushed three million units in its first two days according to Capcom.

Resident Evil Village, meanwhile, has seen more downloads, but only 370,000 of them. Plus, it's made even less money, generating an estimated $92,000 in revenue since its October 2023 launch. Assassin's Creed Mirage, which launched earlier this month, has?? fared much better already, but it's still made a shockingly low $138,000 from approximately 123,000 downloads.

All three of these games are technically free-to-play, allowing mobile owners to try out a portion of them before purchasing the full game. The price varies from game to game but, given how low these estimated figures are, it seems not enough people are being convinced to actually put money down for these games after downloading them. The one game that isn't a free download is Death Stranding, which launched on mobile this past January and costs $20. It's actually been the most successful of the bunch, making an estimated $212,000 from roughly 10,600 downloads. But that's hardly cause for celebration when the original PlayStation 4 version is believed to have accrued over three million players in its first six months (via Gamstat), far more than th??e mobile version has managed in five months.

Mobilegamer.biz does reiterate these figures are only estimates, and also points to more optimistic estimates from data firm Appmagic, but they're not that much better. For example, Appmagic says Assassin's Creed Mirage has made roughly $221,000 in revenue, which is still nowhere near the $250 million it's believed to have made on consoles and PC (per Insider Gaming). At the very least, Ubisoft called Mirage its "biggest New Gen launch," which it definitely wouldn't have said had it performed ??as well as the mobile port has.

In retrospect, these ports were probably doomed from the get-go. As Appmagic head of content Andrei Zubov points out, the top performing mobile games "typically feature simpler controls, prioritise unique art styles over high-end graphics, and are suited for shorter play sessions." People who frequently game on mobile are thus less likely to be interested in ports of bigger titles. Plus, anyone who would want to play them likely already bought them for console or PC. And if you're someone who doesn't own Resident Evil 4 or Death Stranding, why wouldn't you play them on a platform ??????????????????????????they were orig??inally designed for than your mobile phone?

Not to mention these ports are, again, only available on the new iPhone 15 Pro. I doubt anyone would consider buying the device just to play the ports, especially since the phone costs $999. This makes it far more expensive than a brand new PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S. Apple still intends to put No Man's Sky and the upcoming Assassin's Creed Shadows on high-end iPads but, if all this data is anything to go by, I can't imagine they'll perform any better, and I??'d be shocked if any more AAA console/PC titles get native mobile releases in the future.

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Nvidia, the giant GPU manufacturing company, is now the world’s most valuable company in terms of market capitalization. The company has overtaken Microsoft to reach the pinnacle with $3.33 trillion in market cap, edging past Microsoft’s $3.31 trillion market cap, as per stats on Marketcap (via Gamespot).

After the top two spots, Apple is ranked third at $3.2 trillion, followed by Google's parent company Alphabet which has a market cap of $2.17 trillion. Amazon is the fifth? most valuable company with its market cap at $1.90 trilli?on at the time of writing.

Nvidia is a leading graphics card manufacturer and faces active competition from AMD, but the rival company also inves?ts its ?time and energy into providing processors to the tech market. While Nvidia’s GeForce RTX graphics cards have been facilitating AAA gaming in desktops and laptops for years, this rise to the top could be attributed to the recent AI boom.

Nvidia has long been known for investing its resou??rces and research into AI, and its shift in focus can be dated back to as far back as 2006 when it released Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA), a parallel computing platform.

The focus on AI has paid dividends for Nvidia in the long run, now that the tech market is chasing after an AI-powered future. To achieve that, tech companies that are investing in AI require GPUs that can handle the AI processes, and that’s where Nvidia’s value comes into play. The company’s stock price has seen over 200% growt?h since 2023.

With the focus on generative AI increasing rapidly, and companies such as Microsoft and Apple introducing the likes of Copilot+ and Apple Intelligence, Nvid??ia stands to profit. Currently, Nvidia’s stock price is hovering around $135, and ??this is due to the stock split of 10:1 decided by the company in June after an announcement back in May.

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Assassin's Creed Mirage, the latest AAA title in the series, has officially made its way to Apple devices. The game is now available on iPad Air, and iPad Pro devices with an M1 chip or later. Moreover, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max users can also play Assassin’s Creed Mirage on their devices.

The game, centred around protagonist Basim and his adventures in ninth-century Baghdad, offers the beginning stages for free, but players would then be asked to buy the full version of the game through an in-app purchase. Ubisoft’s AAA title game will cost $49.99 on compatible iOS devices, but there’s a special launch offer with a discount of 50% running at the moment, bringing the price down to $24.99 until June 20, 2024. 

Assassin's Creed Mirage promised to bring the franchise back to its roots with more focus on stealth. In our review of Assassin’s Creed Mirage, we rated it a 7.5/10 and felt that there “could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.�/p>

Ubisoft has also revealed its plans to launch Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown for Apple Macbook devices in the winter of 2024. Pre-orders for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on Mac is now live, with a price tag of $49.99 on it.

Apart from Mirage’s launch and plans for The Lost Crown, Ubisoft has also launched Rabbids: Legends of the Multiverse on Apple Arcade. For those unfamiliar, Apple Arcade is a paid sub?scription service that offers you access to a library of games without featuring any in-app purchases or ads.

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If you enjoyed Resident Evil Village but thought, "hmm, I'd like this to be much closer to my face," I have some good news for you. The latest non-remake installment in Capcom's iconic series is now out on iPhone and iPad devices.

Yo?u can check out the launch trailer below. Basically, it's the full game (plus DLC if you want to ??go down that route) made playable on mobile phones and tablets. The game is compatible with iPhone 15 Pro and "all iPads with the M1 chip or later."

The trailer also states that the "story opening can be played for free," but you'll obviously need to pay for the full experience. The game thankfully features controller support for those don't fancy using the on-screen touch buttons (i.e. everyone). Even the App Store recommends using a control pad.

Staring at Lady Dimitrescu while on the bus

On top of that, Resident Evil 4 Remake is also coming to Apple products. We don't quite know when, but the App Store listing shows December 31 as a placeholder?? date.

You can, however, pre-order the game. Much like Resident Evil Village, RE4 on iPad will require? an M1 chip or later and iOS 17.

It's a grand old time if you're into horror games through your phone. While mobile gaming as a market tends to divide people, this could well represent the next stage in being able to play AAA titles on?? the go (Steam Deck who?).

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iPads and iPhones may not be the first platform you associate with some of those bigger triple-A titles, but Apple continues pushing its devices as the go-to for more intense games. From Resident Evil 4 to Death Stranding, the newest phones and ?tablets will support more? graphically intense games.

Yet this isn't the tech giant's first massive push into gaming. Apple Arcade has been around for several years and is home to mostly casual titles. At $5 a month, it's not a bad deal to download some time-killers when nothing else is around. Some are g?enuinely solid games, and the service has only improved its offerings since its 2014 debut.

As an iPhone and iPad user, I've used the service on and off, but now and again, something always draws me bac??k in. Some of those deserve a spotlight �the underrated, convenient little gems accompanying me everywhere my p?hone goes. So, for those of you looking to expand your mobile library, I've got some recommendations.

DoDonPachi Ressurection's excellent Apple Arcade port

Getting my most biased choice out of the way, DoDonPachi Ressurection is arguably m?y favorite bullet hell game, and my first exposure to it was via its iOS port. Although I mostly play the Steam port now for more content, I prefer the mobile version's controls due to its simplicity.

With automated shooting, all the focus remains on movement, leaving only one hand needed to play. For an intense arcade game, it's incredibly comfortable to play casually. This is especially true in its smartphon?e mode but is also the case in the included straight arcade por??t.

Since it was also originally an arcade game, DoDonPachi Ressurection only takes about 40 minutes to finish. This makes it perfect for lengthy ??commutes, especially as skills improve on subsequent playthroughs. The soundtrack is a banger too, and one I highly recommend grabbing headphones for.

My recommendation does come from a bullet hell fan's perspective, but its accessibility on Apple Arcade leaves it open for anyone to try. DoDonPachi Ressurection is a heavenly bullet hell title, and ??hopefully one encouraging more people to try out more of the genr??e.

Game Dev Story is the perfect laid-back strategy game

As someone who enjoyed Game Dev Tycoon around a decade ago, seeing what is basically the same game on Apple Arcade was a treat. Game Dev Story's mobile version predates its similarly named counterpart by several years, so seeing the original take on a mobi??le device adds another layer to this pleasant surprise.

Game Dev Story follows the basic premise of building up an indie game company in the '80s. As the studio makes games and takes on contra??cts, new consoles will?? overtake older ones as players balance budgeting, employee management, and adapting to new tech.

Getting caught up in a single massive success can lead to some underserved confidence, but it's never too ?bad to start a new company after accidentally burning the previous one down. The longest any playthrough lasts is probably a few hours, so it's worth experimenting with risky projects.

It's a s?olid loop that's perfect for short gameplay bursts. Even longer sessions can ??be engaging when a streak of solid game releases gets going.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure is Apple Arcade's surprise hit

Although its only home is on Apple Arcade, I count Hello Kitty Island Adventure as one of ?this year's pleasant surprises. My latest renewal for th??e subscription service is even because of it.

Island Adventure is best described as an open-world life sim. The player creates a character and helps various Sanrio characters fix up an amusement park and partake in cozy vibes. It emphasizes making friends and developing each ??character's story while being incredibly cute.

Half of the game's appeal is honestly based on how adorable it is. Sanrio knows how to make cute characters, and bunching them together for a laid-back adventure guarantees adorable shenanigans. Various quests and activities make Island Adventure surprisingly involved, eating up your time. From befriending the cast to swimming an??d crafting, there's much to do on the island Hello Kitty and friends res?ide on.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure is the perfect ga??me for anyone who wants something without tension. Sometimes, it's nice to get away from life's stresses and hang out as a cute animal person with your equally as cute, animal-people friends.

Stardew Valley is excellent no matter where it's played

Stardew Valley is arguably the most famous cozy game, tasking players with restoring their grandfather's farm after moving in. Despite releasing in 2016, it's still receiving updates that ??make it worth revisiting time a??fter time again.

The iOS port of Stardew Valley is no exception since it's the full game but in a hand-held format. Everything from farming to relationship building and combat is here and as good as its PC and console counterparts. This means dozens of hours of content in a neat and relaxed package. Its slower pace also makes it easy to jump in and o?ut at any time, even if it can be difficult not to sink your whole day into it.

While the mobile version's update schedule doesn't always fall in line with other platforms, Stardew patches have eventually launch?ed on the iOS version and caught up. Regardless, t??his is a fantastic way to get into one of the most consistently popular farming games in recent memory.

Taiko no Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat is a wonderful arcade-style rhythm game

Rhythm games are a genre that shines on mobile. Their quick pace and basic gameplay make them perfect for playing a f??ew minutes of in-between other activit??ies.

Taiko no Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat is no exception to this, and it's just a lovely game. The taiko drum theme makes controls easy to learn as players focus on learning a particular song's rhythm. Its varying difficulties and range of control options also ?make it friendly for any newcomers to the genre.

The available tracks are varied, too �even if they skew toward J-pop, anime, and video game fans. It's still funny seeing Frozen's "Let it Go" alongside Kaneda's theme from Akira. Even more odd inclusions like "B??aby Shark" mean not every song is a winner, but the growing song roster makes it easier to find a solid playlist to play with.

Of any Apple Arcade game, Taiko no Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat is the easi?est for me to return to. Its simple and engaging gameplay helps keep me occupied whenever I want ?a quick dopamine rush.

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We already know that Resident Evil Village is coming to Apple products this Halloween, so we're just waiting for a release date for Resident Evil 4. The recent remake is getting an ????iPhone/iPad port at some point this year, and you can pre-order it right now.

If you head over to Apple App Store, there is a release date that says RE4 is coming to the aforementioned mobile devices by December 31. However, this is just a placeholder, but we are expecting it to launch before the ??en?d of 2023.

Resident Evil 4 will be compatible with the iPhone 15 Max and Max Pro, as well as ??a number of iPad Air and iPad Pro models t??hat feature the M1 chip.

So how much will it cost?

If you want to get the remake on any of the above devices, the App Store does list it as free. However, don't be deceived. There is a note on the site that says only a "limited part of the base game can be played ??for free." You will h?ave to pay to unlock the full game. Essentially, it's sounds like it'll be free if you just want a demo of the game.

According to screenshots from VGC, the game will set you back £57.99 if you're in the UK. For US gamers, a report from Touch Arcade says it'll cost $59.99. ??You can also get the DLC, but of course that'll require additiona?l money.

With Separate Ways coming out recently, Resident Evil 4 is getting another look in. Will it be just as good on iPhone and iPad as it is on PC and console? O?nly time will tell.

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Many of us probably didn't envision a future in which we could play AAA games on mobile devices. Well, these days are upon us, and horror fans will be pleased to know that Resident Evil Village is coming to Apple products this Halloween.

According to Capcom, the eighth installment in the Resident Evil series will release for iPhone and iPad on October 3?0. This continues the long-standing tradition of releasing h??orror media during the spookiest time of the year.

As for which devices it'll be on, it'll be compatible with iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. Any iPad Air and iPad Pro that has the M1 chip or later can run Resident Evil Village as well. According to a report from Gematsu (which cites screens?hots from Capcom's TGS appearance), the game will be priced at 4,990 yen (around $33), while the "Winter's Expansion" will be 2,000 yen (approximately $13).

Additionally, a Mac version of Resident Evil Village is available now.

Resident Evil 4 coming at some point

As well as that, iPhones and iPads will also feature the remake of Resident Evil 4 at some point. At the time of writing, we only know this version of the Remake will arrive this year. The App store listing says it's expected to release on December 31, though the de?scription clarifies this is a placeholder.

Both RE games are coming to Apple devices as the tech giant moves towards products that have the processing power to handle AAA games. If you're after an iPhone 15 Max or 15 Pro Max but you're not into horror, you may also be interested to learn that Assassin's Creed Mirage is coming to the phone in 2024.

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Yo dawg, we heard you like screens. So we put some screens inside your screens.

Today was the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, and as predicted, Tim Apple Tim Cook finished the event with the reveal of the new Apple headset. Called Apple Vision Pro, the headset is more AR than VR, utilizing a system of cameras to project screens and objects into the world around you. It's arguably the most exciting piece of tech to come out of Apple since the iPod. Looking at the Vision Pro and how it works is some real sci-fi shit, techn?ology I thought was still years away. But it's actually less than a year away.

There is a lot going on under the hood with Apple Vision Pro, including two chips (the M2 and the R1), 23 million pixels across the device's two screens, eye-tracking, gesture tracking, and 4K video re?solution that will be rendered at scale. As if it wasn't hard enough to get people to look away from their screens, one device feature is EyeSight, which reveals your eyes when you start talking to somebody else in the room. Because heaven forbid you take it off your head when talking to ot?hers.

While the showcase focused more on how Apple Vision Pro will take your apps off your iPhone, iPad, and iMac and display them as virtual screens in your real world, it also emphasized that gaming will be a part of the experience. One hundred Apple Arcade games will be available on day one, and the device is compatible with standard video game controllers. The feature I'm most excited about is being able to watch movies on virtual screens of any size. While I still prefer going to a real theater to ?watch films, something like that will greatly improve the home theater experience. If you're wondering about battery life, you can run this thing for two hours before needing to recharge or you can plug it in for continuous use.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX9qSaGXFyg

The tech may be sci-fi, but the presentation painted a more dystopian future than I imagine Apple intended. There was a loneliness about the showcase. Everyone was alone outside of those few people who needed to show off the EyeSight feature or those who were doing their best to cut off the outside world. There have already been studies about how our current crop of technology is making us lonelier, and I can't imagi?ne everyone walking aroun?d with these headsets on will change that.

The price for all of this technology? The Apple Vision Pro will retail for $3499 when it releases in early 2024. That automatically takes it off my to-buy list, but I am curious how the device would even work for me. As I've written about before, I do not have two properly functioning eyes, which r??ules out all VR and 3D technology for me. AR has always seemed like the tech of the future more than VR ??ever did, but given how this specific device works, it remains to be seen if I'll be able to immerse myself in the tech.

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From turtles and cars to one man's mountain

Apple's mobile gaming subscription service Apple Arcade is getting a fresh batch of new games. Today, Apple revealed 20 new games coming to the subscription service.

One of the leaders of the pack is TMNT Splintered Fate, a co-op roguelike adventure s??tarring the turtles. The crew is searching for Splinter, and will journey around New York City looking for clues while also pi?cking up randomized power-ups.

Triband, the studio behind What the Golf? and What the Bat?, is also here with What the Car? It's a fittingly quirky take on motor vehicles, the kind that Triband has been es?pecially good at over its other games.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5wx0Takylc

Even more are on the docket, including some familiar faces like Getting Over It and Limbo. Here's the full list of today's games:

Games coming to Apple Arcade, May 2023

• TMNT Splintered Fate
• Disney SpellStruck
• What the Car?
• Cityscapes: Sim Builder
• Chess Universe+
• Disney Coloring World+
• Disney Getaway Blast+
• Farming Simulator 20+
• Getting Over It+
• Hill Climb Racing+
• Iron Marines+
• Kingdom Two Crowns+
• Playdead's Limbo+
• My Town Home - Family Games+
• Octodad: Dadliest Catch+
• PPKP+
• Snake.io+
• Temple Run+
• Time Locker+
• Very Little Nightmares+

It's a pretty solid lineup, with some familiar faces and neat new additions in there. I personally like the idea of seeing someone trying to make their way up the hill of Bennett Foddy's Getting Over It, and the ensuing frustration, in mobile form.

Apple Arcade has had some pretty stellar games hit the service over the years, from Hironobu Sakaguchi's Fantasian to the recent mobile version of Game Freak's Pocket Card Jockey. I'm certainly curious to see if ??some more hits await in this u??pdate.

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CMA filings show how the Activision Blizzard deal could help build the Xbox mobile store

Amid investigations over Microsoft's possible acquisition of Activision Blizzard, new details have emerged a?bout its plans for a mobile store to compete with other platforms.

Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal is under investigation by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). As part of those filings, Microsoft says a motivation for the a??cquisition is to help bui?ld out its mobile presence.

Here's the relevant item from the CMA filing, as reported on by The Verge:

"The transaction will improve Microsoft’s ability to create a next generation game store which operates across a range of devices, including mobile as a result of the addition of Activision Blizzard’s content. Building on Activision Blizzard’s existing communities of gamers, Xbox will seek to scale the Xbox Store to mobile, attracting gamers to a new Xbox Mobile Platform. Shifting consumers away from the Google Play Store and App Store on mobile devices will, however, require a major?? shift in consumer behavior. Microsoft hopes that by offering well-known and popular content, gamers will be more inclined to try something new."

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtSmAwpVHsA

A more mobile Xbox

Microsoft has been pushing more and more into the mobile market. Putting its cloud gaming service on phones ma??kes for pretty good reasons to pick up a controller clip and game on the go.

But this new development could see Microsoft opening its own platform, one that would compete with Google's Play Store and the App Stor??e.

Mobile gaming revenue from Activision Blizzard is strong, as Microsoft notes in the filing. The output of the King side of Activision Blizzard, alongside games like Call of Duty: Mobile, represent a good chunk of revenue.

The acquisition remains under scrutiny though, as the CMA continues to invest?igate.

In other Activision Blizzard news, Blizzard Albany workers recently won approval for a union vote.

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Coming to Apple Arcade on August 5

Konami and Apple Arcade teamed up for another game, and this one's got a quirky musical twist. Amazing Bomberman flips the script on the series' familiar explo??sion-dodging action with score chasing and battlegrounds that change to suit the song??.

As short as this trailer is, it's worth a look.

//youtu.be/cBxlRu3Fd5I

According to Konami, "the bomb placement and explosion sounds change with the songs, and the battle time also changes dependin??g on the song. When the song gets exciting, blocks will drop, and items may appear when you break them with bombs."

If you take a fireball to the face, you'll careen off the scre??en �but y??ou can revive "as many times as you want as long as the song is playing."

With that in mind, the goal is less about staying alive at all costs, and more about outscoring your three bomb-laying opponents. If you see a Bomberman in the spotl??ight, they've got the highest score, so chase 'em down a?nd blow them up for bonus points.

There's original music from several artists

As for the all-important music, Amazing Bomberman will fea?ture original songs from artists like Rasmus Faber, YMCK, Dizzly, Masahiro "Godspeed" Aoki, and?? Ai Takekawa.

[caption id="attachment_338040" align="alignnone" width="1920"] _{Try to focus on the important stuff.}[/caption]

On the game's site, Konami also details missions and customization items �badges, frames, expressions, and the like. There's a bad?ge for battling 1,000 times. Godspeed.

Amazing Bomberman will debut on Friday, August 5, exclusively for Apple Arcade. With a $5-per-month subscription, you ?can play it on iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV.

From the admittedly little we've seen, it's no Tetris Effect, but then again, nothing else is. I think more music-infused games, in general, would be a great thing �I appreciate the experimentation. I'm on a break from subscribing, and I'd much rather play Bomberman on a console, but if you're subbed, this?? might be worth a morbidly curious install.

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Including Spidersaurs, Towaga, and Various Daylife

With the way agreements often shake out, it's only natural for games to come and go from subscription services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus Extra �but I haven't necessarily associated that ebb and flow with Apple Arcade. At least, not yet. Granted, I don't keep up with the service as much these days beyond the occasional headline, but it's a bit surpri??sing to hear that 15 g?ames are leaving Apple Arcade.

As reported by TouchArcade and The Verge, the timeline is hazy at best.

A new s??ection in Apple Arcade lists the following games as ??leaving "soon":

• Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree
• BattleSky Brigade: Harpooner
• Cardpocalypse
• Dead End Job
• Don’t Bug Me!
• Dread Nautical
• EarthNight
• Explottens
• Lifeslide
• Over the Alps
• Projection: First Light
• Spelldrifter
• Spidersaurs
• Towaga: Among Shadows
• Various Daylife

Recognize any o??f them? You mi?ght if you were there in the beginning.

I know a few off the top of my head �most notably Spidersaurs, a WayForward run-and-gun game that's now on other platforms like Nintendo Switch, and Various Daylife, a str??angely named Squa?re Enix RPG. Many, but not all, have been ported elsewhere.

[caption id="attachment_335442" align="alignnone" width="1440"] _{Towaga: Among Shadows, one of the planned game removals, is also playable on Steam.}[/caption]

Another day, another delisting

We've been conditioned to expect that movies, shows, and games won't stick around indefinitely when they'??re lumped together in ever-shifting, ever-more-competitive libraries. A proper heads-up with rem?oval dates is half the battle.

I just hope that in Apple Arcade's case, players aren't out of luck when it comes to their ga??me data; the service is in a unique place with no in-app purchases or ads. It would be a shame to invest time and energy into an Apple Arcade title only for it to drop off the list with no other way of picking up the pieces. Games can be so fleeting thes?e days.

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These geese are going maverick

Yu Suzuki and his studio YS Net are working on a game for Apple Arcade. The crew revealed it as Air Twister today, and its trailer is a pretty fun way to kick off?? t??he summer of video game news.

The trailer kicks off with death and destruction, as infantry riding giant birds fight in battle against robots. The protagonist, Princess Arch, mourns a ?swan before taking off and leaping the trailer into a vastly different tone.

Suddenly it's showing gameplay, with a Killer Queen-sound-alike blasting in the background. It is truly incredibl??e.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1A5WJ2YFVc

According to the App Store page, Air Twister is an endless shooter. Players move around the screen using swipe movements and blast enemies out of the sky. There are 12 stages, over 20 different enemies and 10 unique bosses, Stars to collect and global rank??ings to chase.

Suzuki is apparently hesitant to call this a Space Harrier successor though. In a briefing (via GameSpot) Suzuki said he's always had this idea for a fantasy shooting game, but the limited available tech ended up leading to Space Harrier. With 2022's tech, he's made Air Twister, which he calls his "ideal fantasy shooting ga??me."

The golden goose

The last game we saw from Suzuki and YS Net was Shenmue III, the latest entry in the Shenmue series that felt like a time capsule. Seeing the team turn its efforts toward??s mobile is an i?nteresting move. But one that clearly makes an impression. Yes, I'm surprised by the fantasy shooter with geese, spacesuits, lasers, and robots. I can't say I'm not intrigued to see what it becomes, though.

Those interested won't need to wait long, either. Air Twister hits Apple Arcade on June 24. Alongside it are a few other releases for the mobile gaming platform. Frogger and the Rumbling Ruins sets off on June 3, and Cooking Mama: Cuisine! lands on June 17.

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iPhone owners get another option for Fortnite

It just got a little bit easier to play Fortnite just about anywhere. Xbox and Epic announced today that Fortnite is now freely available via Xbox Cloud Gaming??, through supported browser-enabled devices.

Fortnite is playable through the Xbox Cloud Gaming beta in 26 countries. And most notably, it's free; all you'll need is a Microsoft account and an iOS, iPadOS, Android phone or tablet, or Windows PC. With that done, just head over to the Xbox play site and sign-in, then start dropping.

Notably, this doesn't require a subscription to Xbox Game Pass. While previously you could play Fortnite through a Game Pass Ultimate sub, this makes Fortnite access through Xbox Cloud Gaming completely free. It's also playable ??through either native touch controls o?r a supported controller, if you've got one of those for your phone.

It's a big step, and apparently not the last one for Microsoft. The company says in today's announcement that starting with Fortnite, they're looking to bring more free-to-play games in. No specifics on which games, but it's an interesting proposition, especially because of the br??owser aspect. Rather than needing a console, you just need a decent connection and the phone?? in your pocket.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M3-AwaIwzM

Renewing the battle royale

It's also big news for iPhone users who have had some trouble playing Fortnite. Ever since the big Epic-Apple spat went down, Fortnite has been delisted from the App Store. When that changes is anyone's guess, but this Xbox workaround gives players the option to get back on the Fortnite train on their phones, at the least.

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney shared the news, saying "no subscription required, no 30% Apple Tax." It seems to be a good day for iOS Fortnite fans. And as for Microsoft's further plans in the free-to-play sp??ace, it'll be interestin?g to see what other games they look to get enabled on the cloud.

The post Fortnite is p??layable through Xbox Cloud Gaming for free appeared first on Destructoid.

From Activision Blizzard to NFTs, it's been a long year

The year 2021 is finally coming to a close, and it sure has been a l?ong one. It marked the second ye??ar of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the gaming industry first full year of next-gen consoles, and another year of online events and showcases—at least, for most of the year.

There were cloudy spots and rays of sunshine amongst the headlines. Amid all of it, this has certainly been a time for reflect?ion and examination. As shortages and a shift to remote work put pressure on both the software and hardware sides of the industry, everything was in flux. Yet still, there were a few heartwarming tales that, even if they didn't rock the world, did keep us moving forward.

With all that in? mind, here are some of the biggest gaming stories that dominated the headlines in 2021.

[caption id="attachment_296559" align="alignnone" width="1536"] The first Activision Blizzard walkout. Photo via Upcomer/Parkes Ousley.[/caption]

Activision Blizzard

Without a doubt, one of the most notable and high-profile stories of 2021 was the situation at Activision Blizzard. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing announced its lawsuit, and not long after, stories of discrimi??nation, harassment, and a bad workplace culture flooded out.

As the year went on, stories continued to crop up, employees spoke out, and workers even began to organize and make demands that their company do better. If a?nything marks a difference between past reports of shoddy workplaces and now, it was the unified response seen from employees at Activision, Blizzard, and the many studios under ??the publisher's massive umbrella.

It is the end of 2021, and while some demands like the removal of required arbitration have been met, employees have still called for the removal of Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. All the while, even more stories continue to surface, with internal issues at the company seemingly dating back years and years. It also energized efforts at other companies too, as Ubisoft workers began to call for the changes they weren't seeing enacted after last year's reports. Suffice to sa?y, this is a story that will likely continue to pla?y out in 2022, and with state agencies involved, could be pretty massive.

The ongoing effects of COVID-19

In a 2020 interview, Xbox head Phil Spencer said that the industry would start to s??ee the impact of the coronavirus in 2021. It's a quote that bounced around in my head throughout the year, as we continued to see the pandemic and virus have an effect on almost every part of the industry.

Development on quite a good number of games has been delayed, due to the shift to remote work and adjustments that needed to be made. Shortages throttled the hardware side, generating issues with meeting demand for new consoles and even affecting more specialized hardware. Showcases moved online, E3 was held digitally, and the whole industry had to keep adjusting? to a new norm.

There were some glimmers, however. The Game Awards were held in person, and PAX held an in-person event. There's even a? PAX East on the books for 2022, as well as other possible events.

Whether any of that sticks, with the surge of new variants going around, remains to be seen. But even on a small scale, the industry has been adapting. The cross-generation bridge lasting ?a little longer hasn't been a terrible thing, and has seen the rise of programs like Smart Delivery. Publishers have started to dial in the whole online showcase thing that Nintendo had previously cornered the market on, and remote previews have become common on our side of things, which is really great for more voices to get more coverage opportunities. If nothing else, we can hopefully continue to make lemonade out of lemons next year.

NFTs, I guess

Here is the obligatory mention of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, a trend that kicked up at the tail end of 2021. A concept that still seems strange, even when you do have a handle on it.

NFTs quickly became the least-favorite subject of anyone who doesn't own one. Since their emergence into daylight, it's been a series of publishers attempting to cash in on the latest trend. Staunch defenders advocate for their industry-changing potential, while critics point out the many flaws with their current existence. People on the inside of early attempts to incorporate NFTs are questioning their very inclusion.

It's a mess. But if you're not a fan of NFTs, there has been one upside: the resounding response to attempts to put them into games has, so far, been met with great resistance. There's no better example than the immediate about-face seen in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 NFT fiasco. Are we going to see more of these things in 2022? Yeah, probably. But for now at least, they've failed to latch on in any meaningful way outside a few cosmetics in a Tom Clancy's game.

Indies rule the world

It's not like it was a slow year for games. Granted, many major games either pushed out to next year, or arrived very late in the year. Titles like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Forza Horizon 5, Resident Evil Village, and Halo Infinite still dominated.

But man, was it a good year for indie games. Some serious heavy-hitters of the year came up through the indie scene. Small projects like Inscryption and Wildermyth captivated us with refreshing new ideas. Death's Door wow'd us with its fresh look and beautiful action. It's been hard, some years, to get folks to test out some indie games. But it felt like everyone had one or two this year that really hit them, from Unpacking to Sable, and Unsighted to An Airport For Aliens Currently Run By Dogs.

And of course, let's not forget Destructoid's own Game of the Year selection, Chicory: A Colorful Tale. A beautiful game about art, creation, fear, doubt, and a dog with a paintbrush. Next year looks ready to deliver on a lot of major games from the big-name publishers. But it was nice, in 202??1, to have a year that felt absolutely dominated by the indies.

Studio acquisition frenzy

It was a banner year for studio ?acquisitions. It felt like every few weeks a new studio acquisition wa??s announced. And not just from Embracer Group, either. Here's just a short selection:

• Epic acquires Harmonix
• Private Division acquires Roll7
• Krafton acquires Unknown Worlds
• CD Projekt acquires The Molasses Flood
• Tencent acquires Turtle Rock Studios
• PlayStation acquires Housemarque, Firesprite, Bluepoint, Valkyrie, Nixxes
• Electronic Arts acquires Playdemic
• Embracer picks up Gearbox, Aspyr Media, Easybrain
• Nintendo acquires Next Level Games

And that's not even counting the Microsoft-ZeniMax deal, which was announced last September but locked in this year. It's been quite the year for companies buying othe??r companies.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=euiSHuaw6Q4

Epic vs. Apple

The Epic vs. Apple case went into the courtroom earlier this year. I know, right? And to no surprise, it was utter chaos to start.

Once the racket settled, it quickly became an opportunity for both companies to snipe at each other, surfacing discovery documents that shed light on both Apple and Epic's stores, as well as their business. The end result was a decision neither company seemed happy with, though it could set some interesting precedent moving forward. And it did leave us with that one bizarre Fortnite trailer in the style of the old Ap??ple comme??rcials.

Xbox Game Pass and the subscription surge

There were a lot of games that came out this year. Because of that, one? of the biggest surprises of the year was the Xbox Game Pass really showing its worth.

Major games like Psychonauts 2, Forza, Halo, and others laun???ched on the platform. The first-party games might have been obvious, but even games like Outriders were hitting the service right away. And several others, like Scarlet Nexus, seemed to get a second wind on the Game Pass.

Now, Netflix is moving into the space, Sony is reportedly looking to up its offering, and Nintendo has already expanded its subscription service's library. Game Pass really forged ahead here with both a good year, and a year that seems to herald ??a shift in the way we buy and play games.

Good causes keep going

There was concern, at the outset of the pandemic, at how in-person events would respond. Some shut down, while?? some moved online, and m?any faced new challenges in having to host something normally experienced and enjoyed in-person.

Games Done Quick was one of the organizations that, quickly and deftly, adjusted to the pandemic, and it showed again in 2021. Both Awesome Games Done Quick and Summer Games Done Quick have continued to raise money for charity, alongside a number of other speedrunning charity events.

Meanwhile, other efforts like Spawn Together raised money for goo?d causes inside the industry. There may have been a lot of tiring, disheartening, spirit-deflating headlines this year. But still, it's nice to see stories like this come up now and then, as a? reminder of what we can still do to generate good in spite of everything.

What were the stories that resonated or affected you the most this year? Let us know!

The post The biggest gaming stories of 2021 appeared first on Destructoid.

All of the latest happening beats from the hit parade

Hey Daddy-O, if you are swell enough to own a ??straight-from-the-fridge PS5 console, then do I have some hip and happening news for you. Sony has announced that its shiny new hardware now supports Apple Music, opening up millions upon millions of tracks to Apple Music subscrib??ers. The app is available to download from the PlayStation Store.

Whispers of the tuneful app's arrival came earlier this month via Reddit, after several people saw a blink-and-you'll-miss-it Apple Music icon pop up on their dashboards. Soon afterward, Sony confirmed on the official PlayStation Blog that the subscription-based feature was inde????ed coming to PS5, which incidentally becomes the first console to support the Apple Music service.

If you're an Apple Music subscriber, then all you need do is download the app on PS5 and log in with your Apple account details. You will then have access to the entire catalog, readily available to stream through your console. The service includes some 90 million individual tracks, thousands of playlists, 4K resolution music videos, and seamless integration with gameplay sessions. If you ever wanted to battle through the underworld of Hades while listening to Tony Bennett, now you can.

The post Apple Music app now available to download on PS5 appeared first on Destructoid.

Tim Sweeney says Apple lied about welcoming Epic back to the App Store

It looks like Apple owners won't be able to hop back into Fortnite anytime soon. In emails posted today by Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, Apple has barred Fortnite from t??he Apple iOS ecosystem until the final verdict in Epic v. Apple has?? been delivered.

In a series of tweets, Sweeney says Apple lied when it said it would welcome Epic's return to the App Store if it abided by the "sa??me? rules as everyone else." Sweeney says Epic agreed, and that Apple went back on its assurances.

The message posted by Sweeney says Apple has "exercised its discretion" to not reinstate Epic's developer program account at this time, and will not consider further requests for reinstatement until the judgment is "final and nonappealable." This effectively bars Fortnite from returning to iOS for the time being.

"Late last night, Apple informed Epic that Fortnite will be blacklisted from the Apple ecosystem until the exhaustion of?? all court appeals, which could be as long as a 5-year process," Sweeney wrote.

//twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/st??atus/144?0711772483186690

A ruling was made on Sept. 10, saying Apple must allow other forms of in-app purchases, while also affirming in a separate judgment that Epic was in breach of its contract with Apple. Epic has already filed an appeal on the ruling.

The entire case started when Epic tried to implement a new V-Buck purchasing op?tion in Fortnite on the App Store and Google Play Store, leading to Fortnite being pulled and a subsequent suit from Epic. The contest, over the cuts taken from purchases made on the store and how open the iOS platform is, carried on for a while. And there were some pretty interesting stories that came out of the trial proceedings, too.

Apple declined to comment on the matter to The Verge, but also didn't dispute the authenticity of? the documents Sweeney?? posted today. Looks like the battle of Epic v. Apple isn't over just yet.

The post Epic CEO says Fortnite has been barred from ??iOS until final court verdict appeared first on Destructoid.

Without free-to-play hijinks, I might get into this

[Update: Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls launched today on Apple Arcade.]

Can we get a cool new straightforward entry in a well-liked legacy Konami series like Castlevania? Can such a project happen without a bunch of weird caveats? Apparently not. The mobile game Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls was soft-launched in Canada in 2019 only to be shut down a year later for, presum??ably, not bringing in enough money to justify itself. Now, it's getting a new lease on life with Apple Arcade. I'm honestly conflicted.

As someone who got deep into Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, I'm open to �and even like �the general idea of series ?icons like Alucard, Simon, and Charlotte banding together in the same greatest-hits game. While it's not a particularly original premise, for a mobil??e-based action game (which does have gamepad support), it could be a lot worse.

Still, I can't help but dwell on how legendary this series is and how much potential is being squandered. In a vacuum, Grimoire of Souls is fine. But as the only new Castlevania? Mmm.

The revived Apple Arcade version is listed as "coming soon." There's a new site, too.

The main benefit of Apple Arcade is the lack of microtransactions and other free-to-play money-making mobile junk. How will this version of Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls be balanced? We'll hav??e to see. Ei?ther way, it's worth watching some footage:

//youtu.be/0lmtphsO_hk

The App Store summary mentions "60 levels, a wide variety of equipment, and daily and weekly missions," and also calls Grimoire of Souls an exclusive (as expected).

For those of you who haven't tried Apple Arcade, it's supported on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac, and the $5-per-month service does have some fantastic titles; it's just a matter of getting over the fact that you don't "own" any of this stuff, which can be a hurdle. If you've still got a trial available to you, by all means, use it when the ??time comes.

Even if Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls isn't your cup of tea, we've at least got the only-a-matter-of-time Castlevania Advance Collection on the way. It hasn't b?een announced yet, but with two ratings �one in Australia, an?other in Korea �it's a-coming.

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I thought there'd be more ballerina hippos

Right off the bat, I should make it clear there really is no Fantasian part two. When the game first released on Apple Arcade, subscribers were only given access to the first half of the adventure, an 18-to-25 hour romp around a world under threat from dangers from another dimension. Because there was no indication how long it would take for the rest of the game to show up, and because the first half had a pretty concrete ending, I was under the impression this game would be two distinct parts, like Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age.

But really, the second half of Fantasian is just that; the second half of one complete game. It just picks up right where you left off. There’s no recap or “last time on??�to catch you up on things, so if you ??haven’t played since April like me, it may take a bit to jog your memory. But once you do get back into the swing of things, you’ll find the second half of this game is just as richly entertaining as the first, making for one hell of a complete package.

Fantasian (iOS)
Developer: Mistwalker
Publisher: Mistwalker
Released: August 13, 2021
MSRP: Part of Apple Arcade ($4.99 a month)

For the sake of this review, I’m only going to cover the second half of Fantasian. If you want more information about the first half and the outstanding Dimengeon battle system, you can check out my review of it here.

With zero fanfare, the second half of Fantasian picks up with heroes Leo, Prickle, Clicker, and Valrika leaving the Chaos Realm in search of Leo’s companions. Following the defeat of Vam in the first half of the game, the team is pulled apart by a wormhole with members scattered to different parts of the Human Realm and beyond. Unlike the linear nature of the first half of Fantasian, the second half is open-ended, with quests you can?? take up and ev??ents you can complete in whichever order you want.

Or at least in any order that you can. One th?ing all new and returning players should be prepared for is a heightened difficulty level in this half of the game. Mistwalker is pulling no punches here with boss battles that often made me want to break my iPad in two. Most bosses you face have multiple attack phases with moves that can devastate your team in just one blow. Even if you meet or exceed the suggested minimum level for these fights, which is clearly advertised beforehand, you can find yourself seeing the game-over screen again and again if you just try to muscle your way through it.

Finding success in the back half of Fantasian comes down to how well you can study your opponent and your Growth Map. Each character has their own map you can use to unlock new skills as you level them up and I cannot stress enough how crucial many specific skills are for each character. Certa??in skills can mean the difference between never being able to defeat a foe and beating them in one go.

Thankfully, Mistwalker made experimenting with character builds as hassle-free as possible. You can respec your Gr??owth Map at any time with no artificial cost. After dying six times in a row ?attempting to beat a boss, I made some minor tweaks to Valrika’s map (Hint: You’re going to want to max out her Arrow Rain asap). The next time I did battle, I breezed right through the encounter. The game also makes switching party members in battle easy. As long as a character isn’t dead, petrified, asleep, or enraged, you can switch them out without spending your turn. You can only have three characters in battle at once, but there are some encounters you may find you’ll need the skills of four or five party members to win. At least, I did.

Admittedly, part of my problem is I did things out of order. While you’re free to tackle this half of the game as you wish, there is a clear path players should be traveling. As you find your comrades scattered around the world, they’ll come into the party at a set level. When I added the final two of ??my missing friends to my group, the rest of my party was a full 12 levels ahead of them. That was not the case with anyone else I found. I had to grind to catch them up, which isn’t a chore thanks to the Dimengeon battle system, but it also wasn’t a great help to the rest of my squad.

Fantasian really doesn’t want people cheesing the game to overpower their team. Once a character hits level 35, they’ll earn a minimal amount of XP when fighting weaker foes. This means you can’t just run around the one location killing the same enemies. You have to keep pushing forward into higher-level areas. Annoying at first, this system did continually goad me into exploring more of the world and completing the not-so-optional sidequests. Some of these quests are simple jaunts across town and back, others send your team on adventures to new and previously visited locations with difficult boss battles waiting at the end. Combined with the mandatory story quests, the open-ended section of Fantasian is a meaty experience.

It’s also an interesting experience in t??erms of story and world-building. Players get access to more vignettes for each character t??hat add a rich layer of intrigue to our heroes and villains. The beautiful hand-drawn art of these segments is back with some of the best illustrations I’ve seen in quite some time. The new areas you explore do plenty to flesh out character backstories and the different realms, and while the hand-crafted dioramas looked outstanding in the first half of the game, several late-stage areas here are absolute jaw-droppers. Somehow, one of the most beautiful games of 2021 found a way to make itself even more stunning. That rings true for the music too as Nobuo Uematsu’s score is as epic as anything he’s created before.

Ultimately, the strengths and weaknesses I found in the first half of the ?game carry over to the second half. The story isn’t all that original and the dialogue does nothing to distinguish each character. Beyond that, everything else here �the combat, the art direction, the leveling system, and the music �is stellar. And while I’m on the subject of stellar, I do want to put a spotlight on the excellent work that went into programming the pathway-finding system.

I played the second half of Fantasian solely on my iPad due to a game-crashing bug on the Apple M1 version. I didn’t use a controller, though that is an option, so it was an exclusively touchscreen affair for me. To move your character with this control option, you simply press a point on the screen and the character walks there. Thirty hours of playing the game like this has left me deeply impressed with how accurate and intelligent this movement system is. I could go to the mini-map, pick a point on the opposite side of the diorama, and watch as Leo moves there without fail. There was never a moment where the A.I. became confused or gave up or glitched. The only time I couldn’t travel directly from one end of a room to the other with a single tap was when there was some sort of movement puzzle inv??olved in getting around. I know this seems like a very minor aspect to gush over, but if it didn’t work as wonderfully as it does, I’d probably have a different view of the final product.

Given the mighty quick turnaround from the release of the first half of Fantasian to this complete version, I kind of suspect I could have reviewed this entire game back in April had somebody in charge at Apple not insisted on splitting it up. While that might have been a good business decision, Fantasian is a game that really should be played without any long, unnecessary breaks. Because this is a truly remarkable title, one that marries some of the great concepts of JRPGs past with new ideas that move the genre forward. I know a lot of people out there are hoping this jumps to other platforms, but until that happens, I think it's safe to say Fantasian is Apple Arcade’s killer app.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game through an Apple Arcade subscription purchased by the reviewer.]}

The post Review: Fantasian (Part 2) appeared first on Destructoid.

Multi-ball combos coming to an Apple device near you

If you've been paying attention as of late, you might notice that Apple Arcade has been on something of a roll. Following its massive dump of new titles back in April, the service has seen several high-profile games released or announced, including Monster Hunter Stories+, Tetris Beat, Layton's Mystery Journey+, and Fantasian Part 2. Today brought the announcement of yet another huge get for the subscription service when Zen Studios revealed Apple Arcade will be getting its own exclusive Zen Pinball title.

Zen Pinball Party will release for the service "soon" with 12 tables available on day one and more?? scheduled to arrive over time. Some of the big-name tables you can expect to see at launch include "Williams' Theater of Magic," "Attack from Mars," "My Little Pony," "How to Train Your Dragon," and "Kung Fu Panda."

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbv2YqX3ixQ

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp2dRMES3uI

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr0WiAlMQLo

That looks to me to be a fine initial batch of tables. In addition to the standard single-player mode, Apple Arcade's Zen Pinball Party will support a local multiplayer mode called Hotseat, online tournaments, and seasonal events with prizes you can use to "further customize your play experience." All in all, it sounds like another great addition to a service that has been adding some darn good games over the past several weeks. If you're still holding onto that free first month, now may be a good time to use it, especially with the second half of Fantasian launching soon.

Zen Pinball Party can be reserved right now on Apple Arcade to download when it's made available. You may also want to check out Zookeeper World while you're there because it looks amazing.

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Y'all better all watch Ted Lasso

Sony and Apple have partnered to? offer PlayStation 5 owners a special deal, not on games, but on streaming. Both new and existing subscribers to Apple TV+ can get a six-month extended trial of Apple's streaming service by signing up through their PS5.

To sign up, you'll need both a PlayStation Network ac??count and an Apple ID. Once you've got both, you can download the Apple TV app on the PlayStation 5, sign in with y?our ID, and get access to six months.

In an FAQ published today, Sony confirms that? the offer is eligible for PlayStation 5, with no mention of PlayStation 4. Sorry, folks who haven't upgraded yet. If you're already an Apple TV subscriber, or are currently making use of the free trial period, you can redeem the off??er; however, if you're subscribed to Apple TV+ through a bundle offer, like Apple One, you won't be eligible.

There are a number of original shows on Apple TV, with the game development workplace comedy Mythic Quest being an obvious appeal to anyone visiting this site right now. But I'm telling y'all: if you pick up this deal, you better make some time for Ted Lasso.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=auxeLrtk7tk

If you haven't seen it yet, the show is about football coach Ted Lasso getting hired to run a European football (soccer) club. It stars Jason Sudeikis, who won a Golden Globe earlier this year for his role as Ted ??Lasso, and is honestly one of the most enjoyable binge-watches in recent memory. Even if you're no?t a sports fan, there is a lot to like about the show, and season two starts tomorrow, July 23.

Either way, this is a pretty good streaming deal for anyone wh?o's managed to get their hands on a PlayStation 5. With six months to work with, it should be easy enough to sign up and blast through whatever series you've been meaning to watch, and then decide to keep it or leave it later.

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Hundreds of Fortnite players dial-in to vent their thoughts

The opening moments of the Epic vs. Apple antitrust suit were rendered amusingly farcical yesterday, after a public conference call failed to mute all of its listeners, leading to a chorus of Fortnite players dialling-in to sound off about the restrictions placed on their favorite battle?? ?royale title.

The conference call — implemented in many courtrooms — allows members of the public to log on and listen to proceedings live as they take place. But, as reported by The Verge, the court failed to mute all of yesterday's listeners, leading to over 200 participants simultaneously caterwauling that Fortnite remains unavailable on iPhone and iPad. Some listeners reportedly made the most of the opportunity, taking time out to advertise their YouTube and Twitch channels. You gotta hustle, I gu??ess...

After about 15 minutes of technical fiddling, the line went silent. The case finally opened at Oakland Federal Court, San Francisco at 11:30 ET. The proceedings will run from Monday to Thursday and are expected to last for the majority of May. After just one day, information has already been made public regarding Fortnite's earnings, potential DLC plans, and the cost of running PC platform Epic Games Store. Unsurprisingly, the mone??tary numbers pertaining to all of the above push w??ell into the billions.

The post Shocker:?? Epic vs. Apple courtroom conference call was chaos appeared first on Destructoid.

And...The Rock?

We're this close to figuring out why Metroid can't crawl, and we may never know, if the plans ??in this Epic versus Apple court document never sees the light of day.

So in case you missed it, the huge court battle between Epic and Apple is happening now, which will potentially determine the fate of both the App Store and Epic's forthcoming business plan. There's a lot to unpack here fr??om ?a legal standpoint, but one of the more?? interesting elements that came out of the proceedings was...spoilers?

Yep, documents not only highlight strategic partnerships that might have been between Apple and Epic, but also vario?us other collaborators.

Here a??re the big highlights that haven't actually happened yet:

• The Rock skin
• A full basketball minigame (with LeBron and Zion skins)
• Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga skins
• Samus Aran skin
• Naruto Uzumaki skin
• Katniss Everdeen skin
• The Bride (Kill Bill) skin
• Snake Plissken skin
• Batman Looper skin (likely tied to the ongoing DC event)
• John McClane skin

Note that these were proposed/planned concepts, and may not actually play out. It's interesting, because several of these skins would have worked well with the "hunter" theme. John McClane and Snake specifically slotted nicely into the Terminator and Sarah Connor/Alien Hollywood skins from last season.

Also, Samus Aran has been heavily rumored for a long time (likely due to these internal documents), and would have completed th??e ?trifecta along with Master Chief and Kratos last season.

If you're interested in following along with the Apple v Epic case yourself you can find the official Northern?? District of California court page h?ere, ??with information for dialing in, as well as court statements that have been made public.

It will run Monday through Thursday, starting each day at 11:15AM ET until 4:30PM ET, for roughly three weeks.

Apple X Epic [Document Cloud via The Verge]

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Batman: Arkham Knight was an early bar-raiser

As the "Epic vs. Apple" kaiju-esque c??ourtroom battle gets underway, more and more tidbits are being uncovered regardi??ng what goes on Behind the Curtain at the industry giants. Presented for your consideration: a document that reveals has much money Epic doled out in order to secure titles for Epic Games Store's free game giveaways.

The document, released to Twitter by Game'sDiscoverCo.'s Simon Carless, paints an interesting picture of the dollar amounts certain titles cost over others. For example, old-school indie adventure Torchlight cost Epic $150,000 USD to procure for giveaway status, while Unknown World's Subnautica cost a princely $1.4 million. Ubisoft's multiplayer battler For Honor was a bargain at $63,000, while the most expensive title on the list is Rocksteady's epic Batman: Arkham Knight, which sold for $1.5 million.

As the list specifically concerns 2019's giveaways, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V — a game so in-demand it crashed the Epic Games Store's servers back in the summer of 2020&n?bsp; — is not noted.

Overall, Epic spent just shy of $12 million in the first nine months of its free games scheme. A fortune to the majority of us, but loose change for the Fortnite studio. Epic Games Store continues to operate at a loss, and is unlikely to turn a profit for s?everal years more. But Epic?? boss Tim Sweeney is fully aware of the costs, and sees the tossed fortunes as a mere "investment" in the company's long-term future.

The Epic vs. Apple antitrust trial continues... I'm reminded of the Alien vs. Predator tag-line.

Want to know how much $ the devs of those 'free' Epic Games Store games got, & how many copies were grabbed? Here's the first 9 months to September 2019. 👀 pic.twitter.com/5hkLb1VEjj

— Simon Carless (@simoncarless) May 3, 2021

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Yokai watch me chop up these ghosts

Show of hands: who here thought World of Demons was quietly canceled months ago?

I know I did. When it was announced in 2018, I was really looking forward to seeing what PlatinumGames could do with mobile gaming given it's behind the best action titles I've ever played. Shortly following that announcement, the game had a soft release in a few countries, but was pulled from mobile shops by September of that year. From then, it was basically radio silence on the project. No new info, no new trailers; as the months and years passed and the mobile ecosystem evolved, the title quietly drifted from my mind. And just when I had forgotten about it completely, it shows up out of the blue on Apple Arcade.

Clearly, the lesson we should all learn with PlatinumGames is to have a little patience, because sometime??s, it pays off.

World of Demons (iOS)
Developer: PlatinumGames
Publisher: PlatinumGames
Released: April 2, 2021
MSRP: Part of Apple Arcade ($4.99 a month)

If you subscribe to Apple Arcade, you’ve probably come to recognize that many titles for the service follow the design philosophies used by free-to-play mobile titles, but without most of the freemium nonsense. Games like Sociable Soccer, Lego Brawls, and, most recently, Star Trek Legends have progression systems and gameplay that are similar to F2P titles, but adjusted for the a?d and microtransaction-free garden of Apple’s subs??cription service.

World of Demons charts a similar path. This tale of the warrior Onimaru’s quest to kill the king of demons with his frenemies at his side certainly has the structure of a free-to-play title, with loot-based leveling, gacha mechanics, and a ranking system that gatekeeps story progression. But with no season passes to worry about, no paid loot boxes, and no artificial limiters on how much you can play, nothing is standing in the way of fully enjoying PlatinumGames�attempt to recreate its gold-st??andard action gameplay on mobile devices.

Don’t come into World of Demons expecting Nier: Automata on your phone. It’s good, but not that good. Onimaru’s journey will take him through beautifully cell-shaded linear stages where most fights are telegraphed in a??dvance, so you’re never taken by surprise. Like with other Platinum titles, these fights against the waves of exquisitely designed yokai are restricted to a small circle that you’ll hop and dodge around as you chain together attacks to score to coveted "S" rankings.? The game uses a single action button that can be mashed for light melee attacks, or held down for stronger swings. Mix those two together, and you’ll be able to create some devastating combos.

Unique to World of Demons is its yokai-collecting mechanic. Defeated yokai will drop orbs that can be picked up and used in battle as a one-time-use special attack. For instance, the Kappa, which is the first yokai you’ll encounter, will automatically smack you??r opponent with a water attack. Some are a little more hands-on, such as Ushi-oni, which not only requires perfect placement for maximum effect, but asks you to button mash while also making sure you?'re dodging any attacks from opponents not caught up in its fire. When you complete a level, you’ll have a chance of adding any of the yokai you defeat to your permanent stable as a minion, and this includes boss characters. You can equip two minions to each of the playable characters, and if you pick up an orb of one of your equipped yokai on the battlefield, you have the opportunity for a unique attack that can deal an absurd amount of damage.

With so many attack possibilities, I have to hand it to PlatinumGames for getting the touchscreen controls as good as it did. Make no mistake, this game is best played with a controller, but everyone should be able to hold their own without one. The biggest issues I faced with touch controls are World of Demons�slow camera controls and unreliable auto-target system. Thankfully, I was usually able to overcome the latter with deft usag?e of the dodge button.

I got really good at the game early into my playtime but found it less and less exhilarating the longer I'd play it. World of Demons is really not the type of game that should be muscled through. While you certainly can do that, building up your rank to unlock more of the serviceable story, it’s probably best to treat the game as if it were still a free-to-play title and back off it? if you ever start to feel the gameplay growing tedious. It’s certainly fun, but with the amount of grinding you need to do to level up y?our various weapons and minions, it's more bite-sized fun rather than sink-your-whole-weekend-into-it fun.

I don't know if PlatinumGames has any further mobile titles planned, but it's certainly built itself a solid foundation for future projects with World of Demons. Its action gameplay is solid, its world striking, and it's al??l brought to players without most of the F2P garbage that usually stands in the way of a game's true potential.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game through an Apple Arcade subscription purchased by the reviewer.]}

The post Review: World of Demons appeared first on Destructoid.

Spending now to profit later

Epic and Apple's legal feud over Fortnite is still ongoing, and more details are being brought to light as it carries on. I??n a new filing, it's shown that Epic is set to lose at lea??st $330 million in minimum guarantees alone.

As reported by PC Gamer, a new filing from Apple (found here) goes into detail over Epi?c's spending to establish the Epic Games Store. According to Apple's filing, Epic committed $444 million in minimum guarantees for 2020 alone while projecting $401 million in revenue for the year.

Epi??c also lost $181 million on the Epic Games Store in 2019, and Ap??ple's projections suppose that the Epic Games Store will not be profitable until 2027.

It's already known that Epic has been paying for store exclusives, including spending more than $10 million on Remedy's Control. Third-party games have been selling on the store, but in a breakdown released earlier this year,?? they made up 37% (or $265 ?million) of over $700 million spent on the PC Epic Games Store in 2020.

For all the money spent though, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney seems unfazed. He responded on Twitter to these reports, saying they were right and "?it has proven to be a fantastic success" in both reaching gamers and an investment in growing the business.

"Apple spins this as 'losing money,' but spending now in order to build a great, profitable business in the future is exactly what investment is," said Sweeney in a follow-up. "It's equally true whether you're building a factory, a store, or a game.??"

Epic has already filed in response as well, sayi?ng it expects Epic Games Store will start earning annual profits in 2023. It also reiterates Sweeney's comments about investing, saying it has "front-loaded its marketing and user acquisition costs to gain market share." It's also worth noting that Epic generates enough revenue to absorb these losses.

Apple and Epic will go to trial in May over a feud that started with Fortnite's implementation of a way to directly pay Epic through the in-game store, bypassing Apple's cut on the App Store. Apple took the game down from the App Store, leading to Epic filing suit. It also resulted in a bizarre parody of the old Apple commercials, this time in Fortnite.

The post Epic expected?? to l??ose over $300 million in effort to gain market share appeared first on Destructoid.

Diorama-rama

The launch of Fantasian really snuck up on us. After getting announced back in 2019, it flew under the radar until right around New Year's when developer Mistwalker confirmed the JRPG would release this year. Then, out of the blue, it dropped last week alongside a slew of new titles for Apple Arcade.

For many people, this was the first time they read the words "Apple Arcade" in months as the subscription service has more or less dropped out of the spotlight since its high-profile launch. I don't know if that will change with these new titles, but if there is any game that will get people paying attention to it again, it's probably this stunning RPG from the father of Final Fantasy.

Fantasian (iOS)
Developer: Mistwalker
Publisher: Mistwalker
Released: April 2, 2021
MSRP: Part of Apple Arcade ($4.99 a month)

If you’ve been paying attention to Fantasian at all over the past few weeks, it’s probably because Mistwalker has been dropping absolutely gorgeous screenshots of the title in the lead-up to its launch. Dubbed a “Diorama Adventure RPG,�it uses more than 150 handmade dioramas to create most of its world. And let me just get this out of the way right now: this game is stunning. These sets and locations are brilliantly designed with Mistwalker employing several model shops to bring the game to life. There is so much detail in each space, and it’s a bit m??ind-boggling to see how intricate of a world its artists could create on such a small scale.

Not everything in Fantasian has been handcrafted and scanned into the game. The overworld map is a traditional 3D map, and all of the charac?ters, NPCs, and monsters that you encounter are 3D models. And while they don’t exactly look like they belong in this diorama world, they don’t really look out of place either. The visual disconnect between the locations and the character designs wilted away quickly as I opened up more of this enchanting place and engaged in its magnificent combat system.

While it is a fairly standard turn-based RPG, Fantasian’s combat has two elements that craft an identity of its own. When you engage with monsters, they’re scattered on the diorama battl?efield rather than standing in straight lines or groups. This is because every character in the game has attacks that can target either single or multiple enemies depending on where ??they are positioned. So a basic melee attack will hit just one creature, but if you use a skill or magic, you can target several opponents.

Some abilities will ensnare foes if they’re within the attack radius, while others allow you to strike any creature you can line your shot up with. Magic attacks can be curved, so if you have some big oaf right up front with a shield down stopping any shot you send its way, you can bend your spell around them like James McAvoy in Wanted. It’s a pretty genius and engagin??g system; one starts to shine when you unlock the ability?? to send monsters to the Dimengeon.

Unlike a lot of its modern contemporaries that put enemies directly on the map, Fantasian uses random encounters. But rather than bogg??ing players down with the pitfalls traditionally associated with such encounters, the game gives you the? ability to “collect�all of the monsters you randomly encounter on their journey and fight them in what is known as a "Dimengeon Battle". When you first obtain this ability, you can collect up to 30 monsters before you’re forced to fight them. Dimengeon Battles start with a large group of enemies depending on how many you've collected, with each defeated foe getting replaced by more enemies until you've exhausted all the monsters you collected. Not only does this making grinding for experience a snap, as you usually see massive amounts of XP when these battles are over, but as I said above, they are a great showcase for the battle system. When you have large groups of enemies standing against you, it’s easy to line up attacks that strike multiple foes.

Dimengeon Battles also dot the battlefield with power-ups, like increase attack strength or steal a turn from the enemy, that can make these battles more methodical. Not every encounter can be collected, though. Boss battles and some special enemies have to be battled right away, and there are some points in the story where the ability will not be available. But it’s there for most of your adventure, and honestly, when I first heard about the mechanic, I was worried it would ruin the flow of the game, that I would just rush through environments and battle all the monsters at once at the end. But it doesn’t really work that way. In fact, it works far better than I ever thought it would, and it’s going to be tough to ?go back to JRPGs that do old-fashioned random encounters.

For as forward-thinking as its battle systems and art direction are, the one aspect of Fantasian that does feel dated is its story. This is a pretty run-of-the-mill tale of a ??band of adventurers saving the world. You play as Leo, a thief who begins his journey in the machine realm on the run from robots trying to kill him. Upon escaping back to the human realm, he joins up with the mysterious Kina and the two set off to unravel the mysteries of mechteria, a mechanical invasive species that is slowly destroying their world.

There are several tropes of the genre at play here, including a luxurious ship you travel on, a coliseum you’re forced to do battle in, stoic heroes who don’t want your help but appreciate you anyway, and a protagonist suffering an attack of explosive amnesia. I could make do with all of that if the cast were better written. Leo isn’t exactly engaging hero material, and overall, the script suffers from an inability to give its characters distinct voices that match their diversified backgrounds. I’d never thought I’d long for Dragon Quest’s ?terrible faux-Scottish dialog text, but here we are.

Despite the tropes and mostly unimaginative dialog, Fantasian is buoyed by strong world-building, interesting backstories, and a genuine sense that your adventure is building up to something incredible. It took me about 18 hours to complete the story, and part one ends with a few developments that I really want to see play out when part two releases later this year. I’m also looking forward to the promised open-ended second half as Fantasian’s first half is a mostly linear ordeal.

For the record, I split my time with Fantasian between my iPad and my MacBook Air and used all three control options available. While the visuals were a ?bit better on my MacBook with less jaggy character models, I actually didn't care for using a standard controller with the game. The movement between the different areas of each diorama is a bit off, enough that touch controls/mouse controls were ultimately the superior opti??on.

No matter what device I was playing on, I made sure to have my headphones plugged in as Nobuo Uematsu's score is quite good, blending elements from his time with the Final Fantasy series with music that sounds as though it was inspired by John Williams. Which makes sense, given that mechteria straight up sounds like a Ti?e Fighter.

I've played a few of the RPGs available on Apple Arcade and I don't think a single one has come close to matching Fantasian's vision and execution. This is a wonderful game with an outstanding battle system that is brought to life with what could be the best ?art direction of 2021.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game through an Apple Arcade subscription purchased by the reviewer.]}

The post Review: Fantasian (Part 1) appeared first on Destructoid.

Time to burn that battery life

Fantasian, the new dioramic RPG from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, launched on Apple Arcade. But as it turns out, that wasn't the only game coming to the s?er??vice.

Apple announced today that over 30 games are comin?g to the subscription gaming service, spread across new games and old classics. Alongside the new originals, Apple launched two new ca?tegories: Timeless Classics and App Store Greats.

The Classics section has some longtime standards: a chess and backgammon app, for example, as well as the pretty solid Good Sudoku by Zach Gage. App Store Greats, meanwhile, holds a number of mobile classics ad-free and fully unlocked, including Fruit Ninja Classic, Mini Metro, and Threes!, which is responsible for a lot of lost hours for me, per??sonally.

A big surprise is PlatinumGames' World of Demons, the action mobile game first shown back in 2018 that later quietly disappeared has snuck onto the Apple Arcade list. It's got some really striking, Okami-esque visuals for its tale of samurai and yokai.

And of course, there's Fantasian, which has a really interesting battle system that lets y?ou deposit monsters into a pocket dimension and battle them all at once. Plus, it has a?? bunch of miniatures and dioramas that look really pretty.

As an Android owner, I'm admittedly a little jealous. Hopefully Fantasian makes its way to other services like some of the other Arcade hits like Grindstone have. Check out the Apple blog for the full list of games coming to the service, including some genuine surprises like Taiko no Tatsujin: Pop Tap Beat and the swiping-RPG Reigns.

The post Fantasian, World of Demons, a??nd a bunch o?f other games hit Apple Arcade today appeared first on Destructoid.

Swipe on, swipe off

In today's contest you can win an iPhone 12 Pro and in-game prizes for Cobra Kai: Card Fighter!

Hey, so this is a new one! I'm used to giving out game keys, in-game contest, and even consoles, but this is my first?? time ??giving away a phone! I mean, a phone technically is a console, right?

Cobra Kai: Card Fighter hits Google Play and the App Store tomorrow, and to celebrate, the team over at Boss Team Games (responsible for the upcoming Evil Dead: The Game!) wants to give away a brand new iPhone 12 Pro! I'll just sit over here all j??ealous with my four year old Galaxy S8 while y'all enjoy your new toys.

Read this first:

It's time to rekindle the rivalry between Johnny Lawrence's Cobra Kai dojo and Daniel LaRusso's Miyagi-Do 30 years after the events of The Karate Kid. Assemble a dojo of 16 characters from the series, including familiar faces? such as Miguel Diaz and Robby Keene, reliving storylines from the hit streaming series. This official mobile game was created in conjunction with the series' creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg.

Players fight for glory by utilizing a simple combat system that becomes more strategic and fast-paced ?as rare Wild Cards and special combos are introduced to create advantages and secure an upper-hand in battle. Predict what your opponent will do based on their deck and fighting skills and show no mercy.

Prospective black belts can take the fight online against other players, where glory awaits in a competitive, synchronous multiplayer mode against other fighters from around the world. Just remember, there are no bad students, only bad teachers, so build powerful decks for each character's specia?lties, and get a body bag for your opponents all over the?? globe!

Build up students from cream puffs to champions by leveling them up, expanding Cobra Kai or Miyagi-Do to recruit new fighters, and compete in the All Valley Karate Tournament. Future content expansion plans will add stories from the third season of Cobra Kai and beyond, alongside new c??ompetitive tournaments and addition?al characters.

We've got three prize??s to give away, so pay attention, students:

• GRAND PRIZE: A brand new iPhone 12 Pro, 15000 in-game cash (you can buy 2 Training Room upgrade  + 1 Student Booster Pack, or 5 Student Booster Packs) + 300 Tokens
• RUNNER-UP: 10000 in-game cash (you can buy 1 Training Room upgrade + 1 Student Booster Pack and the player will keep 1000 cash) + 120 Tokens
• ALMOST LOSER: 6000 in-game cash (you can buy 1 Training Room upgrade) + 60 Tokens

Use the widget below?? to enter to win! Be sure to enter daily. Click around for bonus opportunities, and be sure to comment below telling us your deadliest karate move. Mine is Squatting Platypus, for obvious reasons.

We have three prizes to give away as outlined above. Runners up will receive in-game prizes; there are no substitutions. Our grand prize win??ner must have a United States shipping address; the phone will be unlocked and available for activation on all major providers?. Gimme dem digits.

Cobra Kai: Card Fighter hits the App Store and Google Play Friday.

Contest: Win an iPhone 12 Pro, courtesy of Cobra Kai?: Card Fighter

The post Cont??est: Win an iPhone 12 Pro, ?courtesy of Cobra Kai: Card Fighter appeared first on Destructoid.

Who doesn't love physical prizes?

In today's contest you can win a MapleStory M physical prize pack!

It's physical prize time! I love giving ?away actual, tangible objects for people to get their hands on. And today, we've got a prize pack full of useful objects!

MapleStory M? just dropped a content update, which means I'm here to promote it by giving away free stuff! ??It's my thing. Don't @ me.

Here's what's going on in the world of MapleStory M!

Starting today, Maplers can explore Mapleworld as Xenon, a cybernetically enhanced, highly versatile new class in Nexon’s free-to-play mobile MMORPG, MapleStory M! A uniquely versatile class, Xenon can equip both Thief and Pirate?? gear. Xenon uses both Mana and a class-specific energy supply for his skills, all while wielding a lethal energy whip that can cut through nearly anything.

The Xenon update will bring various additional elements, including the ability to craft Android companions, which can show off equipped gear and outfits. Co?mmander Hilla, a new boss with Normal, Hard, and Chaos difficulties is also added. Additional system updates include an all-new Premium Donation System, which consumes crystals instead of GP, additional Pocket Slots, a Hyper Stats Discount Function and new Ancient Equipment options. A selection of limited-time events celebrating the new Xenon character are available, including:

• Xenon Growth Support Event: Until March 9, 2021, players will receive weapons, armor, potions, and enhancement materials as they reach certain levels.
• Xenon Burning Project: Until March 23, 2021, there will be a 1+2 Level Up event for Xenon characters.
• Valentine Event: From February 11 to 25, 2021, defeated monsters will drop items which can be used to summon chocolate-themed monsters. Players will want to summon and vanquish these chocolate enemies to collect ingredients which can be combined with each other to receive a variety of buff items. Participants in the event will receive rewards proportional to the number of chocolates crafted.
• Maple Museum 2: Running from February 18 to March 12, 2021 the Maple Museum 2 event allows players to earn celebration boxes from both the Relic and Biological Hall as the event is completed. Maple Museum 2 will include a Daily Quest, Spiegalmann’s Request, which gives players a choice of four types of parts or equipment to donate.
• Memorial Picture Frame Event: From March 4 to 18, 2021, Maplers will be able to make illustration picture frames commemorating events held in 2020, earning light rewards.

I know, I know, it's?? a little after Valent?ine's Day, but who doesn't love, well, love?

Our prize pack includes? everything you see above??, including:

• 5000 mAh power bank with charging cable
• Dual port wall charger
• Essential travel pouch
• Notebook and pen
• Tumbler

Use the widget below to enter for your chance? to win. You can enter daily. Be sure you click around for bonus entries, and tell me in the comments below how you're doing. It's important to talk about how everything is going. This is a community -- let's be friends.

We have one bundle t??o give away; winne??rs will be drawn next Wednesday. As this is a physical prize, you must have a United States shipping address in order to win. I'm so sorry, Latvia.

MapleStory M is free to play, and a available now for Android and iOS.

Dtoid Contest: Win a MapleStory M prize pack, featuring a charger, power bank, and ??tumb??ler

The post Contest: Win a MapleStory M prize pack, featuring a charger,?? power bank, and tumbler appeared first on Destructoid.