Carmack: iPhone a serious threat to other hand-helds

In an interview with Chris Morris for CNBC, id Software founder and chief programmer John Carmack said that Apple’s iPhone may be a serious threat to the hand-held gaming market - specifically Nintendo’s DS and DSi.

It’s a pretty interesting comment if you consider that earlier this week a prominent analyst (who I won’t name here) said that the iPhone - in the long term - will not be a viable game platform. Carmack sees it another way - and he should know, he’s been working on the platform and selling his games via Apple’s app store for quite some time.

Earlier this week it was announced that there are now 100,000 apps available on the iPhone, and while not all of those are games, a good portion of them are and many of them sell for anywhere from 99 cents to $9.99 USD.

“I think mid- to long-term it’s a significant threat,” he says. “I don’t carry a DS or a PSP around, but I’ve got my iPhone everywhere. So if it plays good games, I’m less likely to pick one of the others up. … I think the stars could align and it could start to eclipse those other systems in terms of unit sales.”

While Carmack is a PC guy through and through, he has fallen in love with developing games for the iPhone. He describes his time developing games on the system “fun.”

“I wouldn’t be shocked if someone has one in development right now, though they probably don’t realize it will run that high yet,” he told CNBC. “If a title could do well at $9.99, you could put [Nintendo] DS level development expenses into it.”

id Software has made it their goal to release one iPhone game every quarter over the next year. Most recently the company released an iPhone remake of the classic DOOM game called “Doom Classic.” iPhone versions of one of my favorite id Software titles - Quake - and a follow-up to the popular Doom RPG are also in the works. id Software is also planning on having its latest game, RAGE, ready to go for the iPhone when it is released in 2010.

Source: CNBC

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter in stores

THQ has released Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter for Wii and Nintendo DS in North America today. Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, takes players back to Raposa Village, which has been inhabited by an evil shadowy figure. Players must once again draw a hero and create weapons and tools to conquer enemies.

The latest game adds an Action Drawing tool that allows for objects to be drawn directly into the game to help players navigate through the environments. Players will be able to morph their hero into a blob or a spider, completing each level a variety of different ways. The game’s Action Drawing Tool gives each color special properties in order to help solve puzzles and progress through the game. Along the way, players will collect coins and color drops to unlock a variety of content, including new levels, weapon upgrades, customization options and hero abilities. In addition, Multiplayer allows players to trade heroes, weapons, items and accessories with friends.

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is rated E for everyone and is available for the suggested retail prices of $49.99 on Wii and $29.99 on Nintendo DS.

Ubisoft’s Jam Sessions 2 in stores this week

Ubisoft has released Jam Sessions 2 for the Nintendo DS and DSi at retailers across the U.S. Jam Sessions 2 is a guitar game developed by Plato that attempts to make improving your guitar skills fun and rewarding.

Each song in the game play mode serves a different role in advancing players’ guitar skills and songwriting abilities. By progressing through the songbook, players can learn techniques that will help them play the guitar and write songs. Armed with their new skills, players can then play, create and share their original music with others.

Jam Sessions 2 is rated E10+ by the ESRB and has an MSRP of $29.99.

Capcom joins R4 lawsuit

According to a report on Game Politics, Capcom is the latest company to join in on a lawsuit against R4 flash cartridge makers using Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act as the hammer.

Capcom joined Nintendo and 53 other game publishers in this lawsuit that hopes to curtail the use of this game copying device for the Nintendo DS. While Nintendo managed to get an injunction against the makers of these devices last year in a Tokyo court, that doesn’t seem to have had much impact of the situation.

“We are expecting the entire society including users to recognize that our company and other software manufactures have extremely sustained damages from proliferation of illegal instruments, such as the Game Copying Devices,” said Capcom is a statement today. “..and the computer industries have sustained serious damages because of those vendors, and we expect to influence the society to eliminate such illegal instruments from the market.”

It will be interesting to see if Nintendo and friends can do anything to curtail the use of the R4 in Japan. While it’s not impossible, it won’t be easy either. It will be a lot harder to deal with the use of the R4 in places like China where piracy and black markets are an integral part of the consumer shopping experience.

EA FLIPS out for kids

Electronic Arts is developing FLIPS, a new book range created for the Nintendo DS for children. FLIPS has been designed to give children of all ages a new way to read their favorite books. EA has worked with some of the UK’s leading publishers of children’s books and magazines, including Egmont and Penguin Publishing, to bring modern classic titles from authors such as Cathy Cassidy, Eoin Colfer, Enid Blyton, and the various writers from the popular boys series, Too Ghoul for School to the DS. Each FLIPS title features multiple books and the first four titles will be released exclusively on Nintendo DS in the UK on December 4th.  Titles include:
Enid Blyton (Egmont) - The Enchanted Wood(R), The Magic Faraway Tree, The Folk of the Faraway Tree, Enchanted World - Petal and the Eternal Bloom, Enchanted World - Melody and the Enchanted Harp, Enchanted World - Silky and the Rainbow Feather

Cathy Cassidy (Penguin)- Scarlett, Angel Cake, Sundae Girl, Shine on Daizy Star, GingerSnaps, Driftwood

Eoin Colfer (Penguin) - Artemis Fowl, Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident, Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code, Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception, Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony, Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox

Too Ghoul For School (Egmont) - Silent but Deadly, The In-Spectres Call, Ghoul Dinners, The Bubonic Builders, Attack of the Zombie Nits, School Spooks Day, French Fright, Terror In Cubical Four

Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery announced for DSi / DS

Today Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery for the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DS will launch on November 17 for the suggested retail price of $29.99. The game is rated “T for Teen” by the ESRB. Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery takes players in an untold chapter from the Assassin’s Creed II console storyline utilizing the strengths of the Nintendo DS platform. In this new adventure, Ezio travels to Spain to rescue fellow assassins being held under the guise of the Inquisition, only to uncover a Templar plot to sail west and discover the New World.

The game takes platforming into the next generation with an emphasis on speed and acrobatics. The in-game animations provide players with a visceral experience and the intuitive controls enable players to execute assassinations and navigate obstacles at high speeds - at least according to Ubisoft. Nintendo DSi owners will be able to take pictures of themselves and put them directly into the game as “WANTED!” posters as well.

Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery is being developed by Griptonite Games. More details at www.assassinscreed.com.

Scribblenauts released

Scribblenauts launches today on Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi. In Scribblenauts, players use the Nintendo DS touch-screen to help Maxwell acquire the Starite in each level by solving a series of puzzles armed with only a stylus, notepad and imagination. Players jot down the word for any object that comes to mind in order to reach the goal. Every object behaves as it would in the real world, and the game contains tens of thousands of words that can be used to solve puzzles.

Ryan Kuo has written an excellent review of the game which gives you all the good and bad of this interesting little game from Warner Interactive Entertainment.