“Say, things look different around here…”
A hearty welcome to all our returning readers, and we hope you had a great holiday! iFanzine has been on something of a hiatus while we push through a site redesign — big thanks to our web man Bryce and iFanzine editor Ru Shiels for seeing all this through behind the scenes during the past few weeks (and months)! We’ll be returning to our regularly scheduled coverage on the other side of the weekend. If you’re a new reader and not sure what that entails, you’ll find previews, developer interviews, news bytes and reviews of iOS games that catch our attention and that we believe are worth yours as well. We’re told that we have a keen eye for interesting upcoming games that readers haven’t seen covered in as much depth elsewhere. We also host one (and sometimes more than one) weekly game giveaway, where our Twitter followers can score gift codes and promo codes for hot blockbuster releases and cool indie titles!
We’ll have more details later, but let’s briefly review some of the new site features that come with this update. The biggest change is our forum structure, which is now micro-targeted to reader interests: you can join a social group and then you’ll find navigation tabs leading to its dedicated forum and comments page. You can find a list of all groups created so far on the “Groups” page, and an index of all forum threads here. Don’t feel shy about starting your own! Longtime reader and collaborator Doomfan, for example, has started a group to promote IOSAPPALOOZA — his ongoing quest to connect indie devs with fans who don’t know they’re fans yet.
On our review pages you’ll see that you can now give reader scores, and if you’re not following us on Twitter or Facebook yet, our accounts are just one click away via the Twitter and Facebook tabs at the top-right corner of any site page. Developers will be interested in the contact and advertising pages they can find at site bottom. We’re still taking care of some odds and ends, so don’t hesitate to leave us some feedback in the feedback group! Now, let’s move on to this week’s news:
Android Hit Life is Crime Releases on iOS for Free
Will freedom to commit virtual crime decrease real-world crime? That’s an experiment Red Robot Labs are more than happy to help out with, as they’ve just ported their hit location-based MMO Life is Crime to iOS. The game lets users “take the battle for reputation, turf and contraband to a whole new level as they commit virtual crimes anytime, anywhere using their favorite mobile device.” It’s got chainsaws, knuckle dusters, gang leaderboards, stylish art, and a price tag of free (albeit with the usual smattering of IAPs), so it’s no wonder iOS gamers are already flocking to check it out at the App Store. We’ll be back with a developer interview to find out more about Red Robot Labs and their plans soon!
Worm Town Wriggles Into App Store, Also Free
So maybe the life of a mafioso or street ninja just isn’t for you? Turnsy Games were in touch to let us know that they’re offering a peaceful alternative if you’re up for an infinite side-scroller with randomized environments and one-touch controls. Check out the preview video for Worm Town here, and grab it at the App Store for free if the urge for a quick side-scrolling float seizes you.
Some of You Know it as “Football”
If you’re the kind of gamer who can tear his or her thumbs away from a touchscreen long enough to follow non-digital sports, and have a special liking for that-one-super-popular-game-where-people-kick-a-ball-around, you’ll definitely be interested in this news out of NorApps. They recently released their widely app-reciated Soccer league status tracker to iDevice owners worldwide as Soccer Scores Pro, which you can give a free download and use to start following seemingly any soccer/football league you can think of. Our British friends may have to use a separate App Store link, provided here.
Terra Noctis Falls to $0.99 — Could We be Dreaming!?
$2.99 was already a fair price for a great platformer in our estimation, but now the high-jumping, gloop-flinging fun can be had at a mere buck. 2011 was quite the eclectic year for platformers on iOS, with the genre running the gamut from Atari 2600-style games to those that bring to mind the late SNES and early PlayStation era. Terra Noctis being on the latter end of that spectrum, it couldn’t have been more fitting that Bulkypix brought this deep offering from FireFruitForge to the App Store at year’s end.
Hang on! There’s more news on the next page — hit that “2” button below for some news straight from CAPCOM, and some future releases we’re looking forward to in the coming months.