Top Ten Handheld Holiday Buys

The Guardian UK's Game Blog has just done a swift run down of the top 10 handheld games you could own this holiday season. The following games were featured in two categories:

DS Titles:

1. Mario and Luigi: Bowser's inside Story (AlphaDream, Nintendo) 

2. Professor Layton and Pandora's Box (Level-5, Nintendo)  

3. Scribblenauts (5th Cell, Warner Bros)

4. Nostalgia (Matrix Software/Red Entertainment, Ignition)

5. Space Invaders Extreme 2 (Taito, Square Enix)

PSP Titles:
1. GTA Chinatown Wars (Rockstar Leeds, Rockstar. Also on DS)

2. Beaterator (Rockstar Leeds, Rockstar)

3. Gran Turismo (Polyphony Digital, Sony) 

4. Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny (Project Soul, Namco Bandai)

5. LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule/Sony Cambridge, Sony) 

We personally think that the best gaming release of this season comes from right here at SMERC.That game is one that's found on two "hand held" devices, the iPhone/iPod Touch and any ol' Android phone, and its called Decades. Check out the hyperlink and purchase the best gift of the season yourself.

Top 5 Glitchiest PC Games

Just in time for you to begin deciding what game or games to spend all of tomorrow with, Game Central has reviewed the Top 5 PC games with the most glitches, so, you know what not to trip over while you're cruising through a full day of turkey and gaming bliss. The order go as such:

1. SkyNET 

Too non-sensical and erratic, half-finished 

2. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl 

"Artificially difficult" and illogical. Tons of audio errors and inactive game buttons

 

3. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor 

Slow, stuttering, plus uninstall caused potential destruction of system files

 

4. Divine Divinity 

Amateurish concept, shrieking noise when game freezes, too many post-release fixit patches to count

      

5. Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura 

Broken quests, frequent crashes, need we say more?

 

So, this Thanksgiving holiday play our newest, most brilliantly designed game to date: Decades. It's a PC game (also available for iPhone/iPod Touch, Android, and PC) that won't leave you frustrated and wanting to tear your hair out. Instead, you'll be cruising happily through historical and pop-culture trivia, while enjoying beautiful, fast-paced graphics. Check it out here: www.decades.com. It's addicting and FUN.

Full article from Game Central here.

Decades Slays, All The Others Just Stand By In Awe

Check out this review of Dungeon and this review of the new lame for dead promo Left 4 Dead if you need to find out about games and apps that are a little behind the times or just plain confusing. Check out THIS ANNOUNCEMENT if you need to find out that one of the brightest, best, most multi-platform games this year just became available for iTunes, Android, PC and Facebook.

We've JUST announced Decades for all four gaming platforms and that makes the game one of our widest releases to date!!!

If you have any sense in you you'll click over to www.decadesthegame.com to find out more and if you're preferential of one platform over another, here are the separate links for access to each one:

On Facebook: apps.facebook.com/decadesgame

On iTunes: itunes.apple.com/webobjects/mzstore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=329690750&mt=8

On Android: www.decadesthegame.com/android

On PC platform: www.decadesthegame.com/playnow 

Decades is brilliant, addicting, and truly truly fun. Enjoy and thank us later!

A Case For Mobile Gaming

As we had previously mentioned, the iPhone is more surely the biggest driving forces in mobile gaming at the moment. It's sales at the designated point of purchase location, iTunes, trump sales of any other mobile gaming retailer, bar none. But, did you know that the collected mass of Apple mobile gaming venturing may be having a positive impact on traditional console concepts?

We caught an interesting bit via GameDaily today, that was begun as a cautionary tale of the adverse affects mobile gaming may be having on the console/computer gaming market. The piece was eventually concluded with the realization that mobile gaming in fact, boosts interests of the casual/passive game player and make individuals who are not particularly passionate about gaming as entertainment that much more involved in all aspect of it, not just in mobile gaming alone.

Ask about the potential disinterest in console gaming mobile applications may cause, VP of Marketing at GameStop, Tony Bartel, had this to say:

“I really see a lot of growth in both of those areas...they appeal to two different audiences... I've been looking at Madden and Assassin's Creed on my iPhone, and while they're fun to play, they're far from the experience I can get on a console or even on a handheld. So I think in some cases they could lead people over into that (console) area."

Well said, we think and as Bartel himself says:

 "I really see the [iPhone market] as more complementary than competitive at this point.” 

And so do we. Check out our newest mobile gaming entry (Decades) for iPhone/iTunes right here.

iPhone Chart Toppers: Less Is More

Today, via Kotaku, we're running down the current Top 10 iPhone Games.

Check out the post, and tell us, if you don't find it a little bit funny that despite the progress in animation and quality of development, much of the same type of games that could be found on more primitive mobile devices several years back still reign supreme.

Hanging at #2 on the Top 10 is EA's is Rock Band for mobile, which is an obvious contender, seeing as how the virtual instruments franchise is the hottest one on the market. But, what about games like Bejeweled 2, Scrabblte and Tetris (all three are also Top 10 contenders)?

Weren't one-point-perspective casual games that didn't require toggling between multiple screens just as popular before the advent of a wide-screen PDA mobile device? We definitely played a couple of those on our black and white screen Nokia back in the day and we definitely find it a bit amusing that so many years into the advent of mobile gaming, players really do just want a colorful, casual, familiar experience. It is for that reason we think everyone should download our newest mobile product and casual game, Decades for iPhone, right here!

Enjoy!

We're On The Winning Path!

We're pleased to tell you that our newest mobile creation for Android, Decades, has been selected as a Top 20 app in the "Casual Games" category for the Android Developer Challenge. 

 
HOW TO VOTE

The Android Developers Challenge is a user-voted competition where developers from all walks of life submit their finished apps in order to win the title of "best application" in a certain category. So, since we're so close to victory we can taste it, we ask that if you own an Android-based device:

1) You download the ADC2 Challenge app via the Android Market by searching Android Developers Challenge 

2) Or scan the following bar code (your device will instantly recognize ADC2 as the app to download).

Let's get Decades into the top spot! We appreciate all your support ;)

We've Got Game For Decades

We're really happy to announce that our little baby in waiting, Decades, has finally become approved for the Facebook platform. Check it out: http://apps.facebook.com/decadesgame/ !

The entry into Facebook now marks Decades' third platform entry, as it has been available through iTunes for iPhone/iPod Touch and for Android devices at Android Marketplace for the past couple of weeks.

So far the feedback we've received from the mobile gaming community has been positive and we're looking forward to what is sure to be a great response from Facebook gamers as well. Post some comments into our comment section, let us know what you think of our newest release!

Decades To Make, Seconds to Enjoy

Our Decades mobile application has recently hit the street via iPhone and G1/Android platforms and is already catching some great buzz.

Some very happy users of the app hit us up with a stream of reviews from Google Marketplace. Check out what they had to say...

Pretty neat, huh? iPhone users can check out the game for themselves here and Android users can navigate in the following direction.

Stayed tuned here for more Decades-related news as we expand the product's reach into other territories.

Android Developers Challenge Judging app now in Android Market

The Android Developers Challenge Part Deux is finally in full gear. Google has updated the ADC2 voting application into the market, so Android users can download the app and give their input about entrants in the developers challenge.

Make you download and play Decades! It's the Greatest Game in History.

http://androinica.com/2009/09/24/android-developers-challenge-judging-app-now-in-android-market/

Listen Up Game of the Week

1up.com's "Listen Up" reviewed Decades Android on their 9/11/09 podcast. Co-Host Garnett Lee recommended our new puzzle/trivia game for the Android phone as their mobile Game of the Week!

Listen and subscribe to the Listen Up podcast here, and if you are on T-Mobile, download Decades onto your Android phone!

Stay tuned for news on Decades iPhone and more!

Decades Android is here!

Attention all Android mobile users! "The greatest game in history" is out now on the Android Marketplace! Decades is part action puzzle game, and part trivia game! A cross between Tetris and Wheel of Fortune, the game redefines the match-three and trivia genres by challenging you to match cubes to help you fill in and solve the trivia puzzles!
Decades has over 20 hours of play with dazzling animations, challenging trivia, and addictive game play that uses the touch and keyboard features of the Android phone.

Features:
* Simple controls: touch and swipe falling cubes to rotate and match
* 10 decades-themed levels
* 5 unlockable bonus levels
* 1200 trivia puzzles to solve
* Special powerups and obstacles
* Earn trophies as you play!
* Unlock Hard Mode for super challenging play that will engage even the most veteran game players

Download Decades Lite and try it out, or purchase the Premium version for just $2.99! Check out the game's home page for more info. Decades is coming to your friendly neighborhood iPhone and Facebook page soon!