Kinect

As predicted, Microsoft was in full Kinect mode this year, laying out an amazing selection of games and features to improve the Kinect and make it more relevant to a hardcore audience.  It was actually quite a nice surprise to see so many games and developers coming forward with uses and pledges to make Kinect games. In a not altogether shocking turn of events, Mass Effect 3 will make use of the Kinect in a variety of ways (we were really only shown the voice control) but the star of the Kinect show had to be Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’s Gunsmith Mode, it wowed and amazed everyone who saw it.

While there were games targeted towards a younger audience like Disneyland Adventure or Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster (Funnily enough they were the worst looking games for the Kinect, actors clearly faking the performance, much like the Star Wars game last year.) Kinect really did shine when it came to the more hardcore element, reaching behind you in Ghost Recon: FS to reload your weapon, or yelling for Liara and Garrus to move up in Mass Effect… this is exactly what the Kinect needed, exploring it to its full potential and making it relevant to hardcore gamers.

Xbox Media

One of the biggest announcements of the conference was that Bing, Youtube, and Xbox TV will be coming to 360 owners in the coming year. Bing will allow users to search for any and all media and content available on the 360 or the media networks its already associated with. An example of Bing’s search on Xbox 360: Just finished playing LEGO: Pirates of the Caribbean and want more? Search Pirates and have all of the movies and games  available at your fingertips.

Accompanying these additions will be a dashboard overhaul, giving the 360 a much cleaner and organized look. The new dashboard is broken up into nine tabs, Bing,  Home, Social, Live TV, Video, Games, Music, Apps, and Settings. This new look really does improve the overall feel of the system, I was getting tired of the dashboard anyway so this is a marked improvement.

Of course, all of these components and additions are Kinect compatible, like voice searches for Bing.

Halo

It’s back! Not only are we getting an HD updated version of Halo: Combat Evolved, but Halo 4 is up for release next year. The anniversary edition looks great, but it was completely forgotten the moment the Halo 4 trailer came up on screen. At the very end of the conference, Don Mattrick came back on stage to announce a new trilogy, the lights dimmed, the trailer appeared on the screen, and gamers faces slowly went from casual boredom to utter disbelief and excitement.  Halo 4 will be the first real Halo title not to be made by Bungie, so clearly all eyes are on 343 studios to make something amazing out of this trilogy.

Sony

PSN Outage

As expected, Jack Tretton took the stage and spent a good deal of time apologizing to consumers, partners, and retailers alike for the inconvenience brought on by the PlayStation Network outage. While you may not realize it, Sony’s PSN going down was far more of a problem for the many companies that sell via the PlayStation Store, this outage cost them millions, so I can understand Tretton giving them a serious apology on stage. According to Sony, 80 titles are currently being developed for the Vita and are scheduled for release.

PS Vita

Fans of the PSP rejoice, Sony’s newly unveiled Vita (Previously codenamed the NGP) is truly a thing of beauty. The only real description of the Vita that needs to be made is how well it runs Uncharted: Golden Abyss, this game blew minds. Graphics were just out of this world for a handheld, and the functionality of the front and back touch screens allowed for some seriously cool actions. Possibly the best thing about the Vita? The price. At only $249 for the standard model, and $299 for the model with 3g coverage, this new system is both extremely powerful and perfectly affordable.

Nintendo

All Things Zelda

With its 25th anniversary just around the corner, half of today’s show was Zelda related.  Zelda: Links Awakening is the first title available on the 3DS Virtual Console, and is now ready to download. Ocarina of Time 3D will launch next week, sure to amaze fans like myself.  Zelda: Skyward Sword will launch this holiday for the Wii, and will come with a gold Wii remote to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Zelda: 4 Swords will be available to download for free this September. Not to mention the exciting series of 25th Zelda Anniversary Symphony Concerts that will be going in on around the world.

Wii U

Turns out the rumors were true. Nintendo dazzled the crown with the unveiling of their new console, the Wii U (and its remote). The first console of the Next Gen series, the Wii U boasts some fairly impressive hardware for a Nintendo system, this hardware will allow Nintendo fans to play games like:

• Arkham City
• Darksiders 2
• Tekken
• Assassin’s Creed
• Ninja Gaiden 3
• Dirt
• Ghost Recon Online
• Metro: Last Light
• Aliens Colonial Marines

All of the games above were shown and look amazing, even Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Nintendo released a spec list shortly after the conference, so here you go, drool over the wonder.

Release: 2012

Height of about a width of about 46mm × 172mm × Depth 268.5mm (excluding protrusions)

The new controller is 6.2 inches, 16:9 button controller that combines what is familiar and the touch screen, slide the two pads is attached.

This rechargeable controller power button, HOME button, arrow pad, A / B / X / Y Buttons, L / R buttons, ZL / ZR is attached to the button. In addition, accelerometers, gyroscopes, vibration function, camera, microphone, speakers, sensor unit is equipped with a stylus.

Wii Remote (or Wii Remote +) can simultaneously connect up to 4. Classic Controller and Nunchuk, Classic Controller PRO, and Wii Balance Board, or any input device that corresponds to the Wii controller.

New hardware for high-density optical and 12cm, Wii can play for a 12cm self-loading optical disc (disc type will automatically draw) with a single drive.

1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i compatible. HDMI, Component, D terminal, S-terminal, corresponding to each of the composite cable.

AV Multi-output and output from the HDMI output terminal supports 6CH PCM linear.

In addition to the internal flash memory, SD memory card or external USB can be extended by using the hard drive capacity.

Multicore-based IBM Power ®

4 USB 2.0 has a single pin.

The new hardware backwards compatible Wii games.

Wii 1.5?

Nintendo’s big news this year is their upcoming console codenamed Project Cafe. Rumored to be up to the standards of Xbox 360 or PS3, and coming with a controller featuring a six inch touch screen, Cafe is making Nintendo fans grin from ear to ear.

Honestly, Cafe is what the Wii really should have been. Compared to the consoles out at the time, Wii was a pathetic piece of technology which staked itself on being the first console to focus on motion control, this is the main reason I completely stopped caring about Nintendo or anything they did.

Nintendo’s biggest game this year is undoubtedly Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the latest installment in a franchise that has managed to last 25 years, not an easy feat in the gaming industry. Skyward Sword is heavily focused on motion controls which will allow players to use Link’s weapons to their full potential. Hopefully they’ll announce a release date and give us an on stage demo which actually works (unlike previous ones)

What? No Pie Charts?

E3 is a crucial opportunity for Sony to restore some faith after the PR nightmare that was the PSN hack. With the PlayStation Store still down, PS3 owners will have a lot of doubt in their minds about PS3 as a reliable source of digital distribution. It takes gamers a long time to forget and even longer to forgive, but if they can pull it off E3 might prove to be enough of a distraction that we give Sony break on this one.

Sony’s NGP will get a great deal of focus at this years E3 and rightly so, with Nintendo unveiling a new console, Sony really needs to push the capabilities of this Next Generation Portable, and hopefully gain some ground in the handheld market. It’s a good bet that we’ll finally get the NGP’s pricing and release details, as well as a look at its launch library which I’m sure will blow the 3DS’ out of the water. Unfortunately, the NGP is reliant on the PlayStation store, so in order to reach its full potential Sony will need to kick into gear.

Rumors are already circulating that Sony is hard at work on a successor to the PS3, which at this point shouldn’t be that hard to guess. The next-gen consoles are supposedly on a 10 year cycle, it would be stupid for any company to not have started development already.

Sony has released a slew of incredible games this year and we’re barely at the halfway point, it would be nice to see some big hitting announcements though… I would hate for the entire conference to be taken up by a handheld and apologies about the hacks.

An E3 without Milo is automatically good

Microsoft has been absurdly quiet this year, major announcements have been avoided until now, so expect them to unleash their full might at E3.

There are of course the obvious game announcements like Alan Wake 2, and game demos like Gears of War 3 and Modern Warfare 3, but the real gems of their show are the rumored games, GTA:V? Yes please.

Despite Bungie saying that Reach was their last installment in the Halo franchise, rumors have been floating around that an HD version of Halo: Combat Evolved will be announced at this years E3. I don’t know anybody that would be disappointed by that announcement, it’s one I really hope is true.

Expect Kinect. Kinect this, Kinect that, maybe an Xbox with Kinect built into it?  Kinect 2.0? Who knows? Just don’t be surprised when they spend half of the show talking about Kinect’s success and its future possibilities.

Press Conference Schedule:

Konami – June 2, 2011 – 5:00 PM PDT / 12:00 PM GMT

Microsoft – June 6, 2011 – 10:00 AM PDT / 5:00 PM GMT

Electronic Arts – June 6, 2011 – 12:30 PM PDT / 7:30 PM GMT

Ubisoft – June 6, 2011 – 2:30 PM PDT / 9:30 PM GMT

Sony – June 6, 2011 – 5:00 PM PDT / 12:00 AM GMT (June 7)

Nintendo – June 7, 2011 – 9:00 AM PDT / 4:00 PM GMT

The VGAs were rather disappointing this year, though I find my self saying that every year and watching them anyway. Technical screw-ups from the get-go, attempts at humor that didn’t really take off, awful live music, and a host that just didn’t work. Ive got nothing against NPH, he’s the man… but he just wasn’t right for the role. I think the most annoying part of the show though, was the lack of a show. More than half of the awards were skipped for commercials, so if you weren’t in the crowd you’d have to look up the winners online.

Character of the Year -
Ezio, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Kratos, God of War III
Srgt. Frank Woods, Call of Duty: Black Ops
John Marston, Red Dead Redemption

Winner – Srgt. Frank Woods, Call of Duty Black Ops
My Pick – John Marston, Red Dead Redemption

Studio of the Year -
BioWare
Blizzard Entertainment
Bungie Studios
Rockstar San Diego

Winner: Bioware

Best Xbox 360 Game -
Alan Wake (Microsoft/Remedy)
Fable III (Microsoft/Lionhead Studios)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)

Winner: Mass Effect 2

Best PS3 Game -
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Heavy Rain (Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream)
ModNation Racers (Sony Computer Entertainment/United Front Games)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Winner: God of War III
My Pick: Heavy Rain

Best Wii Game –
Donkey Kong Country Returns (Nintendo/Retro Studios)
Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Nintendo/Good-Feel)
Metroid: Other M (Nintendo/Team Ninja/Nintendo)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo/Nintendo)

Winner: Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best PC Game -
Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Sid Meier’s Civilization V (2K Games/Firaxis)
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment)

Winner: Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

Best Handheld Game -
God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Sony Computer Entertainment / Ready At Dawn Studios)
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Konami / Kojima Productions)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (Nintendo/ Level-5)
Super Scribblenauts (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / 5th Cell)

Winner: God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Best Shooter -
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Electronic Arts/DICE)
BioShock 2 (2K Games/2K Marin)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision/Treyarch)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)

Winner: Call of Duty: Black Ops

Best Action/Adventure Game -
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo/Nintendo)

Winner: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
My Pick: Red Dead Redemption

Best RPG -
Fable III (Microsoft/Lionhead Studios)
Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment)
Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix/Square Enix)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)

Winner: Mass Effect 2

Best Multiplayer Game -
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Electronic Arts/DICE)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision/Treyarch)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment)

Winner: Halo: Reach
My Pick: Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Best Individual Sports Game -
EA Sports MMA (Electronic Arts/EA Tiburon)
Shaun White Skateboarding (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 (Electronic Arts/EA Tiburon)
UFC Undisputed 2010 (THQ/Yuke’s Media Creations)

Winner: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11

Best Team Sports Game -
FIFA Soccer 11 (Electronic Arts/EA Canada)
Madden NFL 11 (Electronic Arts/EA Tiburon)
NBA 2K11 (2K Sports/Visual Concepts)
MLB ‘10: The Show (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios San Diego)

Winner: NBA 2K11

Best Driving Game -
Blur (Activision/Bizarre Creations)
ModNation Racers (Sony Computer Entertainment/United Front Games)
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (Electronic Arts/Criterion Games)
Split/Second (Disney Interactive Studios/Black Rock Studio)

Winner: Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
My Pick: Blur

Best Music Game -
Dance Central (MTV Games/Harmonix)
DJ Hero 2 (Activision Publishing/FreeStyleGames)
Def Jam Rapstar (Konami/Autumn Games / 4mm Games)
Rock Band 3 (MTV Games/Harmonix)

Winner: Rock Band 3

Best Soundtrack -
Def Jam Rapstar (Konami/Autumn Games /4mm Games)
DJ Hero 2 (Activision/FreeStyleGames)
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (Activision/Neversoft Entertainment)
Rock Band 3 (MTV Games/Harmonix)

Winner:  DJ Hero 2

Best Song in Game -
“Basket Case” by Green Day (Green Day Rock Band)
“Black Rain” by Soundgarden (Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock)
“Far Away” by José González (Red Dead Redemption)
“Goldeneye” by Nicole Scherzinger (GoldenEye 007)
“Replay/Rude Boy Mashup” by Iyaz & Rihanna (DJ Hero 2)
“Won’t Back Down” by Eminem (Call of Duty: Black Ops)

Winner: “Far Away” by José González (Red Dead Redemption)

Best Original Score -
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Winner: Red Dead Redemption
My Pick: Mass Effect 2

Best Graphics -
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Heavy Rain (Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream)
Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Nintendo/Good-Feel)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Winner: God of War III
My Pick: Heavy Rain

Best Adapted Video Game -
LEGO: Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Warner Bros. Interactive/Traveller’s Tales)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Chengdu)
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Activision/Beenox)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (LucasArts/LucasArts)
Transformers: War for Cybertron (Activision/High Moon Studios)

Winner: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Best Performance by a Human Male -
Daniel Craig as James Bond (James Bond 007: Blood Stone/Activision)
Gary Oldman as Sgt. Reznov (Call of Duty: Black Ops/Activision)
John Cleese as Jasper (Fable III/Microsoft)
Martin Sheen as Illusive Man (Mass Effect 2/Electronic Arts)
Nathan Fillion as Sergeant Edward Buck (Halo: Reach/Microsoft)
Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker/Amazing Spider-Man (Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions/Activision)
Rob Wiethoff as John Marston (Red Dead Redemption/Rockstar Games)
Sam Worthington as Alex Mason (Call of Duty: Black Ops/Activision)

Winner: Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker/ Amazing Spider-Man
My Pick: Sam Worthington as Alex Mason

Best Performance by a Human Female -
Dame Judi Dench as M (James Bond 007: Blood Stone/Activision)
Danica Patrick as Herself (Blur/Activision)
Emmanuelle Chriqui as The Numbers Lady (Call of Duty: Black Ops/Activision)
Felicia Day as Veronica (Fallout: New Vegas/Bethesda Softworks)
Jennifer Hale as Commander Sheppard (Mass Effect 2/Electronic Arts)
Kristen Bell as Lucy Stillman (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood/Ubisoft)
Tricia Helfer as Sarah Kerrigan (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty/Blizzard Entertainment)
Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda Lawson (Mass Effect 2/Electronic Arts)

Winner: Tricia Helfer as Sarah Kerrigan

Best Downloadable Game -
Costume Quest (THQ/Double Fine Productions)
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics)
Monday Night Combat (Uber Entertainment/Uber Entertainment)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal/ Ubisoft Chengdu)

Winner: Costume Quest
My Pick: Monday Night Combat

Best DLC -
BioShock 2: Minerva’s Den (2K Games/2K Marin)
Borderlands: The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (2K Games/Gearbox Software)
Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Red Dead Redemption – Undead Nightmare (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Winner: Red Dead Redemption – Undead Nightmare

Best Independent Game -
Joe Danger (Hello Games)
Limbo (PlayDead)
Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom (The Odd Gentleman)

Winner: Limbo

Most Anticipated Game -
Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/Rocksteady Studios)
BioShock: Infinite (2K Games/Irrational Games)
Gears of War 3 (Microsoft/Epic Games)
Portal 2 (Valve/Valve)

Winner: Portal 2

Game of the Year-
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision/Treyarch)
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Winner: Red Dead Redemption

]]> http://www.gamingmoments.net/2010/spikes-vga-winners/feed/ 0 http://www.gamingmoments.net/2010/december-game-informer-cover-revealed/ http://www.gamingmoments.net/2010/december-game-informer-cover-revealed/#comments Sun, 07 Nov 2010 19:18:28 +0000 doclotto http://www.gamingmoments.net/?p=1727 The upcoming December issue of Game Informer has a cover that almost every gamer can in some way relate to and love. The cover features Game Informer’s 30 Characters Wo Defined a Decade, and is frankly one of the best covers they’ve ever had.

Cover 1:

From Left to Right

Wander: Shadow of the Colossus
Kos Mos: Xenosaga
Ethan Mars: Heavy Rain
The Illusive Man: Mass Effect 2
Master Chief: Halo
Commander Shepherd: Mass Effect
Alyx Vance: Half-Life 2
Raz: Psychonauts
In the back:
Painting of Professor Layton: Professor Layton Series
Painting of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Cover 2:

Glados: Portal
In back: Andrew Ryan: Bioshock
The Boss: MGS
Tim: Braid
Nathan Drake: Uncharted
Elena Fisher: Uncharted
Ezio: Assassin’s Creed
Painting of King of all Cosmos: Katamari
HK-47: KOTOR
John Marston: Red Dead

Cover 3:

Bonnie Macfarlane: Red Dead
Jimmy Hopkins: Bully
Captain Price: Call of Duty
Loghain Mac Tir: Dragon Age
Kaim: Lost Odyssey
Kratos: God of War
Tommy Vercetti: GTA Vice City
Niko Bellic: GTA IV
Auron: Final Fantasy
Jade: Beyond Good and Evil

—

Think for a minute, just how many of these games did you play? How many hours did you spend with these characters, discovering their secrets, helping to solve their problems, accepting them for their flaws and helping them to overcome their weaknesses?

Gaming is unlike other forms of media in that we actually interact with the characters on the screen,  I didn’t just watch some actor shoot Wrex or save Earth from the Covenant… I did those things. The choices we make will affect the lives of these characters for the rest of the series.

I can almost guarantee that every gamer out there has one unforgettable moment with at least one character on this cover.

Like it or not, these characters made their way into your life in some way.

click for the full spread

- Dr Strange Lulz

For some people, the iPhone is the ultimate phone. With so many other mobile phones cum PDAs coming out in the market, however, it is clear that the iPhone is NOT the BEST phone out there. True, it does have that X factor that no other brand seems to be able to duplicate, but in terms of being the best, many have doubts about that (including yours truly).

However, if there is one thing that just might push the iPhone over the edge in terms of desirability, it might be the interest that video game developers have for this baby. We all know how difficult it can be to text on the iPhone. We all know that other phone cameras are way better than the iPhone’s. But when it comes to gaming, well, the iPhone beats them all!

According to statistics, games are the most downloaded content from the App Store. There are so many games available in the store, and many of them are so cheap – 99 cents – and even free!

Even those people who normally do not take a second look at video games are turning into “casual gamers.” It is true that some hard core gamers might scoff at these people and at the games, but hey, they are a LOT and video game developers are taking notice. They will probably make tons of money out of this market. And as for the iPhone? Well, it only stands to benefit from this.

Who said that video games are harmful to the development of the youth?  I have always believed that this idea is way too biased and I was more than happy to hear that the renowned and respected group National Geographic is coming up with it own video game series.  Their aim is to “encourage a new generation to take an interest in science and the environment by launching branded video games.”

National Geographic has teamed up with other big names in the video game industry such as Namco Bandai and Sony Computer Entertainment in an effort to come up with video games that will work in different gaming consoles.  As of the moment, they are looking at releasing titles for the Nintendo DS and Wii, the PlayStation 3, and even the Apple iPhone.  It has been reported that there will be more formats, though.

As for the titles, there are a lot on the drawing board.  The Telegraph reported a coupe of them:

Forthcoming games include Herod’s Lost Tomb, out this month, National Geographic: Panda, produced by Namco Bandai, and National Geographic: Africa, made by Sony. Next month sees the release of games focused on rainforests and the food chain.

The report that I read merely mentioned the basic details.  What I am curious about is the kind of game play that these games will offer.  For sure, these will be high quality games but I cannot help but wonder what kind of gamer they will cater to.  Does anyone have any ideas?

The iPhone was met with a lot of expectations.  I think this was partly due to the fact that the iPhone has a lot of things to offer in terms of features.  Of course, we cannot discount the fact that it is backed up by the irresistible name of Apple.  Steve Jobs and his team have to be applauded for what they have done to build up the excitement and anticipation for the iPhone.  And even now that it has been out for quite some time, people are still clamoring for it – bugs and all.

Well here is another thing that iPhone fans can be happy about – it has the capability to play great games as well.  Mobile gamers who happen to be able to afford the iPhone have a lot to look forward to in terms of games.  Resolute Games Corp. of Memphis has released a music game called ThumStruck.  Highly addictive, ThumStruck features music by Skillet, which is a band under Ardent Records.  It is rhythm based and is currently free for downloads.

Since it was released on the 16th of October, the game has reached incredible heights.  It is already within the top 100 free downloadable games and is part of the top four games for the iPhone.  They get about 2,000 downloads a day – imagine that!  If I were you, and I had an iPhone, I would download the game NOW because the full version will be released later this month in the iPhone App Store for $4.99.