Apple Voices Show » GAME

First iPhone game with 3GS-specific graphics released?

admin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:44:36 +0000

Back in June it was revealed that the iPhone 3GS’ newfound support of OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics put one of the first meaningful, material boundaries in software capability between iPhone generations (magnetic compass and video would be two other biggies), meaning that 3D-accelerated games targeted specifically for the 3GS platform could look a good deal fancier than their 2G / 3G counterparts — and furthermore, they could be built to only work on the 3GS if the developer chose not to build in support for both. French software shop Eurocenter is touting that its newly-released Adrenaline Golf is the first game to take advantage of the 3GS’ added graphics capabilities — and while we can’t verify that no other application submitted to the App Store in the past three months hasn’t utilized OpenGL ES 2.0 in some regard, we can definitely verify that it looks way cooler on the 3GS. The good news is that Eurocenter has set up the game so that it chooses the correct graphics engine at runtime, regardless of the iPhone you’re using, but after you see it on the 3GS it might seem a little inadequate on the older gear. Follow the break for our side-by-side demo of the sweet 3GS-exclusive water reflections, which are considerably better than real life since you don’t risk getting wet.

Steve Jobs says iPod touch didn’t get a camera because “it’s a great game machine”

admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:58:15 +0000

Wondering why Apple chose to add a camera to the iPod nano, but not the revised iPod touch? You’re not alone, but one Mr. Steven P. Jobs has an answer for you: it’s because the touch is a game machine, you see. Seriously — that’s what El Steve told the inimitable David Pogue today after the Rock and Roll event. According to Steve, Apple wasn’t “exactly sure how to market the touch” at first, but once they listened to their customers and started to focus on gaming, “it just took off.” That certainly explains the “funnest iPod ever” tagline, but still, why no cam? “We don’t need to add new stuff — we need to get the price down to where everyone can afford it.” And… that’s all he said about it, and Poguey didn’t pursue the blindingly obvious followup: that’s great for the $199 8GB model, but does Apple really think customers paying $299 and $399 for the larger editions would be turned off by paying slightly more for a camera sensor? Something tell us we won’t hear Jobs say one more word about it until he’s ready to actually unveil a touch with a camera — at which point it will be a revolution.

P.S.- Make sure to hit the read link for the full interview — it’s short, but it’s full of Steve saying things like “You notice Amazon never says how [many Kindles] they sell; usually if they sell a lot of something, you want to tell everybody.”

by : Nilay Patel

iPhone 3GS PlayStation, Game Boy Advance emulators demoed on video

admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:02:37 +0000

A final iPhone 3GS jailbreak hasn’t been released yet, but that isn’t stopping enterprising hackers from trying to get at all that extra horsepower, and some of the first notable hacks we’ve seen are these updated PlayStation 1 and Game Boy Advance emulator ports, which run way faster than the versions for the original and 3G. The revved up hardware in Apple’s latest is apparently capable of running either of these at 150 – 225fps with zero frameskipping, which is pretty impressive. Of course, we’ll be way more impressed when the Dev Team releases a 3GS jailbreak and we can hit these up ourselves, but in the meantime there are plenty of videos to with which to while away the time at the read links.

By : Nilay Patel