Vacationing with Life Support

Well, the time has come for poor ol' me to take a few days off and check whether the sea still is where it's supposed to be. This, precious readers, means that Gaming on the Go wont be updated for the next 10 days or so and we can all take a break. Before I leave though, I'll let you in on a little secret: Life Support. It's a science fiction story by Verena Kyratzes and it's already been loaded into my Kindle and waiting to be enjoyed somewhere lovely. I do suggest you give it a look. It's almost free and judging by author's previous work (yes, that would also include games) Life Support has to be great.

See you all in September!

Jet Set Willy II iOS

Jet Set Willy II was considered a spectacularly underwhelming sequel to one of the best games of the ZX Spectrum; it was after all more of an updated, deluxe version of the original with a few extra rooms thrown in. Besides it hadn't been coded by Matthew Smith... Looking at it now though, I'd dare say this is the definitive version of Jet Set Willy. The new rooms are mostly excellent, the game lacks a series of crippling bugs, allows gamers to explore beyond the mansion and is as brilliant as JSW ever was. Really.

What's more, the Spectrum version of Jet Set Willy II has finally made it to the iOS App Store, complete with a ton of options, decent controls and a handy save feature. You can either grab it as a standalone game or -wisely- as an in-app purchase for the excellent ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection. Oh, and I do suppose you'll be needing this JSW link.

New Eurogamer App is New!

And it's available both as a lite ad-supported and as a sleek purchasable thing. Care to find out more? Well, Eurogamer is the place to get all the info you need; and I do believe you've guessed what this iOS app does, haven't you?

Pixel Galaxy: A GameBoy Celebration

Meant to post about the forthcoming Pixel Galaxy book ever since I read about it over at the ever-vigilant GameSetWatch, but, well, a windy summer can do strange things apparently... Anyway, the good news is that Pixel Galaxy is an upcoming art book focusing on the excellent black & white art that graced the screen of the Nintendo Game Boy. You can get a closer look at it right here. And, yes, it really does look beautiful.

Jayenkai's Crazy iOS Sale

Jayenkai, the lovely and prolific indie developer with a certain passion for them iOS devices, is having a pretty fantastic sale that will end on August 21. Better hurry then and grab both Puzzobomb (heh) and Daisy Chains for free, while downloading the pretty brilliant Sheep Goes Left for a mere dollar. 

My Secret Hideout (iPad)

Andrew Plotkin, a hero of interactive fiction and the man behind the incredibly promising and -hopefully- soon to be released Hadean Lands, has just unveiled his latest project: My Secret Hideout. It shockingly isn't a text adventure, though it definitely has a lot to do with text. It's an interactive text toy; a procedural poem generator; a piece of art; something unique. Actually, we wont get to actually understand it before its release, hopefully within the following few weeks for the iPad and iPad 2.  

To find out a bit more about My Secret Hideout, you could though do worse than visiting the lovely hideout site, where you'll be able to tease yourselves by looking at pics and reading texts. It's where you'll discover that this apparently lovely digital thing will allow you to attach virtual leaves to a textual tree and create stuff in a most intriguing way that has absolutely nothing to do with crafting. 

Rage HD iOS for free!

Rage HD is an on-rails shooter set in a post-apocalyptic world, which should already be enough to intrigue the shooters-starved iCrowd. Gritty shooters aren't exactly thriving on the iOS platforms after all, are they? Well, no, sadly not, though this one is a really good one. What's more, with Rage being created by FPS legends/tech-gurus id, you should expect some truly impressive graphics; probably the best you've ever seen on your iPhone to be a frank. Oh, and, as the ever vigilant Savygamer noticed, Rage HD has now gone free to grab. Better hurry and grab your postapocalytpic copy now methinks.

SQUIDS (a seaworthy first look)

There's something about games sporting squids that appeals to my inner, uhm, weird person; octopi, not so much. Hmm, this could be the effect of excellent arena shooter SYNSO, but I digress. All I wanted to do with this post was point you to the lovely trailer of freshly-announced, French indie game Squids. It will apparently be a lovely looking Worms-Angry Birds hybrid by them Game Bakers that will appear on Android, iOS, PC and Mac.

Minecraft: Pocket Edition

Well, it's has finally arrived and it's looking as lovely as any Notch creation, only with the added bonus of being fully portable and adapted for thoughtful gaming on the go. What am I talking about? Minecraft: Pocket Edition apparently, the spankin' new version of the indie mega-hit for Android, that has kindly been optimized for the Xperia PLAY phone, but will also run smoothly on the smartphone of your choice. Go on, grab it from the Android Market.

Now, if you've never heard of Minecraft before and have somehow avoided being exposed to the indie phenomenon that has sold over 3 million copies on the PC, let me just point you to its official site. It's got a demo that will show you just how brilliant its immensely deep crafting mechanics are and how wonderful its huge, procedurally generated worlds can be. You can indeed build anything you can imagine with it. Here's what the devs have to say for their game: 

Imagine it, build it. Create worlds on the go with Minecraft - Pocket Edition The new Minecraft - Pocket Edition allows you to build on the go. Use blocks to create masterpieces as you travel, hangout with friends, sit at the park, the possibilities are endless. Move beyond the limits of your computer and play Minecraft everywhere you go.

Pang on a Caanoo

To properly enjoy Pang one would either need an original 1989 arcade machine or at least some sort of 8- or 16-bit micro. Portability, let alone gaming in a bus, would as a result suffer, and this is why Caanoo owners should feel privileged. They have a lovely version of Pang available on their machine and it wont cost them a thing. Provided they follow this link that is.

Getting to play Amiga games on Android

Well not quite yet to be absolutely honest, not with PUAE at least, but it seems the first -successful- steps have been taken and proper Amiga gaming on Android using this lovely new emulator seem to be just around the corner. Get your updates and expect the emulator over at DroidPUAE.

Defender of the Crown iOS

The classic strategy/arcade game that dazzled Amiga gamers all those years ago has finally made it to iOS, albeit with a relatively high price-tag. Oh, well, Defender of the Crown is a true classic I suppose and you'd better check it out over at the App Store.

The New Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

We all know that the true Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is of course the Kindle, though apparently the next best and most official thing will soon be released by Hothead; no, not by interplanetary and only slightly fictional publishing behemoth Megadodo I'm afraid. What really does matter though is that the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, not the game - the digital book itself, is being turned into an app for our mostly primitive earthling digital devices and to the joy of the masses of Douglas Adams fans. You can apparently found out more about the app over here and, though no supported platform have been announced just yet, one can safely assume that those iOS devices will be supported.

As for the guide itself, well, it remains a hilarious and rather epic repository for all knowledge and wisdom, that should serve space-faring tourists in the best possible ways. Oh, and let's hope this is the updated version of the HGTTG; the one that describes Earth as "mostly harmless". Mind you, you can still play the excellently illustrated and very freeware version of the HGGTG game...

Wolfenstein 3D Lite

With lite versions usually being little less than demos and traditional controls usually failing to properly adjust themselves to a touch-screen only environment, I do believe that FPS nostalgics should give Wolf3D Lite a try; just like I did. It plays much better than expected (though far from perfectly), looks lovely in a retro kind of way and definitely wont overstay its welcome. Don't think anybody would really care to properly finish the thing...

PSP SNES Emulator

Haven't tried it myself, but I'm sure the more adventurous PSP owners will be more than happy to experiment with this SNES emulator; provided they grab some (always legal) ROMs that is. It's freeware and can apparently emulate both the SNES and the Super Famicom.

Gesundheit for iOS

Well, the lovely Gesundheit: Snot Happens indie offering is no longer an AGS game, though us indie adventure loving people still appreciate its roots and, frankly, so should everybody else. Gesundheit, you see, is much more than that. It's an excellent, beautiful and properly innovative game that grew in the loving arms of the AGS community and has now been brought to iDevices everywhere; complete with its puzzle-y, arcade-y, adventure-y gameplay. You should grab the iPhone/iPod Touch version here and/or the iPad version here.

Final Fantasy Tactics (iPhone)

It seems that Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions has finally been released for the iPhone and iPod Touch and looks better than ever, what with its touch controls, (slightly) updated graphics, faster loading times and little UI touches. The game, of course, remains a classic and thus excellent tactical RPG with lovely PSOne era graphics and deep and rewarding gameplay, but the the iOS crowd are definitely in for a shock: Final Fantasy Tactics costs $15.99! Still, that's cheaper than the PSP version I suppose. Find out more and/or grab a copy of FFT over at the App Store.

Create your very own iOS games

Stencyl has been around for a few months and I can assure you it's a truly brilliant, powerful and easy to use game creation program, that anyone can use. What's more the iStencyl add-on has just been announced, and -as the name implies- it will let you create games for the iOS platform (yes, yes, all of it). Actually, iStencyl will allow for native iOS games to be created, tested and published on the App Store. It will also sport Game Center and iAdds support, offer powerful simulation options and even come with a most reasonable price tag, but I guess you should really find out more yourselves.

Paradroid for the GP2X Wiz

Did I say Paradroid? Well, I definitely meant Freedroid and it has finally been released for my dear and very indie/freeware friendly Wiz handheld. You can download it here and it wont cost you a thing. Oh, and yes, it is indeed a remake of the excellent, incredibly fun and wildly innovative Paradroid from the Commodore 64 era. Hasn't aged a day this one...

Spectacular Spectaculator Price-Drop

Well, it's all in the title really. You can indeed grab the excellent Spectaculator ZX Spectrum emulator for the properly cheap price of $1.99. Let me just remind you the thing comes with native iPad support, a ton of features and more than a few excellent bundled games, before sending you off to the App Store to grab it. Oh, and there's even a bit of Zenobi in it too!

The Adventures of Retrobot

The Adventures of Retrobot will apparently be an iOS game with some truly impressive production values; it will feature a full orchestral soundtrack, an impressive built-in 28 pages long comic book, excellent graphics, 10 levels, 5 bosses and some interesting retro-inspired gameplay ideas. The game will launch sometime during the autumn of 2011 and you can help its developers via Kickstarter.