Grand Theft Auto III is widely regarded as a video game classic for popularizing the “sandbox” video game genre. Having such a classic game, on such a widely adopted device, and at such a low price point is something that should have gamers everywhere excited.

Source: Destructoid

What many of you probably didn’t know is that is was released a day early by mistake ;)

Well it wasn’t really by mistake but you know what I mean;

We were trying to do a big thing about this during MineCon that Minecraft – Pocket Edition would be released for iOS worldwide during Friday. BUT! To be able to do this we had to release on iOS a day before to make sure it was out all over the world. Seems like some of you guys found out already about this and seem to enjoy the game a lot!

Notch did some Precon streaming from his phone on Thursday evening and mentioned quite  a few things he probably shouldn’t have..

Notch: Minecraft iPhone was meant to be released 18th – lol

During notch’s Precon stream it was mentioned the Minecraft for iOS was highest ranking app already.

Notch did asked if it was also top grossing but passed it off as ‘crazy’ seeing as it had only been released earlier that day.

It wasn’t long before it was though… (18th November 2011)

Minecraft – Pocket Edition is the top grossing app all around the world which is super exciting! I hope you enjoy it and looking forward to new updates that will eventually come. This is just the beginning

Read more on the Mojang Blog (This was also mentioned during a Minecon presentation ‘we haven’t even publicised it yet’)

Here is the official release tweet by Daniel (on the 18th..)

I did actually but this on the Friday but I haven’t been all that impressed, It cost me £4.99 on the iPhone and I have had a little play.

At the moment you only seem to get creative mode and I found the iPhone screen a little too small to play on, The controls are easy enough to use and the render distance is reasonable. Try climbing a mountain though, It is nearly impossible to move forward and jump at the same time. It does auto-jump for you but it doesn’t work every time.. You can go into third person view but I find Steve took up most of the screen.

I think it would be much better on an iPad – If anyone has tried this please comment below.

Before I got bored I managed to build a big tower with blue wool and bricks….. then I fell off it. *SadFace*

There is a Minecraft.net homepage for Minecraft Pocket Edition now

You can buy Minecraft Pocket Edition for both iOS and Android here

You can also buy direct form the iTunes store here

Minecraft Pocket Edition iOS

To be honest from me (as a hard-core Minecraft fan) I would have to say wait a bit and see how the app develops.. See what Multi-Player brings to the mix…

Catch you next time

#DoneyKebab

No price was announced and no mention of an XBLA version being released at the same time but still good news for those Angry Birds Windows Phone 7 users.

As you become more and more well known, more people will buy your games. In doing so, you create more money, which you can then put back into the business by upgrading staff and buying licenses to create games for different consoles. You can then create better games, which receive better ratings, and gets you more fans. And the cycle repeats. Though it sounds pretty dull, I can promise you it is not. Your employees have different skills and levels. Some might be good at art, others at music, others at programming. You have to work these different skills to your advantage to create the best games. They also have the ability to level up, and increase their stats. As well as this, different game genres also level up the more you make them. You have to be careful however. If you keep making games from the same genre you will loose fans.

The graphics for the game are quite nice. The changing character models add variety, and the office enviroment looks clean and crisp. The menus are basic and easy to use, and you shouldn’t struggle finding any thing. Saving is simple, and it even has an auto-save function which is very handy should you receive a text or phone call. The music uses MIDI files which make the game sound like it is from the 80′s and 90′s. As nice a touch as this is, it didn’t take me long before I was playing with the sound muted! Even though the game has no licenses to officialise the games or consoles, it actually turns out to be a benefit. There are many puns that gamers will recognize and chuckle to. These include ‘Super Sergio Bros’ made by ‘Intendro’, ‘Phantastic Star’ by ‘Cornami Games’ and ‘Last Fantasy’ by ‘Round Phoenix’. There are also many character puns, including ‘Gill Bates’, ‘Donny Jepp’ and ‘Walt Sidney’. The game obviously isn’t 100% realistic, though it makes a good effort attempting to be. With current hardware and software restraints, I fail to see how the game could actually be any more in depth than it already is. Only the likes of Football Manager have excelled it’s detail.

In conclusion, Game Dev Story is as addictive as mobile games become! I literally found myself staying up until stupid hours in the morning playing, not even knowing that the time had passed. I have never said this about any other mobile game before. In fact, if it had a more detailed and expansive port to PC, I would probably buy it. I recommended it to all iPhone & iPad owners.

Download Game Dev Story for 69p from here.

Though it may seem simple at first glance (after all, it is just flicking a ball into a goal), there are many obstacles and challenges to make it more difficult.

The game modes are great, are rather intuitive for an iOS device. They include the following;

• Arcade - Score as many goals as you can without losing lives. You lose lives by missing the goal. Be careful!
• BullsEye – There are targets placed in the goal, and you have to hit as many as you can within the time limit.
• Time Attack - Another timed game, but this time there are no targets, you just need to score a goal. However, there are now defenders and keepers blocking you way.

With compatibility for GameCenter, it offers global and friend leaderboards, as well as achievements. It also has online multiplayer play (as well as local pass-to-pass), adding to the addictive nature of this little App.

Flick Kick Football shows just how simple an iPhone games can be, yet still be great. Personally, it’s one of my favourite games on my iDevice. It can be purchased from the App Store for 59p.

The Duracell survey questioned a total of 2,138 children and parents.

iPhone 4, iPod Touch and iPad took the top three spots on a list of the most wanted gifts this Christmas for children aged between five and 16.

Kinect for Xbox 360 came in at No.4, while PlayStation Move ranked at No.8, one spot ahead of Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4: The Video Game.

Top ten toys for Christmas 2010
01) iPhone 4 (14%)
02) iPod touch (13%)
03) iPad (12%)
04) Kinect (6%)
05) Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters (5%)
06) Flip Video Camera (4%)
07) Toy Story 3 Jet Pack Buzz Lightyear (4%)
08) PlayStation Move (4%)
09) Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4: The Video Game (3%)
10) Barbie Video Girl (3%)

Research released by the NPD Group earlier this month suggested that 15 per cent of consumers plan to give games or consoles as gifts this Christmas, down five per cent from last holiday.

The game sets you out on a mission to direct flights to their appropriate landing points. There’s a long runway (pink) for the bigger planes, a small runway (yellow) for the small planes and a helipad. You direct these to the correct landing points. Simple. Doing this is done by placing your finger on the plane and then dragging (this forms a line) to the path you want it to go at. Connecting your path to the correct point will allow for it to eventually land. For every landing, you get a point and as you progress things become more hectic. It is important to pay attention to everything, plan the routes and ensure there are no collisions in the airspace.

There are small things I like about Flight Control. Notice how some of the bigger planes are faster? So, if you’ve got several planes all going for the runway, you need to take into consideration what one should be directed first and try to direct others away if they are getting too close. Planes getting close is never a good thing. Thankfully, you are alerted quite clearly to the ones that are in close proximity. If you’re quick with the finger, you can direct planes away from each other and somehow get them to eventually land. There are planes and helicopters popping up all over. They come from any of the four sides and are indicated, to let you know you’ve got something on the way. Things tends to be a little tricky when the airspace is becoming limited due to the amount there is. Helicopters often spawn near the helipad I find and so they’re not usually the victims of a crash. It’s the smaller, slower planes that can often wreck your game and make you a little mad. However, it’s a quick outburst for me and I am back replaying, hoping to beat my previous score. This is what makes this so addicting.

Whilst I only have 65 points, I shall sometime beat that I hope and maybe even break into the hundreds. It does seem limitless and I would be curious to know what the top scores are. On the current version, you only have access to your own stats (planes landed, average, type of plane that crashes the most, high score) but in a future update, there will be some needed enhancements. One of those being the online leaderboards. It would be cool to have some different maps, a mode where you are given more than one chance and the ability to keep helicopters hovering for a while, whilst you clear the others. Flight Control works very well and I would see no reason why this couldn’t work on other platforms, such as the Nintendo DS also. It has a neat art style and some great stock sounds. I do fairly good with music off during the gameplay but maybe something in your library could go well with Flight Control. Buy this – especially if it is on special offer. It’s a simple masterpiece that will have you playing over and over.