Issue 4 PDF - Downloads at abime.net

apov 4
12
news
OLD GAMES ON NEW
PLATFORMS
Today's distribution of games via digital
download and the prevalence of mobile
devices have led to the commercial reemergence
of games of yesteryear. Why
this happy reunion with, to quote the
sagacious Yoda, "old friends, long gone"?
Excellent brand recognition coupled with
gaming nostalgia makes the resurrection
of these games a no-brainer in a competitive
market. Porting an existing game
may also be preferable to starting from
scratch, even if a graphical makeover is
required and assuming that the code still
exists.
There were few Amiga owners who
didn't play Pinball Dreams or Pinball
Fantasies. A company called Cowboy
Rodeo has ported these pinball Amiga
originals to the iPod
Touch and
iPhone. Dreams
is now called
Pinball
Dreaming:
Pinball Dreams
but Fantasies
has retained its
original name.
Revolution
Software's output
on the
Amiga was
small. However,
they are wellrespected
for
both Lure of the
Temptress and
Beneath a Steel Sky and still exist
today. A release of an iPod
Touch/iPhone version of Steel Sky is
scheduled for autumn 2009.
French developer Magic Team are
rescuing Rick Dangerous after years in
the shadow of Tomb Raider. The new
iPhone version sports new graphics
which are much improved over the
Amiga release but still look suitably
retro. A more direct and
Open Source port of
Rick had also previously
appeared on the Symbian
S60 phone.
Manomio is a company
specialising in the release
of retro games. Following
the release of some C64
games the company
released an iPhone version
of Flashback, which is a
port of an open source
engine.
Virtual Playground has craftily combined
two of Flair's old games, Trolls and
Oscar, into one game called Oscar in
Toyland which is available as a download
on Nintendo's DSiWare service. How and
why they have been joined has yet to be
determined by APoV.
The puzzler Pipe Mania (Pipe Dream in
the US) has been ported to many platforms
but is now available for the iPhone.
Virtual Programming's version features a
much-needed graphical overhaul.
Krypton Egg is less well known than
other games here but has also appeared
on the iPhone courtesy of a company
called Chillingo. It's a Breakout clone
from the early 90s.
Digital distribution networks such as
Xbox LIVE, the PlayStation Network (PSN)
and WiiWare have opened up new ways
for developers to release games onto
consoles, omitting the shops as a middle-