The Rumour Mine: Apple planning games push post-GDC, RAGE this summer, and ngmoco shifts focus
Don't discount Apple, they're still in the game
It's an exciting time for portable gaming. Android is gaining traction, Sony is battling hard to deliver cutting-edge devices, and Apple is close to revealing its plans for the future.
There's been a lot of promising news in the last two months, and there's bound to be plenty more as we approach GDC later this month. Already I'm hearing about dozens of new games to be announced during the show, not to mention new partnerships by notable developers and publishers.
Expect a lot of juicy rumours in the coming weeks!
Apple preparing renewed gaming push post-GDCGoogle dominated headlines in January with a glut of Android handsets and tablets, Sony wowed with a late-January reveal for NGP, and Sony Ericsson has caught a lot of attention with Xperia Play. It's led to much murmuring about Apple's weak position in the portable space, as though it's losing the battle to other players in the industry.
Wrong. Completely wrong.
Rather than viewing Apple's silence amid the constant flow of new handset and device announcements, it's best seen for what it truly is: a manoeuvre. Instead of competing for attention with others in the early months of 2011, Apple wants to let competitors have their say before revealing its own innovations.
It's better to let everyone think the competition has a leg up, then swoop in and stun with a bevy of killer announcements.
To be clear, Apple is quietly working on new iterations of its best-selling iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad devices, not to mention a revamped version of Game Center with expanded features (achievement point totals, messaging). It's all part of a renewed gaming push expected some time between GDC and E3.
What remains to be seen, however, is how aggressively Apple pursues gaming. Will it expand developer outreach and support to combat interest in Android, Windows Phone 7, and NGP? Quite honestly, that seems unlikely, but other measures are coming that will at least keep Cupertino in the game as the portable space grows increasingly competitive.
Bethesda slating next RAGE game for summer.jpg)
RAGE HD made a big splash in November with its jaw-dropping graphics, although the spotlight has since turned toward other games. Remember, though, that it was merely an opening salvo - John Carmack made it clear that another game set in the RAGE world was coming in 2011 and I'm letting you know that you can expect it this summer.
The untitled follow-up will be released for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad in the summer months, offering gameplay different from the on-rails shooting of RAGE HD. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to glean any specific information on gameplay, despite being told that it's structurally different from last year's release.
Whether it's a racing game or an action-packed shooter you can be sure it'll look damn good.
ngmoco setting sights on Windows Phone 7
After waxing lyrical about games that could only be played on iPhone and iPod touch, ngmoco has started developing for other portable devices. That's not exactly a secret - ngmoco has publicly announced its plan for multiplatform development and has even released an Android title - but news of a shift in focus toward Windows Phone 7 is noteworthy.
While the recently acquired publisher will continue to support iOS and certainly Android, ngmoco sees the greatest opportunity on the growing Windows Phone 7 market. It's the fastest-growing digital marketplace, but it's also in sore need of compelling content. There are some cool games, but a handful and not a bushel.
The question to ask is whether ngmoco plans on releasing games across these platforms simultaneously, individually in a staggered manner, or exclusively. It seems unlikely that ngmoco would release exclusive content for one device when it could make money on others (it is a business, after all), so expect staggered freemium releases of TouchPets Snakes later this year.