The Rumour Mine: Breasts, role-playing, and a smoking mirror on your iPhone
Naughty games that want to come to your handset
It's a saucy edition of the Rumour Mine this week, gents and ladies. As often as I mention cool games coming to iPhone and iPod touch, there are equal number of titles that never make it past the conception stage – and for good reason. With so many games competing for your attention, not every one can be successful.
That said, I do have one exciting revelation about what to expect next from the adventure gaming wizards at Revolution Software. Considering I've already burned through Beneath a Steel Sky and Broken Sword: Director's Cut, I'm dying for something new.
Read on…
Puzzle Quest 2 not coming to iPhoneSadly, I've been told not to get my hopes high for an iPhone and iPod touch version of Infinite Interactive's upcoming Puzzle Quest sequel.
The reason is two-fold. First, the port of the original Puzzle Quest didn't sell as well as expected. It was a mistake when the first episode was released at £5.99/$9.99 - far too much in the early days of iPhone gaming.
More problematic than the price, however, was the ropey execution. Major bugs marred what had been a phenomenal game on PSP and DS. It wasn't until major updates were issued that the iPhone version became playable.
As such, publisher D3 isn't exactly jumping at the idea of venturing back onto the App Store with the sequel. If it were to happen, don't expect developer TransGaming to be on the project.
No tasting the forbidden fruit of Dead or Alive: Paradise
Tecmo has released a few games for iPhone and iPod touch, most notably The Isle of 8-bit Treasures, so the notion that the Japanese publisher would consider extending one of its most popular franchises to the devices wouldn't seem like much of a stretch.
An iPhone version of Dead or Alive: Paradise, however, is dead on arrival.
Apple's recent crackdown on sexual content in apps has scared away Tecmo and led the publisher to ditch consideration of an iPhone and iPod touch port of the game. The game – originally a mobile title in Japan – would have been easy to reconfigure for iPhone. That's not going to happen and the accuracy of any bouncy physics will have to be tested on PSP, the only platform on which DoA Paradise will be available outside of Japan.
Now, as for Tecmo's other series, Ninja Gaiden…
iPhone port of Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror already underway
I could debate the merits of Broken Sword: Director's Cut and how it's the best adventure game on iPhone, but I'm not interested in monkeying around. I'm here to give you the best bits of knowledge I have about the sequel heading to iPhone and iPod touch.
That's right, Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror is coming and work has already started. It shouldn't be all that surprising given the popularity of the original. Among the staff here it's been a hit, the remastered iPhone version earning praise for intuitive touch controls and beautiful visuals.
Now, I know it isn't quite at the same level as the first game, but The Smoking Mirror is nonetheless a decent follow-up and I'm eager to see how it gets redone for play on iPhone. No firm release date is planned, though expect it to be available within the year and for it to appear on the App Store within a few weeks of it being announced.