What would this week be without at least a mention of Apple’s latest creation (and announcement) the iPad. While there’s plenty of material out there ranging from why to Colbert’s bold proclamation “Give me an iPad”, the iPad has at least gotten a reaction, good or bad, out of pretty much everyone even remotely connected to the handheld electronics device field. Considering the proliferation of mobile phones, the iPhone in particular, this would encompass a wide majority of folks.
But what does the iPad mean for games developers? An entirely new playing field. A number of games houses reacted almost immediately to the announcement, with the overwhelming consensus positive and indicating that they’re already hard at work on iPad ready apps.
iPhone dev studios OpenFeint and Scoreloop were two of the first on the scene, clearly having someone waiting, literally, on Mr. Jobs’ every word, just waiting for the cue to click and release the info to the world. Scoreloop says that they’ll have an iPad specific upgrade from their popular Astro Ranch iPhone game that will take advantage of the iPad’s increased screen real estate, appropriately titled Astro Ranch HD. While not pointing to specific examples, OpenFeint Chairman Peter Relan states, “We have plans for some really special features for the iPad that will make social gaming even more immersive.”
Ok, so far so good. New platform, new, tailored games for this platform….now, show me the money. Ngmoco, who took full advantage of Apple’s decision to allow microtransactions within iPhone games, said that their freemium first person shooter, Eliminate would port well from iPhone to iPad, and that their currently-in-development co-op version of Eliminate would do the same. Likewise, EA demoed their Need for Speed Shift title at the Apple announcement and confirmed that they already have a number of titles in the works for the forthcoming iPad. EA did not confirm that these titles will contain microtransaction elements, but given their proven commitment to the business model and gaming associations, it’s very likely.
I mention above that the iPad announcement creates an entirely new playing field for devs. And while the opinions have been wildly circulating, the one that keeps showing up on my radar is “But…it’s just a big iPod.” Certainly from an esthetic point of view this comment has merit. However, once the device is in hand, as Kotaku had access to, it’s quite clear that this is no iPod. While Kotaku editors has trouble controlling the majority of games they tested on the iPad, they did report that menu driven games, such as EA’s The Sims 3 played very well. What this indicates is that an entirely new sub-genre of social, casual, and all around ‘games’ may develop as studios rush to push out iPad read/compatible games. Apple currently does not allow the sale of virtual currencies within the games operating on their platforms (there are however a number of ways around this), they have confirmed that the iPad will support in-app transactions through the iPhone OS 3.2.
Apple’s iPad is expected to begin shipping in late March of this year. Should be a VERY exciting summer.
Almost a year has past since Syfy (then Sci Fi) 
That’s not to say that Eastern European developers haven’t been acutely aware of what’s been happening in the Western European, North American, and Asian markets, and they now want in on a piece of the action on these more popular Eastern European platforms. The Russian social games market alone has taken off at a juggernaut’s pace, growing from $0 in 2008 to a valuation of over $30 million in 2009. Most social gaming in Russian takes place on the countries’ leading social network 
Presented at this past weekend’s 
Representatives from Double Fusion say that they’ve been working closely alongside 2K Sports developers to integrate the ads in the least obtrusive manner. Double Fusion says that they’re committed to delivering in-game advertising while still maintaining the contextual relevance and realism of ad placements at real world sporting venues.
A real time strategy game based on Chinese myth, War of Legends presents players with a choice either to support their current less than scrupulous King, or shift their alliances to a righteous upstart vying for the throne. The game offers players the opportunity to rule empires, manage resources, and command massive armies which will inevitably be used to overtake opposing forces. All the while, players must also keep on eye on the homefront, and defend their cities against other players.
Hellgate: London has certainly seen better days, and you’ll 
On his blog, titled 
