Facebook Pokémon clone MinoMonsters migrates to iOS for $1

You might remember MinoMonsters, game developer Josh Buckley's take on Pokémon for Facebook. Well, that game was either just a test or a flop for the 17-year-old entrepreneur, as his new studio has re-released the game as an iPhone and iPad app. In this new-and-improved MinoMonsters, players must journey across the Kingdom of Zancardi, capturing and battling creatures called Minos for, well, the sake of battling monsters. Come on, it's not as if Pokémon's plot is rock solid either.

The youngin's new studio is called MinoMonsters Inc., so you can tell the guy's dedicated to the concept, which will cost you $.99 on the App Store. Once purchased, you can start trading blows back and forth in turn-based bouts with opponents' monsters either within the game's story or your friends from anywhere in the world. Just like in Pokémon, players' monsters gain new abilities and will become stronger, which helps players find new monsters and defeat tougher opponents.
MinoMonsters in action
The first thing we noticed with these screens of the game in action are the impressive, seemingly hand-drawn graphics. Seriously, this game looks like an episode of Pokémon--look, the comparisons are inevitable at this point--at least when still. MinoMonsters (the company) promises that you can find players to do battle with in under 30 seconds. The game's primary competition on iOS, Monster Galaxy, doesn't seem to have multiplayer just yet. So, now MinoMonsters is the closest you're going to get a Pokémon game on your iPhone.

Click here to download MinoMonsters for $.99 on the App Store Now >

Are you craving that Pokémon experience on your iPhone? Do you think a game like MinoMonsters can feed the need?

Sky Pirates of Neo Terra soars through Facebook and iOS this fall

Your straddling pod racer territory rather closely there, Day 21--we're keeping an eye on you. The Vancouver, B.C.-based social game developer announced Sky Pirates of Neo Terra, a futuristic racing game based on a graphic novel of the same name, set to hit Facebook and iOS this fall.

The game is displayed in full 3D, though players will need to download Unity in order to join the fun. Sky Pirates hands players the reins of sky-bound racing vehicles and pits them against the online competition in real time.

According to Day 21, this is a first for Facebook. (At least the "racing" part is.) Designed for players aged 10 and up--we all know kids are on Facebook already--the characters and artwork in Sky Pirates is by comic and pop surrealism artist, Camilla d'Errico. In the magic-meets-machine world of Neo Terra, Glidewing racing is the most popular sport, but this year the evil Pirate King just might and get the chance to name the next leader of the tribes ... did we get that about right?
Sky Pirates in Action
Players get to choose between a number of racers and vehicles, and compete with five of their friends in races on over a dozen different tracks. Once they get the hang of piloting a Glidewing, players can customize their very own and take flight against the ruthless Pirate King. And if you happen to win one of the Great Races, you will get the chance to be immortalized in the accompanying web comic. A full 3D racing game on Facebook that's attached to an ongoing web comic? We're intrigued.

Do you think Day 21 will find success on Facebook with Sky Pirates? What do you think of 3D gaming on Facebook so far, and do you think it has a place on the platform?

Capcom CEO: Social games had 'earth-shattering' effect on industry

But the guy means more than, "Holy moley, these things are money machines!" During an interview with Bloomberg Japan, Capcom CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto likened the rise of social gaming to when pinball machines were overrun in arcades by game cabinets, according to Serkan Toto. If there's one company to make that point, it's certainly Capcom.

The company behind horror and action franchises like Resident Evil and Street Fighter has enjoyed more international success in mobile social games than even Japanese giants like DeNA and Gree. Of course, that's thanks to its Beeline Interactive subsidiary, which is responsible for the wildly successful Smurfs Village (and Smurfs Grabber, sort of) on U.S. iPhones. In fact, the game was so ... compelling to consumers that Capcom had to rework how it handled in-game purchases.

Speaking with Bloomberg Japan, Tsujimoto said that social games make up about 6.6 percent of Capcom's profits, but he expects that to explode to about 30 percent "in a few years." But despite the wild profits Capcom expects to make from social games, Tsujimoto said to Bloomberg Japan that he's still excited about Nintendo's upcoming console, the Wii U. Well, here's to hoping the console has some sort of social gaming support, but we're sure the company has wised up by now.

Is it fair to compare social games' effect on the game industry to that of arcade games on pinball machines in the late '70s and early '80s? What company will get into social gaming next?

Asura's Wrath maker says mobile social games are 'all rubbish'

However, don't think that Matsuyama's ire for social games is uninformed--the guy has reached Level 250 in DeNA's Kaito Royale for smartphones. "They're not fun at all. But, I have to play it," Matsuyama told Gamasutra. "The reality is that it has over 3 million users, and it's true that they're making money. I need to be aware of those businesses, so of course I play them. GREE's Dragon Collection. I've played that, too. [Matsuyama pulls out two smartphones] This is my iPhone, and this is my Android phone, and I play these games on both of these phones -- but they're all rubbish

FIFA Superstars on iPhone yanked from App Store due to 'server issues'

EA is sitting pretty on Facebook at the moment, but on smartphones ... not so much. Mobile Entertainment reports that that the publisher has been forced to remove its recently-released iPhone version of Facebook soccer (football) hit FIFA Superstars from the App Store due to "server issues."

The game, released in late August, provides the 2.8 million monthly players of the Facebook version of FIFA Superstars a near-identical representation of what they're used to seeing in their browsers. However, the game suffered login issues from the get-go, it seems. Players have been unable to access the game after logging into the company's new Origin service.

"We are currently experiencing server issues with FIFA Superstars mobile that have required us to temporarily take the game down," EA told Mobile Entertainment. "This is not a data security-related issue. We are implementing a solution that will ensure users have the best gameplay experience, and will provide an update soon as to when the game will be live again."

According to Mobile Entertainment, EA stresses that this issue does not affect the Facebook version of the game, and that players can still enjoy the game there for now. (When we tried to log into the game, we didn't encounter any issues either.) It's comforting to see that EA is more vocal with the issues it has encountered in this game than it has been with social games in the past.

When its hyper popular Facebook version of The Sims, The Sims Social, suffered launch issues, the company was mum on the details for days before it released a message to its players with an explanation (and later threw them a bone). Since then, the game has enjoyed incredible growth, so hopefully FIFA Superstars for iPhone can bounce back from these hiccups just as well.

[Via Pocket Gamer]

Did you have trouble logging into FIFA Superstars for iPhone, too? What are you doing to scratch the social soccer itch while you wait for the game to return to the App Store? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment