It’s now even harder to avoid playing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars as Rockstar has announced that a version of the game for the iPhone will be joining the PSP version when it is released this autumn.

Rockstar president Sam Houser believes that the game is a “perfect match” for the iPhone;

“Chinatown Wars is a perfect match for the iPhone and iPod touch. We are very excited to bring this incredibly ambitious version of Liberty City, with this level of detail and immersive gameplay on Apple’s new gaming platforms,” (Source)

The best thing about this announcement is that the iPhone version won’t have to sacrifice the touch screen controls like the PSP version had to, so hopefully this version will be mostly similar to the DS version. I do have some reservations about how you will control Huang Lee (the main character), as some previous iPhone ports have used an on-screen d-pad which can often be a bit frustrating to use.

There are no screenshots yet (unlike the PSP version) but I expect it won’t be too long until we see some.

Rockstar is also bringing Beaterator to the iPhone (originally announced for PSN and PSP), a music mixer that has been developed in collaboration with Timbaland. Let’s hope that people will use earphones when creating their own tunes on the bus or train.

Both games will be out in autumn, with a firm release date to come at a later date.

I stopped playing World of Warcraft a few years back - mainly because it was taking up way too much of my life - but if I had still been playing it and I owned an iPhone then the official ‘World of Warcraft Mobile Armory’ application would be a must have.

Since this new application has officially been designed by Blizzard you no longer need to rely on third-party applications, which are sometimes unreliable, to keep track of your WoW characters while on the move. The free application has all the functionality of the web-based armory, but with the added bonus that you can do it away from your computer.

A few of the features include the ability to check your current equipment set-up, those of other players, guild databases and information on every item in the game. There’s also a spec calculator to help you plan out your character, a calendar that keeps track of upcoming raid events and an achievement tracker. It’s also under 10mb, so you can easily download it away from your computer with 3G.

So, for you WoW obsessive’s this new application means you’ll never have to be all that far away from the ‘delights’ of Azeroth. I’m not actually sure if that’s a good thing or not…

(Image source: Kotaku)

As it gets hotter I’ve found myself actually playing more games than usual, simply because I prefer sitting half naked in front of a fan than having to face the searing heat outside. I should have actually been on holiday in Turkey this week (I had to cancel it), so I guess I should be grateful that we’re getting some of Turkey’s good weather back home.

Anyway, if you want to get away from the sun here’s some new games that you could be playing instead of getting burnt to a crisp.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (PC, PS3, X360) 3/7

The prequel to 2007’s Call of Juarez follows the story of the McCall brothers as they shoot their way through a civil-war era US and Mexico. The gameplay will be slightly different depending on which brother you select. For example, one brother uses a lasso while the other brother likes to use dynamite. Co-op play will allow you to compliment your chosen characters abilities with those of a friend. Check out the trailer here.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (PS3, Wii, X360) 3/7

I find it hard to write something positive about a golf game, as I personally find it one of the most uninteresting sports on the planet. However, if you are interested a new “Tournament Challenge” mode allows players to replicate famous shots and moments from the PGA Tour’s history, while the Wii version supports MotionPlus; allowing for more authentic and accurate golf swings.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (DS, Mac, Mobile, PC, PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, X360) 3/7

The game tie-in with the book and film of the same name comes to pretty much every current platform, as well as one of the old ones. It’s pretty much similar to the previous games, with some multiplayer thrown in so you can go up against other crazy Potter fans. Apparently EA didn’t bother to include some of the locations from the previous books, so don’t expect it to be completely canon.

Moon (DS) 3/7

Moon is a first-person shooter that uses the same engine as Renegade Kid’s previous DS game, Dementium: The Ward. It takes place….um, take a wild guess? While the game features plenty of the narrow corridors it’s predecessor had in abundance the developer stresses that an updated version of the engine allows for more open environments and larger groups of enemies (source). All in all it doesn’t look like a bad attempt for a handheld that doesn’t have all that many FPS games.

Other releases:

• Divinity 2 - Ego Draconis (PC, X360) *Out now*
• Music: Music for Everyone (DS) *Out now*
• Pro Cycling Manager/Tour de France 2009 (PC) *Out now*
• Ride to Hell (X360) *Out now*
• Modern Warrior: Special Tactics (PC) *Out now*
• 2025: Battle for Fatherland (PC) *Out now*
• Kirby Super Star Ultra (DS) *Out now*
• Crime Scene (DS) *Out now*
• Worms 2: Armageddon (X360) *Out now*
• Diabolik: The Original Sin (PSP) 3/7
• Space Camp (DS, Wii) 3/7
• King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 3 (PS3) 3/7
• Drama Queens (DS) 3/7
• Classic Word Games (DS) 3/7
• Summer Sports Party (Wii) 3/7
• My Friends (DS) 3/7
• Ready Steady Cook (DS) 3/7
• Fallout 3 Game Add-On Pack: The Pitt and Operation Anchorage (PC, X360) 3/7
• Street Fighter IV (PC) 3/7
• Virtua Tennis 2009 (PC) 3/7
• Rygar: The Battle of Argus (Wii) 3/7

(Images source: Gamespot)

The iPhone is fast becoming a surprisingly good platform for gamers. Plus, there’s that added bonus of, erm, it being a phone…and a web browser, and a music player, and a…

Ok, you get the point, the iPhone is pretty damn cool. Well, it is if you can afford it anyway.

The LA Times brings word that developers have created nearly 1,700 games for the iPhone since the App Store launched back in June. Although only 25% of iPhone users have downloaded a game it’s still pretty good for a mobile phone, and it should be with the iPhone’s decent graphic capabilities and touch screen. Although there’s a lot of neat little apps you can get for the iPhone the games category is by far the biggest, so you’re not exactly spoiled for choice.

One guy, Neil Young, even quit his job at EA to set up a company that develops games for the iPhone. He was using the iPhone so much more than he had with other mobile phones that the saw a “…dramatically new market opportunity for gaming on a unique mobile device”.

Of course, 1,700 games doesn’t mean they’re all good - but there’s always  a few diamonds in the rough!

IPhone users love their video games - LA Times (Via Kotaku)

There’s two new demos to try out on Xbox Live if you’re short of pennies in the run up to the Christmas season. They’re not the full games, of course, but you can try them out to possibly put them on your Christmas wish list. This way you can stop wishing that you could actually afford all the games coming out around now and just get someone else to buy them for you instead.  Are the two demos any good? I haven’t tried them yet so I can’t possibly comment, but I’d just like to inform you that they are now available.

Our favourite female video game character Lara Croft returns in Tomb Raider: Underworld. The reason for the ‘Underworld’ part is because the game is all about water this time around, and you’ll also be swimming through old ruins as well as doing the old fashioned Lara way of climbing all over the walls. After you’ve sat through the 1.3GB download you’ll get the chance to find out if this new take on Lara’s adventures is actually worth parting with your hard-earned cash. Hopefully it will be latter, but that’s totally up to you.

The full game arrives for Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Mobile, Nintendo DS, PC, Wii, Xbox 360 on November 21st.

Don’t laugh, but this is one game I’m actually looking forward to. Despite never touching a Banjo-Kazooie game in my life (apart from one in a McDonalds on a holiday to Florida, which didn’t really work) I’m loving the look of  Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts and what you can actually do with the game. The idea is that you’re taking part in a contest against a witch named Gruntilda for control of Spiral Mountain.  She’ll be constantly trying to stop you while you undertake challenges to preserve your home (as Gruntilda wants to build malls everywhere). Anyway, the point is that you can build things, and that’s the big pull (as with many games these days). There’s over 1,600 components that you can build vehicles with, so you can pretty much build a vehicle in any style you want.

The demo will take up 1.07GB of space and will allow you to try and the building and take on ‘Jiggy challenges’, whatever they may be.

The full game will be out for Xbox 360 on November 14th.

Try them out and tell me what you think!

September went way too fast and, for some strange reason, we had better weather this month then we did all summer. Unfortunately, if today is anything to go by, we’ll soon be returning to those cold winter nights. Thankfully, October has an excellent line-up of games to make staying in your nice warm house completely worth it. Here’s four of them!

Dead Space

Release date: 24 October

Format(s): PC, PS3, Xbox 360

EA’s new survival horror in space is looking absolutely terrific. Plus, EA have been doing wonders with the backstory; going as far as releasing comics, an animated film an alternate reality game on the No Known Survivors website.

Lashings of gore and more jumping-out-of-your-skin moments than you can shake a stick at means that Dead Space isn’t for the fainthearted. For the rest of us, however, it’s sure to be one hell of a ride. Just make sure you don’t play it in the dark (or do, like me, and then whimper when you realise what an idiot you’ve been).

Fable 2

Release date: 24 October

Format(s): Xbox 360

Lead designer Peter Molyneux recently said that online co-op might not be available on release (instead they’re aiming for about a week later) but don’t let that put you off! Apart from the jump-in jump-out co-op you can get married, have kids, become good or evil, or, you know, actually have a good old RPG adventure. Oh, and there’s a dog - a dog you’ll apparently cry over.

Sold? Sigh, I’m still getting it anyway.

Fallout 3

Release date:31 October

Format(s): PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Here’s another dog (what is it with dogs and games lately?) but instead you’re tramping around with one in a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland (good look feeding him).

It’s been ten years since we last saw Fallout and the fan boys are literally peeing themselves with excitement over a futuristic - Oblivion - with-guns-and-incredibly-over-the-top-gore-and-a-side-order-of-good-old-1950’s-style-music…. phew. Well, I’m one of those fan boys anyway.

Apparently there are over 200 possible endings so that’s quite a lot of playtime right there.

Saints Row 2

Release date:17 October

Format(s): Mobile Phone, PC, PS3, Xbox 360

I don’t know what to make of the recent multiplayer videos other than they don’t exactly impress me. It think it’s one of those games that sound better when it’s described, or possibly are better when you actually get to play it. In any case it looks like a fun and over-the-top helping with deep customisation options and a stellar voice cast. Plus, I can’t wait to play through it on co-op.

It will probably suit those who weren’t impressed with GTA IV but I swing both ways. GTA IV had an enthralling and movie-like story, but the whacky parts were removed in favour of this. Saints Row 2 is looking to fill that void and the amount of things you can do is pretty ridiculous. I’m a gamer, we love ridiculous sometimes as constant seriousness would not be fun. Come on, we grew up playing a game that had a plumber trying to rescue a princess while eating mushrooms. Sometimes games are all about the fun, they don’t have to be realistic. Hopefully they’ll also be a pretty good story thrown in there too, and that may just mean it nears perfection…well…until you see a gang member wearing a hotdog costume.

EA has a habit of churning out updates of the same series year after year (see The Sims or the FIFA franchises) and the Need for Speed series is no exception as it’s now on it’s twelfth installment. I don’t have a problem with EA milking a franchise as long as they actually put out a decent game, and the Need for Speed series has had some pretty decent installments. For example, although racing games aren’t my absolute favourite genre (my brother, however, loves them) Need for Speed: Most Wanted was an absolute blast to play. However, you also get the less than stellar installments, such as Need for Speed: Pro Street (although zooming around a track in a Bugatti Veyron is pretty damn cool) but I suppose you can’t win them all. Fortunately the upcoming Need for Speed: Undercover looks to right the wrongs of Pro Street (even the developers admit Pro Street was average), leaving the track and returning to the streets.

The above video doesn’t show much gameplay wise but it gives you some sense of the story. You’ll be playing the part of an undercover cop infiltrating the underground racing club, which reminds me a bit of The Fast and the Furious. While the storyline probably won’t win any awards it still beats driving around the same track over and over again (this may be ok for other pro racing games but were talking about souped up street cars that are more at home screaming around city streets). Being the undercover cop and all you’ll be returning to race the streets while trying to avoid the police (as they don’t you’re undercover, so doing all that damage to their cars is suddenly all ok!), but it won’t be the same as always. One new feature is the highway battle, which see’s you driving down the long highway connecting the three in-game city areas and battling with an opponent. While this is nothing more than a fancy race in spirit there’s also a lot of traffic to avoid at high speeds, which sounds a little like the Burnout series (another game that recently went free form).  Oh, and there’s also the traditional zooming to the chop shop while being chased by every cop in the state. All this returns to the open world which made Most Wanted so fun.

While you may think it sounds like more of the same it’s still good to see EA returning the game to its roots and will probably be a refreshing and welcomed return to those disappointed by Pro Street.  I know my brother will probably be playing it anyway, that’s if he can tear himself away from FIFA 09.

With typical EA style it’s set for release on pretty much everything that plays video games on November 21st.