When it comes to non-conventional control schemes, developers are constantly trying to fit square pegs into round holes. The Wii and Sixaxis have often resulted in designers asking themselves, “How do we make the existing experience work with these controls?”, when they should be asking themselves, “What new kinds of experiences will these controls allow us to explore?”.

The iPhone platform is another fertile breeding ground for this kind of poor practice. We’ve seen many attempts to shoehorn an analog stick or d-pad into the touch-screen environment unsuccessfully. This is a shame, since the iPhone offers a surplus of untapped potential for creating new styles of gameplay and control.

When someone takes the risk to create a different experience, there will be something to learn from the effort whether it succeeds or fails. Read on to see what Gamer Limit took away from the time we spent with Tiger Style’s 8-legged app, Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor.

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At times, it feels that the boundaries we use to categorize games grow blurrier by the day. It is wildly apparent by now that genre blending is a gaming trend with legs. RPG elements, in particular, have sunk their heroin-coated hooks into nearly every type of game over the past five years.

There’s certainly nothing wrong with combining disparate gameplay elements, despite the vocal outrage of a few misguided retro purists. Let’s be honest; everything tastes better with some character progression or dice rolls tossed in the mix, no?

Japanese developer Gaia certainly thinks so. They combine simplistic character progression and dungeon crawling with a unique twist on turn-based card strategy in their release of Sword & Poker for the iPhone. Read on to get the official Gamer Limit verdict!

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Last week in his blog, all around swell guy Hironobu Sakaguchi announced that an iPhone game from Mistwalker – developers of JRPG Blue Dragon – will be coming “soon”. While we don’t know what this game specifically is, many have speculated an iDevice version of Blue Dragon.

Last night, we decided to ask what the buzz is all about. While we didn’t get much of a response on Twitter, at least we know one thing. Read more… »

[Every week, Gamer Limit scours the underbelly of the internet to bring you the finest releases from the indie scene. Check back each week to see what we recommend. Feel free to check out our full schedule right here!]

When Pong was released back in 1972, I don’t think anyone expected people would still be making modifications to the classic formula more then 35 years later.  While the game got a much needed reboot on the Playstation in 1999, with enhanced 3-D visuals and power-ups, it’s unfortunately considered by many to be too simple for today’s high end consoles.

With the advent of the iPhone, and a new desire for bite sized gaming experiences on the go, the world has seen a new reemergence of simple games like Pong.  Independent developer DC Software Arts is not ready to sit idly by and let people play the same old boring version that was released almost four decades ago.  They have spiced things up with their own interpretation on the classic title named The Art of Pong. Read more… »

When a console iteration of arguably the most accomplished PC strategy game of all time was released in the summer of last year, reactions were mixed. Many hardcore fans of the series blasted Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution for removing strategic depth, while others embraced the streamlined gameplay and console-centric control scheme.

While Civ Rev came nowhere near the commercial success of its PC brethren, it performed well enough critically and in the market to warrant a port to the iPhone. As a fan of both the PC games and Civ Rev, I was curious to see how the title performed after being shrunk down to portable size for play on the go.

Is Napoleon really holding an iPhone inside his uniform, or does this release represent the game’s Battle of Waterloo?

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Quite possibly one of the few prominent new IPs under EA’s belt, Mirror’s Edge has always been referred to as ‘that title that made EA look less like Activision’. In fact, the game was free-running parkour at its innovative best. Well, fans of Faith’s first foray will be glad to know that the franchise will also leap onto the iPhone in January next year.

Head inside for other tidbits and screenshots of the iPhone iteration. Read more… »

After the release of the CoD:WaW Zombies app yesterday for the ridiculous price of $9.99, you may wonder if it was the 3D graphics and the first-person gameplay driving up the price.

You’ll soon realize that’s not the case, as Ravensword: the Fallen King was just released today.  It’s an ambitious Elder Scrolls-style sandbox game, and it’s only $6.99.

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Pretty much everyone can agree that the Nazi zombies were the best part of Call of Duty: World at War.

What if you could harness those brain-gobbling Nazis… in your pocket?  Because today, you can.

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Ever wondered what the hell Scrat was doing all that time you were watching Ice Age? Maybe not, but for those who were, developers Two Tribe aim to lay the rumours to rest. The fiendish furball’s finally got his own adventure, and it’s a good thing the game’s in safe hands.

Two Tribe, known for their critically acclaimed WiiWare title Toki Tori, explains why Scrat is just plain awesome right after the jump. Read more… »

In case you didn’t know, you’ve been able to pick up the original DOOM for the iPhone for awhile now ($6.99 on iTunes).

If that seems too simple, however, you can now download the DOOM iPhone source code, as iD Software has just released it to the masses on their DOOM Classic website.  They’ve even included build instructions to compile the code on a Mac OS X system.

Oh, John Carmack.  You’re such a pal.

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Thanks to the good folks over at I-Play, we now have two copies of Bubble Town 2 to give away to our readers. Known as one of the more popular games on Facebook, Bubble Town’s sequel is tailored for your silverback iDevice system.

If  you’ve ever wanted to pop some baloons or kill some time, head inside to win one of two promotional codes we’re giving away! Read more… »

Electronic Arts have released an old favourite of mine, Command and Conquer for the iPhone. You are able to download and play C&C for £5.99 on the AppStore.

The touch screen on the iPhone can be used to scroll around the battlefield, zoom in and out and move units. There are 12 combat levels that you can play through as the Soviets or Allies, including 2 maps in skirmish mode.

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