Four New Electronic Arts iPod Games Coming, Ms. Pac-Man Demo

[MacRumors]

Electronic Arts publicly revealed today that they would be publishing 4 new games for the iPod this year. An exact list of games was not provided, but Sims Bowling was listed as one of the upcoming titles for the iPod.

EA currently publishes 5 games (Mini Golf, Mahjong, Royal Solitaire, Tetris, and Sodoku) for the iPod and are presently sold through Apple's iTunes store. EA has also been said to be in discussion for upcoming iPhone games as well.

Meanwhile, Apple is now offering a free demo version of Ms. Pac-Mac (iTunes). Apple previously offered a free demo of Vortex for a limited time.

[mackensteff]

Cool!

[miketcool]

With a $169 PSP, keep those games a rolling.

[Curtis72]

Originally Posted by miketcool

With a $169 PSP, keep those games a rolling.

PSP...What?

I just don't get it... why mentioned the "Sony" product in a post about future iPod games?

What is the freaking point?

Here is the problem... the iPod isn't a gaming device. It is multimedia player with gaming functionality as "bonus, nice to have" feature. The PSP is a multimedia gaming device.

And from the look at the screenshoot of Sims Bowling, that game was specficially designed for the iPod's scroll wheel. It looks great.

But I only have a iPod Nano and 3rd generation iPod, so I haven't or will buy any iPod games.

[yzp]

Originally Posted by Curtis72

But I only have a 3rd generation iPod, so I haven't or will buy any iPod games.

my point, its cool but wont make you buy!

My 3rd gen still works perfect...... I changed the battery once, and I'll change it until it will have no more space-disk......

[aLoC]

It is *so* cool that Apple are spending their time writing "Ms. Pac Man" while all the Macs are out of date and OS X is running late.

[SiliconAddict]

Originally Posted by aLoC

It is *so* cool that Apple are spending their time writing "Ms. Pac Man" while all the Macs are out of date and OS X is running late.

Out of date depends on your point of view. The pro line is up to date. The iMac is still pretty dang spiffy. The laptop line is getting long in the tooth however its still pretty up to date with the C2D's. My guess is they are trying to get the LED displays to ship with the SR based Macbook Pros.
Leopard. Don't give a crap since it will be done when its done, and I'm in no hurry to upgrade to an OS that has had this many issues. Finally since this is an EA game how do you know its Apple who is writing it?

[dartzorichalcos]

Originally Posted by miketcool

With a $169 PSP, keep those games a rolling.

Perhaps the 6G iPod would be like a PSP. It would be nice if Apple turned the iPod into a portable gaming machine.

[Nermal]

When trying to follow the Pacman demo link, I get "We could not complete your iTunes Store request. An unknown error occurred (5002). There was an error in the iTunes Store. Please try again later." Is anyone else getting this?

[kwood]

Originally Posted by Nermal

When trying to follow the Pacman demo link, I get "We could not complete your iTunes Store request. An unknown error occurred (5002). There was an error in the iTunes Store. Please try again later." Is anyone else getting this?

I had the exact same problem...but didn't take the time to troubleshoot it.

[eluyten]

Originally Posted by Nermal

When trying to follow the Pacman demo link, I get "We could not complete your iTunes Store request. An unknown error occurred (5002). There was an error in the iTunes Store. Please try again later." Is anyone else getting this?

I have the same problem. This seems to be related with account you are using.
My account is only valid in Belgium. If I logout and use the link I works but I'm not allowed to download the free demo unless I have a valid account for the US iTunes store.
When I use my Belgian account I get the error message. If I check the iPod games directly there is no free demo offer for the Pac-Man game.
No free offers for us in Europe

[yagran]

woo what a great bit of news this was...PAGE 2 surely

i guess this gets posted to page 1 just to fill in this low news year...

[Megabyte]

you are still locked out of iPod games.

Why can't they have an alternative distribution channel for the rest of us whom deem should not have access to a music store in our country yet sell iPods here by the million?

[yzp]

indeed that is coool...

however, i dont get the point of having games on your iPod??

iPods are amazing jukebox, get a NDS or a PSP if ud like to play?


things that make everything, make nothing good........

[mcallmeback]

http://www.nemogenia.com/2007/02/mac...nnot-help.html

[andresprado]

Does anybody knows if EA will make someday FIFA for mac?

[Eric5h5]

Originally Posted by Darkroom

i wish we could download these and play them as widgits optionally...

That would require Apple to develop an iPod emulator for OS X and Windows. Which isn't going to happen.

Originally Posted by aLoC

It is *so* cool that Apple are spending their time writing "Ms. Pac Man" while all the Macs are out of date and OS X is running late.

You realize that the existance or lack thereof of Ms. Pac Man (or any other games) for the iPod has no bearing whatsoever on Macs or OS X, and doesn't affect the timeframe for a new hardware refresh or OS release by so much as a single second, yes? I demand a refund for the 10,582 brain cells you just killed by making me read that comment.

--Eric

[Object-X]

And how about iPhone games? Even the iPod is rumored to be getting a touch screen. What sort of game would work well with a multi-touch interface? Certainly not PacMan.

Me wonders if some clever people will figure out how to use the touch screen for an entertaining game. I don't think anyone really thinks of the iPod/iPhone as a gaming platform, but if they can come up with some good games that use it's specialized input they might be on to something.

[kuebby]

Does anyone actually play iPod games? Every one I've tried the scroll wheel is to sensitive. Even with included games like brick I always miss the ball when I scroll too far left or right.

They should put out more thinking games like Sodoku. The iPod would be great for crossword puzzle game or something like that.

[Maccus Aurelius]

I only play tetris. I find pacman to be a waste since the controls are mind-numblingly frustrating.

[LimeiBook86]

The demo is pretty fun, it's free so I can't complain. There is a little tutorial on how to use the click-wheel to play before you play the game which I thought was a nice touch. You are allowed to play the first level of the game and you can choose your difficulty, after which it will bring you back to the menu screen after telling you to visit the iTunes store for the new version.

I bought the original Pac-Man game on iTunes, this one is fun but, I don't think I'll be buying this anytime soon unless I get a gift card or something.

[SiliconAddict]

Again don't care. The iPod's wheel really is sub optimal for playing games. It like gaming on a phone. You can do it but gah... Last time I tried it I got hand cramps. What I would like to see is a wide screen iPod that flip on it long end and there is an add-on sleeve. Yes that defeats the ability of having a spir of the moment gaming session which is what having games on small devices is all about but it saves people's hands.

[Maccus Aurelius]

Originally Posted by SiliconAddict

Again don't care. The iPod's wheel really is sub optimal for playing games. It like gaming on a phone. You can do it but gah... Last time I tried it I got hand cramps. What I would like to see is a wide screen iPod that flip on it long end and there is an add-on sleeve. Yes that defeats the ability of having a spir of the moment gaming session which is what having games on small devices is all about but it saves people's hands.

This is particularly true of Pac-Man, but I was surprised how well the clickwheel fared with Tetris. I actually like the feel of the clickwheel for Tetris more than the original gameboy I first got addicted to it on.

[Zzzoom]

Am I the only one who hates the addition of the { digg } button to the articles?

[Buschmaster]

Originally Posted by Zzzoom

Am I the only one who hates the addition of the { digg } button to the articles?

Probably the only one, at least to make a deal about it.


I think EA is making the games so nobody should probably fuss over Pac-Man being the result of OS X being late.

Also, even if it were a result... More people have iPods than have Macs, correct? So wouldn't they be better off trying to pump up funds from that market if they could?

But I don't even think this is the case, so nobody should lose sleep over it.