INT13's CrazyKart 2 for iPhone Preview

[MacRumors]

Int13, a french mobile game developer, let us know that they had successfully started porting their Crazy Kart 2 game over to the iPhone.

Youtube video

- 320 * 320 pixels playing area
- Touch controls with a virtual steering wheel
- 3 vehicle classes (karts, motorbikes, hovercrafts)
- 6 characters with different vehicles
- Downloadable content (new vehicles, new tracks)
- Wifi online multiplayer with match making and up to four simultaneous players a

This game was originally created for Windows Mobile and Symbian Smartphone. They wrote:

Thanks to it's simplified controls and flexible camera system it was not too hard to adapt it's interface for the iPhone touch screen, but we're still evaluating alternatives (like tilt control and landscape display)

The game is perfectly smooth on the iPhone : constant 60 FPS with a pure software engine, we already plan to work on a sequel with a full 3D accelerated engine to exploit the full potential of the device.

Article Link

[nevesis]

Amazing!

[xUKHCx]

The video looks quite good, I think it would be great to have it done on tilt control but perhaps a preference somewhere so you can specific which type of control would be the best solution.

The gaming side of the iPhone was never something I thought about when considering my purchase but games like this and super monkey ball will be used heavily.

[chr1s60]

The more game demos I see, the more impressed I am. I also think that once the games and apps are starting to be released, the iPhone/iPod Touch sales are going to take off. These games are going to appeal to mobile game lovers that currently use a DS or PSP. It will be interesting to see how sales are impacted by these games.

[stagi]

Wow, looks very nice. I have never owned a DS or PSP and never really wanted one, but I always find myself with a few minutes of free time and have my phone with me so will be buying some of these games once they come out.

[MacTheSpoon]

LOL! Wow. That is just awesome. There are going to be so many awesome games!

[yayaba]

I get how they are steering but how do you accelerate or brake?

[fastbite]

Originally Posted by yayaba

I get how they are steering but how do you accelerate or brake?

I was about to ask the same question -- regardless, we'll get tons of great games and time wasters. Perfect!

[Shoesy]

I think if there is one thing we don't need it is games developed for other mobile os'es with 'adapted' control methods. Tilt steering controls with a self leveling game screen would be an amazing use of technology, a touch steering wheel, not good at all. Check out mario kart wii for an example and then try to beat it, not crow-bar a windows mobile game onto iphone.

Rant over.

[aerospace]

Same game in widescreen with no steering wheel seems much better.

It doubles the viewing area.

I found the music a bit cheesy considering this is an ipod lets get some better music but otherwise I like it.

[NewSc2]

Wow, that looks good. But I can't help myself from thinking that it's just a total rip-off of Mario Kart, which I'd prefer, and which we won't get.

[hoppo99]

Originally Posted by NewSc2

Wow, that looks good. But I can't help myself from thinking that it's just a total rip-off of Mario Kart, which I'd prefer, and which we won't get.

It's a total rip off of Mario Kart on the Gameboy Advance which while a great game at the time is a quite a bit out of date with its side-scrolling, especially compared to the full 3D of Mario Kart DS. I reckon that this game is, having seen the ones of show at the SDK launch, using a fraction of the iPhone's capabilities. It would be great to see something more ambitious than a port from other mobile phone systems, which, up to this point, have proved to be useless for games.

[firsttube]

Originally Posted by hoppo99

I reckon that this game is, having seen the ones of show at the SDK launch, using a fraction of the iPhone's capabilities. It would be great to see something more ambitious than a port from other mobile phone systems, which, up to this point, have proved to be useless for games.

Under the video: "The game is perfectly smooth on the iPhone : constant 60 FPS with a pure software engine, we already plan to work on a sequel with a full 3D accelerated engine to exploit the full potential of the device."

how's that sound?

[BornAgainMac]

The iPhone could be the next Wii of handhelds.

[Stella]

Looks like a fun game.

The touch interface could, if done correctly, make the iPhone a great game platform.

[igazza]

well done this guy will make alot of money $$

[Neerazan]

Well, if nothing else it proves how easy it is to use the SDK.

This took five days from release of the SDK to the video of the demo going up, I reckon on another 95 days until the AppStore goes live, so plenty of time for developers of all shapes and sizes to get to grips with writing great apps.

One other thought, I haven't heard it expressed anywhere else yet (although I may just not have been looking hard enough), the iPhone is going to get a lot of developers used to programming in Cocoa that have never considered developing for the Mac platform before; I can see a potentially huge 'halo effect' of bringing developers, particularly games developers, over to the Mac as a platform via the iPhone.

[Sweetbike40]

Originally Posted by NewSc2

Wow, that looks good. But I can't help myself from thinking that it's just a total rip-off of Mario Kart, which I'd prefer, and which we won't get.

This reminds me of the Crash Bandicoot game i have on my Razr. It's boring because you really don't have much control over the car. There's nothing like having a console controller. I'd skip on this one. The graphics are nice though.

[bytethese]

Damn, that looks pretty slick. I can't wait to become a vidiot yet again. I feel young again!

[Dorfdad]

Originally Posted by Shoesy

I think if there is one thing we don't need it is games developed for other mobile os'es with 'adapted' control methods. Tilt steering controls with a self leveling game screen would be an amazing use of technology, a touch steering wheel, not good at all. Check out mario kart wii for an example and then try to beat it, not crow-bar a windows mobile game onto iphone.

Rant over.

I agree but you have to know that there will be a TON of ported apps early on in the Iphones life. Everyone is rushing to put out something for day one and modifying existing phone games is the easiest mark for developers untill they get the experience with the Iphone done a year later. So expect the first year to be nothing but PORTS...

Lets just hope they do not do what the have on the Wii... All ports and all pretty crappy..

[Buschmaster]

I think it would be cool to have the option to play in portrait (with on screen controls) or landscape (tilt controls) for steering.

I'd probably play both ways depending on my mood. This looks like a game I'd pay $5-$10 for. Especially if the way you control speed is by tilting the phone forward or backward.

[tacojohn]

The iPhone looks like it's shaping out to be an amazing gaming device...

I know it has a faster processor than the PSP, but I somehow think the PSP is still more powerful for gaming and obviously has somewhat of a control advantage for certain game types...

I've had both a PSP and DS (enjoyed the DS a TON more than the PSP although I'm itching to get another PSP now that they're coming out with some decent games). The iPhone looks like it will somewhat satisfy my urg as long as they come out with some great games for it!

[avigalante]

Pretty nice, but I am surprised the game isn't in 'landscape' mode and that steering isn't controlled by the iPhone's accelerometer. That said, I'm sure with more time the developer will include this option.

[dr_lha]

Looks terrible. I mean, apart from the "wow" factor of having a 3D game run on the iPhone, how many good "Kart" games are there in the world apart from those that start with the word "Mario"? I'll let you in on a secret: Not very many. Cart games are easy to write, but hard to get right, which is why there are so many crap ones on the market.

Seeing this I have a nasty feeling that the iPhone is going to be the target of a lot of shovelware games, especially given the cheap licensing fee to develop for it compared to the PSP and DS.

[Peel]

Originally Posted by Neerazan

One other thought, I haven't heard it expressed anywhere else yet (although I may just not have been looking hard enough), the iPhone is going to get a lot of developers used to programming in Cocoa that have never considered developing for the Mac platform before; I can see a potentially huge 'halo effect' of bringing developers, particularly games developers, over to the Mac as a platform via the iPhone.

I was going to say the same thing. Most of the developers up on stage with Steve expressed that this was their first experience developing on a Mac. So, once they get familiar with XCode and Cocoa, I'd expect to see a slew of new games and other apps for the Mac as well.