Jugaccino

When I first got my hands on the combination of PC and SimCity, I was in heaven.  The game allowed its users a form of control that was above and beyond what was expected of it.  So when Apple released their iPhone which went from strength to strength in the gaming community, it was only time that stood in the way of the collaboration.  Well now time has passed and the collaboration is complete.

And now with Christmas quickly approaching, an iPhone under a Christmas Tree with access to the AppStore and a credit card will be the perfect gift this year.  What better way than to fight away your credit crunch blues than to build a completely fictitious simulated city.

Generally considered a mix between the graphics of SimCity 3000 and the feel of SimCity 2000, the game finally brings one of the better retro games to the popular console.  And for its miniature price, it’s an absolute bargain.

Interestingly, the game on the iPhone is being hailed as a better version than its predecessors as the touch screen functionality of the console allows for a much more interesting spin on the whole ‘let’s create a city’ theme.

The release of the game is one of the first stages indicating that the iPhone is moving a couple of steps into more mature directions.  The game differs from other iPhone games as it is not a game that you just pick up and play and then quite whenever you feel like it and all your progress is lost – this game allows you to save and build upon where you last left the game, like other hand held gaming consoles such as the PSP and DS.  The release of this game is the iPhone’s most recent hit in the battle to match the bigger handheld consoles.

However, it has been noted by users that the game can have its lagging moments, particularly when the user tries to pan around.  Still, for most users this won’t put them off buying.

Apple have recently made headlines as their plans for world domination through a single telecommunication provider in each country are being crushed.  France have declared that Apple must abandon their rules about only allowing one provider, which has left Orange feeling a little blue (had to be said).

Orange enjoyed its moment in the spotlight by being the only provider in France to sell the iPhone, but now the country has decided that the monopoly should be broken and other competitors should be allowed to sell the console.

The news gives hope to service providers in Britain who have been itching to get their hands on the phone, however a partner of the Kemp Little law firm, Mike Conradi, claimed that the likes of Vodafone and Orange here in Britain shouldn’t get too excited.  “There’s no reason that just because they’ve reached that decision in France that the regulator or the courts would reach the same decision in the UK.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 18th, 2008 at 3:04 pm and is filed under Game Development, Gaming, Handheld Consoles, iPhone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.