If you've ever dreamed of donning a flying suit and whizzing about in a military helicopter, you'll probably enjoy upcoming Kiwi-made iPhone and iPad game Chopper 2.

The original Chopper reached number one in the paid games category of the US iTunes store, selling more than 300,000 copies. More than 700,000 copies of the free Lite version of the game have also been downloaded.

Majic Jungle Software founder and Chopper lead developer David Frampton said the next edition of the side-scrolling helicopter game would again thrust players into the cockpit as a pilot defending his country against enemy invasion. It featured 36 missions (the original Chopper had 20 missions), improved graphics and moving enemy and friendly forces with "basic but flexible" AI.

"The original Chopper was quite 2D, it was only pseudo 3D. The new game will be truly 3D with a proper physics engine."

The game's missions would open with a short intro sequence to outline the player's objectives, Frampton said. Each mission would take approximately two to three minutes to play through if the gamer successfully dodged enemy fire, but many players would need to replay missions multiple times.

Frampton said he had been developing Chopper 2 for the past year and planned to launch it in July as a universal app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. He had originally intended to have the game ready in time for the US launch of the iPad on April 3 but it was not at the high standard he had hoped for so its release had been delayed, he said.

"I'm pretty happy with the hype around it but I'm a little bit worried that people might be expecting too much. I'm putting in an extra effort to make sure I get it right. I'm really being a perfectionist."

Final pricing for the game has not yet been announced but Frampton said it would be below US$5.

Check out a video of Chopper 2 in action here.

Posted by James Heffield at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Blizzard yesterday gave millions of sci-fi strategy fans the news they've been waiting for. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is on its way to a computer near you.

One of the most anticipated real-time strategy game in the history of the genre, Blizzard announced an end date to fans' collective yearning. On July 27, 2010, Blizzard will release StarCraft II in New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Europe, South Korea, Australia, Russia, Mexico, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. That's a near-world-wide invasion of Terran, Protoss, and Zerg.

"We've been looking forward to revisiting the StarCraft universe for many years, and we're excited that the time for that is almost here," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment, in announcing the July launch.

"Thanks to our beta testers, we're making great progress on the final stages of development, and we'll be ready to welcome players all over the world to StarCraft II and the new Battle.net in just a few months."

StarCraft II is the sequel to the award-winning 1998 title StarCraft. After nearly seven years of development, the war of galactic conquest begins anew. Set five years after the events of Brood War, the single-player campaign of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty will follow the exploits of Jim Raynor and fellow earth exiles (known as the Terrans) as they fight for survival against their own kind, the mysterious Protoss, and insidious Zerg. Subsequent expansions will highlight the other two races and continue the story.

The original StarCraft featured a breathtaking balance between the races, an amazingly-addictive multiplayer system, and a compelling story. With 11 million copies sold, it's one of the most successful games of all time. You'd be a fool to not look forward to the sequel.

By Chris Holt

Posted by James Heffield at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )