MadCatz take to the skies

Published on 30/08/2012 13:44

TRANSFORMERS: Fall of Cybertron (12+, PS3, Xbox360, PC, £39.99) is the latest of many games based on the 1980s toy phenomenon.

This promises epic battles in large online arenas. It’s hard to see how engaging the plot can be though – the setting is on an apocalyptic planet before the giant robots come to earth, so why they need to disguise themselves as motorbikes or cassette players is mystifying.

Also newly out, Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII (12+, PS3, Xbox360, £39.99) is a new flight combat game by MadCatz, who are more commonly known for making third party controllers and other gaming peripherals.

Given that this game is also bundled with a large ‘flight-style’ joystick, it could be that they’ve rushed it out to complement the accessory.

Another long-standing franchise is the stat-heavy American Football series endorsed by now retired commentator John Madden. Madden 13 (3+, PS3, Xbox360, £39.99) is out tomorrow. EA release sports games with alarming regularity, and it’s hard to see what is new about this latest addition.

At last week’s Turing Festival gaming futures industry event in Edinburgh, Scottish developer Denki games announced that their new game, Save The Day (N/A, Web Browser, Facebook, Free) will be playtested by the public. This means that the game is now live on new browser-based platform Turbulenz. Not only can you play the game, see it grow and develop, but also you can engage with the process.

It’s a brave new business model in an industry that gets a lot of criticism for rushing out unfinished games, but this cute little homage to the classic game Choplifter is full of charm, and is already impossibly addictive. The more people that play and give feedback, the better the game will get, and everyone will be a winner. Head to turbulenz.com to try it out.

Edinburgh’s interactive learning company Interface3 have spun their games division off as Tigerface games with two brand new educational games for the iPad.

Smash Party (5+, iOS, £2.49) is a set of four mini-games. Each works like a boardgame where four players can sit round the iPad matching rhyming words, spelling tests, number patterns and sums.Equator (5+, iOS, £2.49) is a two player game based on moving the seasons of a small planet forward. Both games only work on an iPad, as they are designed to be played with friends.

Sign up for Edinburgh’s charity gaming marathon at www.sickkidssavepoint.org