Ever wonder what it would be like to run one of the boats on the Deadliest Catch TV show? Well now you have a chance, virtually that is, with the newly released Deadliest Catch game for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Players start from the very beginning and attempt to build a successful boat.

Players have to pick the boat they would like to operate, which is a pretty easy decision because you can only afford one boat in the beginning of the game. After the boat is bought, it is off to get crew to man the boat. The crew have different attributes and players can decide if they are looking for a crew that can last a while out in the elements, have a good work ethic or are upbeat type people. The crew have their attributes increased as they work. The better more crab the player is able to catch the more morale the crew will have.

After the boat and crew are selected and the bait is bought, it is time to start catching crab. The boat sets out into the Bering Sea to catch some crabs. The crab are marked on a radar screen and the player uses their finger to navigate the boat towards the crab. There are multiple areas with crab and the player needs to choose where to drop the crab pots. The player slides their finger across the screen to drop their crab pots in the water. They can drop as many or as little as they want. The pots have to soak to catch crab. There is a timer that lets the players know how long the pots have been soaking.

When it is time to pull up the crab pots, the player has to launch the hook and pull up the crab pot. The player launches the hook by touching the screen and sliding their finger in a throwing motion. The hook is thrown and hopefully lands on the rope to pull up the pot. Before the pot can be hauled in, the player has to click the two circles when they match up, which simulates the rope being put in the machinery that hauls the pot out of the water.

Players have a time limit to get the allotted crab. They need to get their boat and crew back safely while collecting the allotted crab. If the crab can be caught, the player will make money and eventually be able to upgrade their boat to a different boat.

Over all, the game is fun and entertaining, especially for a fan of the Deadliest Catch TV show. The game starts out slow enough to introduce the player to all of the game mechanisms and then picks up the pace. If you are into simulation games, check out Deadliest Catch in the Apple App Store.

Microsoft angered developer Rovio by including an icon for Angry Birds in their promotion for Windows 7 Mobile during a conference.

This resulted in an angry tweet from Rovio when some asked the developer about a Win7 version:

We have NOT committed to doing a Windows Phone 7 version. Microsoft put the Angry Birds icon on their site without our permission.

This doesn’t rule out the possibility of Angry Birds on the mobile platform – in another tweet from Rovio, they stated:

[It has] nothing to do with if we do or don’t [release the game on Windows Phone 7], it’s just that we decide that ourselves.

Microsoft apologized at TechFlash:

It appears information was mistakenly posted to Microsoft’s website, and has been removed.

The situation is likely that Microsoft and Rovio are negotiating a contract to bring Angry Birds to Windows 7 Mobile, but someone at Microsoft, probably in marketing, prematurely included the game in the presentation before an agreement had been reached between the two companies.

Would Angry Birds make you more likely to pick up a Windows 7 Mobile? Let us know.

Some of the captains may not be coming back for the next season of The Deadliest Catch, but you can play those captains in the mobile game. The mobile game has the same name as the show, Deadliest Catch. Players can choose which captain they would like to be and then pick the boat, crew and gear.

The game is much like the TV show. Players are in a race against time to stuff their tanks, have to battle harsh weather and get their crew home safely. The safety of the crew is paramount, but the captains have to balance safety and making money. Players have to stuff their tanks just like the captains on the show. This is your chance to find out what it is like to be a crab fisherman, but with much less risk and harsh weather.

Deadliest Catch mobile game is available for iPhone as well as other mobile devices. There are mini-games that give the player the option to play one of the mini-games as a stand alone casual game. If you like the Deadliest Catch show, check out the game.

Polarbit and Fabrication Games announced the release of Long John Silver for Android, iPhone and Palm devices. The goal of the game is to match three or more of one kind as fast as possible. The game is fast paced, but easy to learn.

Long John Silver is a cross platform release and contains a high scoreboard across all platforms. Players have to score as many points as possible and they have to compete against all of the platforms the game is available on. Long John Silver is the first of a few games to be released by these developers through out the fall season. If you enjoy match three style games, check out Long John Silver on the device you own market place.

Read the rest of this entry »

Astraware announced the release of Astraware Sudoku and OddBlob for WebOS. The games will initially work on the Palm Pre and Pre Plus, with support coming for the Pixi later on. Both releases keep with the long standing tradition of Astraware games on Palm devices.

Astraware Sudoku is a Sudoku game packed with features, including a puzzle of the day. Each day there is a new puzzle to be downloaded and solved. After players solve the puzzle, they can upload their times to the leader board to see how they compete with other players.  OddBlob is a puzzle-arcade game created from modeling clay, and featuring online leader boards for players to post their high scores in both Strategy and Panic modes.

“We’re delighted to be re-establishing our long-term relationship with Palm, and supporting the new platform with a range of great casual games,” said Howard Tomlinson, CEO of Astraware. “Our experience at supporting well-featured devices in a range of sizes and resolutions has helped us to make our first webOS games a pleasure to play, and we look forward to bringing many more titles to the platform.”

Astraware will be releasing other games for WebOS in the future, as well.

Read the rest of this entry »