Fri, 16 Oct 2009 Glu highlights ground-breaking iPhone games for release this winter

Glu, a leading global publisher of mobile games, has revealed several new iPhone games to be released this winter.

Taxi Fight!, Beat It!, World Series of Poker: Hold 'em Legend, 1000: Find 'em All, Stranded 2: Mysteries of Time, Glyder 2 and Alley Gator are all set for release between the end of October and January 2010.

Macworld visited the Glu offices in London this week to see first hand the games demoed, and had a chance to talk to the developers about how the company are trying to enhance the gaming experience on both iPhone and iPod touch.

First up, Taxi Fight!, due this month, puts you in a quick race against time and traffic to catch a cab. Three different types of passengers - the rushing businessman, the lazy tourist and a elderly gentleman, will all have different speeds and fare values. Sessions gets faster and tougher over time. The challenge is to keep the marathon mode going as the game speeds up and more obstacles get in the way of your passengers

Beat It! is billed as the next generation in music (re)creation games, which lets users produce original music while testing their gaming skills to match rhythms. Part game and part music application, Beat It! includes a freestyle mode that let’s users produce original compositions.

The game is built around a particularly impressive eBoy design style pixel based environment, which looked striking even on a large monitor. The Glu team also showed how it was possible to unlock more instruments while playing different Beat It! levels, including those for recreating electro, hip hop, house, and rock sounds.

In World Series of Poker: Hold 'em Legend, players will be able to create their own identity, interact with opponents and play in cash games and WSOP tournaments to build bank rolls, earn achievements and win prestigious rings and bracelets.

For added authenticity, Glu aim to have Lon McEachern and Norman Chad, the official broadcasters for the World Series of Poker, as part of the application due for release in November.

World Series of Poker: Hold 'em Legend will also offer leaderboards for multiplayer games, with a chance climb the worldseriesofpoker.com rankings.

1000: Find 'em All promises to be either engrossing or frustrating as you potential spend weeks searching a series of virtual world using the built-in GPS in your iPhone. Gamers can seek out real world Wi-Fi hotspots to obtain unique items, with each new hotspot spawning a character you can collect from. You can use GPS to hunt down more collectables and locate new items in the fantasy world by navigating the real world explained Glu.

Stranded 2: Mysteries of Time is an update of a popular Glu title, with a chance to unlock the mysteries of the past, present, and future in a race against the clock to save mankind. The mysterious island adventure offers gamers a chance to solve puzzles and complete quests, which also involves time travel and the ability to play during day and night settings when the environment and gaming experience adds a range of new items at specific points.

Glyder 2 is another game update, and possibly the most relaxing of games previewed this week. Take the controls of Eryn’s glyder by tilting your iPod or iPhone. Glide through visually attractive and challenging obstacles to collect crystals, solve unique puzzles and unlock portals to other worlds.

Due in December, Glyder 2 will offer the ability to customise Eryn with specialised wings, different outfits, and valuable collectibles. Never-ending mini games promise to provide hours of replayablity, while you'll be able to connect with friends on the Isle of Friendship and share treasures, rewards and customisable items.

Finally, Alley Gator, due in December, looks to be a fairly straight racing game as you speed through the New York sewer system trying to get back to your native jungle environment. Glu highlighted features unique to the iPhone 3.0 OS update, including the ability to record special audio effects, which become part of the game.

The game will include six different environments, with a chance to grab pick-ups along the way to help Alley escape the smelly sewers.

Glu currently has more than 20 leading titles on the UK Apple iTunes App Store including Family Guy: Uncensored, Super KO Boxing 2, Space Monkey, Cops & Robbers and Deer Hunter 3D.

Founded in 2001, Glu is based in San Mateo, California and has offices here in London, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia, China, Brazil, Chile, Canada and Mexico.

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