With only four days to go until the launch of Apple’s App Store, which will feature 3D games that push the iPhone to its limits, most developers would consider releasing a browser-based iPhone game a bad idea. Throwing common sense to the wind, ad agency Hello Viking has just released Viking Smackdown, a Safari-based iPhone game that manages to take advantage of the phone’s built-in accelerometer. You can access the game by visiting VikingSmackdown.com from your iPhone’s browser.
The game itself is very simple: your goal is to make a cartoony-looking viking throw his axe as far as possible. Tilt your phone to the side and you are presented with a meter that indicates how forcefully you’ll throw your mighty blade. Then, once the meter is full, tilt the phone right-side up to send the axe flying. The farther it goes, the better.
While there have been a number of motion-sensing apps made for “jailbroken” (i.e. hacked) iPhones, few Apple sanctioned web-apps can make use of the phone’s accelerometer. Using some clever scripting, Viking Smackdown takes advantage of the web browser’s orientation detection to create this simple (but surprisingly fun) game. It’s a shame it will be totally obsolete in less than a week.
iPhone games look amazingly fun. Can’t wait.
@Ryan
This is live now.. You can play it with your current iPhone.
Jason - Thanks for the post and the video! We’ll keep an eye out for you on the High Score Contest. (btw, it’s our humble opinion that Viking Smackdown will only get better on a 3G iPhone.) - Tim
So is Energee Inc Mobile - The Energy trading game:
Mobile Version:
http://www.energeeinc.com/m/
Web Version:
http://www.EnergeeInc.com
Players can play using the same company in either format, web or mobile.
So is Energee Inc Mobile - The Energy trading game:
Mobile Version:
http://www.energeeinc dot com/m/
Web Version:
http://www.EnergeeInc dot com
Players can play using the same company in either format, web or mobile.
Here’s me playing. It’s actually hard.
Finally the Wii has some real competition.
@6 - I’m not sure this is competing with the wii as it’s a console. This is going for a different market. The iphone seems to cater to the folks that want and can afford a smart phone but don’t want to carry their PSP or DS.
I don’t think this game will be obsolete because there is nothing to load. Loading software is always a gap that is difficult to persuade users to jump. Shareware developers have been battling it for years trying to get folks to try their demo. This game just needs you to surf to teh site.
It’s not going to be the hardware or the name of the company pushing the hardware that will give the iphone traction but the developers and the games on it. I remain skeptical of the iphone as a game platform.
The fact that the display is also the main input device (so it has to move a lot) would seem to hamstring many games.
And how will AT&T price their hardware insurance given the additional (potentially hilarious) risk that iPhoneys will hurl their precious phones into walls, ponds and each other in the throes of Viking Smackdown competitive lust?
@7 - duh… I was being sarcastic.
If its going to obsolete next week its a good job they released it early.
Next… the “flying fsck at the moon” game, using the built-in accelerometer…
Jason:
I’m not sure if you’re being ironic about obsolescence, but I bears pointing out that there’s really no such thing as “obsolescence” when it comes to games.
As long as a game design is still fun (Scrabble, Solitaire, Bridge, Chess, Mah Jong come to mind), its technology platform is mostly irrelevant.
Gabe
Anybody here seen Labyrinth?
That my friends, kicks ass.
cant wait to get my hand on the iPhone and try out this game, the video is amazing =D
and the video to iPhone 3G converter new release http://www.daniusoft.com/video-to-iphone.html
Hi! chicago breast augmentation surgeon