NVIDIA is celebrating the first year of TegraZone, the best place to find the hottest Android games for your Tegra-powered device. ASUS, NVIDIA, and Android and Me are partnering on a sweepstakes in which readers can vote on their favorite Tegra games for the chance to win the new ASUS Transformer Pad. Read on [...]]]>

NVIDIA is celebrating the first year of TegraZone, the best place to find the hottest Android games for your Tegra-powered device. ASUS, NVIDIA, and Android and Me are partnering on a sweepstakes in which readers can vote on their favorite Tegra games for the chance to win the new ASUS Transformer Pad. Read on for the full details.

About TegraZone

NVIDIA debuted TegraZone one year ago and it now boasts over 3.5 million installs. Over 1.5 million unique visitors have used the app during the past quarter and the average user visits every 3 days. NVIDIA has also helped developers gain exposure for their games with an average conversion rate of 19%, compared to the 5% average conversion rate of Google Play. There are now close to 40 games optimized for Tegra devices and we are seeing the quantity and quality increase every month.

NVIDIA TegraZone NVIDIA PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

My favorite TegraZone Game

I’ve played so many Tegra games and enjoyed a lot of them so it’s hard to pick a favorite, but I think I got the most enjoyment out of Shadowgun. I originally scored the game 7/10 for being too short and lacking a multiplayer mode, but the developer recently released an expansion pack with more levels and the free online multiplayer game is coming soon. Check out my full review of Shadowgun to see why bounty hunting has never looked so good.

SHADOWGUN THD MADFINGER Games PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

SHADOWGUN MADFINGER Games PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

First TegraZone Player’s Choice Awards

Scan to vote.

Starting today and running through May 31st, users can vote for their favorite Tegra games in three categories. Every user that votes in the TegraZone Player’s Choice Awards will be automatically entered to win a free ASUS Transformer Pad from NVIDIA.

Award Categories include:

1. Best Graphics
2. Best Gameplay
3. Overall fun

Once the votes are tallied, the winners will be announced on June 6th at E3.

Vote now in the TegraZone Player’s Choice Awards

The Prize: ASUS Transformer Pad Prize Pack

Running latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the ASUS Transformer Pad is a value packed tablet that with multi-color style, and productivity with expandability when connected to the mobile dock. With a 1.2MP front and 8MP rear auto-focus camera with large F/2.2 aperture and exclusive office software, staying connected and productive has never been easier.

Gaming to go prize pack includes:

• ASUS Transformer Pad
• ASUS Mobile dock
• Logitech game controller
• Jambox Speaker

How to Enter

For week 1 we’re going to make it super easy for you. Simply leave a comment below and you’ll be entered to win. We normally allow anonymous comments, but for this contest you will need to be a registered user to leave a comment. Not signed up? It only takes seconds to join.

Multiple comments are allowed on this post, but each user will only be counted once. The winner will be chosen at random, so don’t bother downvoting each other.

Multiple chances to win: Users can win a tablet from Android and Me or NVIDIA. The Player’s Choice Awards will be running for several weeks, so be on the lookout for more chances to win an ASUS Transformer Pad. As each week passes, we will make winning a Transformer Pad take a little more effort (like starting a Thread).

Contest Rules

This contest is open to residents of the United States, Canada, UK and Germany. Entries will be accepted for one week after the contest goes live. We’ll announce the winner on this page and on our Twitter account as soon as we draw.

Contest Winner

Congratulations to golcarcol who scored our first Transformer Pad prize pack!

Welcome to our new column Android Gaming Weekly, where we recap all the new releases and highlights every Thursday. We post small bits throughout the week related to Android games, but readers have requested a condensed summary that makes it easier to keep up with all the latest news. Read on for this week’s [...]]]>

Welcome to our new column Android Gaming Weekly, where we recap all the new releases and highlights every Thursday. We post small bits throughout the week related to Android games, but readers have requested a condensed summary that makes it easier to keep up with all the latest news. Read on for this week’s best in Android gaming.

The Dark Meadow

Phosphor Game Studios is bringing their iOS thriller The Dark Meadow to Android in the coming months and they gave a quick preview of their work at the Game Developers Conference last week. Our friends at DroidGamers were on site and captured a five minute walk-through of the game. This game looks to creep you out and blow you away with stunning visuals using Epic Game’s Unreal Engine and it is targeted for Tegra 3 devices.

Scramble with Friends

Last week Zynga released their latest game for Android called Scramble with Friends. If you loved Words With Friends and Hanging With Friends, then you should love this game. The only problem is that it’s only available in Canada right now. If your phone is rooted, you can try MarketEnabler to change your country setting to Canada, but the rest of us will just have to wait.

Update: Scramble with Friends is now available in the US.

Scramble With Friends Free Zynga PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Super Monkey Ball 2

Yes, I purchased a Nintendo Gamecube on launch day and picked up Super Monkey Ball and played the heck out of it. This month Sega released Super Monkey Ball 2 to the Google Play Store. The title runs $0.99, but it features six unique worlds with over 125 stages. Replay value is extended by four extra mini-games including Monkey Target, Monkey Golf, Monkey Bowl, and Monkey Base. I haven’t played the game yet, but writing this quick blurb brought back a lot of nostalgia so I just purchased it.

Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Ed SEGA of America PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Angry Birds Space

Last week at SXSW we got to spend some quality time with Angry Birds Space and I was impressed with what I saw. For me, the Angry Birds franchise has been a little stale, but this actually feels like a new game thanks to the enhanced space physics. The game will launch for free on March 22nd on the Google Play Store, so be sure to check it out.

Final Fantasy III

In case you missed our earlier report this week, Square Enix released Final Fantasy III for Android devices in Japan. We don’t know if the game will come to the United States yet, so RPG fans will have to wait and see what happens.

Samurai vs. Zombies Defense

This week Glu Mobile released their latest game Samurai vs. Zombies Defense. Glu Mobile has become the king of freemium games, and Samurai vs. Zombies doesn’t disappoint. This game lets you fight hordes of evil undead, decapitate your enemies, unlock allies, and take on some epic boss battles. It’s free. Go grab it.

SAMURAI vs ZOMBIES DEFENSE Glu Mobile PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Mass Effect 3 Live Wallpaper

This week NVIDIA released a live wallpaper to promote the console-game Mass Effect 3. It’s free and looks awesome, so that’s why we are sharing it. EA Mobile also recently released Mass Effect Infiltrator for iOS and we believe it’s headed to Android, so this wallpaper is a nice treat to hold us over as we wait for the game.

Mass Effect 3 Live Wallpaper NVIDIA PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Games I’m currently playing

Scrubs: What happens when a Russian developer makes a quirky game based on a hit TV show from the US? Scrubs is a weird Android game that reminds me of Where’s Waldo, and I’ve been playing through it this week trying to complete it. Fans of the TV show will probably enjoy the cartoon characters, but the average gamer might not find this title all that enjoyable.

Scrubs HeroCraft Ltd PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Taco Master: I grew up in South Texas, ate a lot of Mexican food, and worked in a fast food joint, so this fast-paced game is oddly amusing. The goal is to fill customers’ orders by making tacos as fast as you can. I haven’t unlocked the bonus modes yet, but they include Mexican Party and Zombie Tacos, which sound awesome. Reviews say the game has a screen issue with the Galaxy Nexus, so buyers beware.

Taco Master Kaxan Games S. de R.L. de C.V. PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

What are you playing?

Find any great new Android games this week? Share your favorites in the comments below so we can check them out.

Welcome to our new column Android Gaming Weekly, where we will recap all the new releases and highlights every Thursday. We post small bits throughout the week related to Android games, but readers have requested a condensed summary that makes it easier to keep up with all the latest news. Read on for this week’s [...]]]>

Welcome to our new column Android Gaming Weekly, where we will recap all the new releases and highlights every Thursday. We post small bits throughout the week related to Android games, but readers have requested a condensed summary that makes it easier to keep up with all the latest news. Read on for this week’s best in Android gaming.

Angry Birds Space

Today Rovio and NASA released a new trailer for Angry Birds Space. In the video we get to see the first actual gameplay of Angry Birds in a gravity free environment. Most of you seem bored with all the Angry Birds updates, but this latest title appears to offer something new. The game is scheduled to be released on March 22nd, possibly as an initial exclusive on the Galaxy Note. Check out the official site for the latest details.

If you can’t get enough Angry Birds, Rovio just released a Cherry Blossom Festival update to Angry Birds Seasons that adds 15 new levels.

Angry Birds Seasons Rovio Mobile Ltd. PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Dark Legends

This week Austin-based Spacetime Studios released a gameplay trailer for their upcoming MMO Dark Legends. After successful titles like Pocket Legends and Star Legends, Spacetime is now turning to the world of vampires. In this latest title players must embrace the secret societies of vampires to challenge the hordes of undead, werewolves, demons and humans that hunt them. I recently played the game at Mobile World Congress and it was the best looking MMO I’ve seen on Android. Be on the lookout for the official launch date.

Reign of Amira

Earlier this year we reported that Qualcomm’s in-house game studio would produce one Android title per year, and Reign of Amria is their first. This free game is a follow up to the Desert Winds mini game that was previously available and looks to take full advantage of Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon S4 processor. Qualcomm also announced several more exclusive titles coming to their GameCommand app including The Reem, The Ball, and Sega’s Virtua Tennis Challenge.

Temple Run

Temple Run is one of the most popular games on iOS with over 40 million downloads and tons of Android fans have been asking when it will be ported over. This week the developer Imangi Studios finally announced it would arrive on March 27th. “We are excited to finally share the Android release date with our fans who have been so enthusiastic and supportive of Temple Run,” said Keith Shepherd, co-founder of Imangi Studios. “By expanding to more mobile devices, we hope to provide the same addictive and fast-paced gameplay to an entirely new group of players.”

Dozens of games for only $0.49

In celebration of the new Google Play Store, there are dozens of games on sale for only $0.49. My top pics include Shadowgun, Osmos HD, World of Goo, Asphalt 6, Dead Space, and NOVA 2. Gameloft has also informed us that Modern Combat 3 will be on sale for $0.49 this Fri-Mon, so be sure to grab it if you have yet to check out the best first person shooter on Android.

Games I’m currently playing

World of Goo: I have no idea how I overlooked this title, but I’m so glad I picked it up in the $0.49 sale. World of Goo is one of the most original and entertaining puzzle games I have ever played. If you haven’t tried it yet, I promise you won’t be dissapointed.

World of Goo 2D BOY PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

The Sims FreePlay: Words can’t really describe why I play this game, but I have somehow been sucked back into The Sims and I’m not afraid to admit it. The game is free, so no harm in checking it out. EA designed the game to encourage in-app purchase of their game currency, but you can still progress through the game without spending a dime.

The Sims™ FreePlay Electronic Arts Inc PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

What are you playing?

Find any great new Android games this week? Share your favorites in the comments below so we can check them out.

This week at Mobile World Congress NVIDIA’s partners announced a ton of new Tegra 3 devices, but the big focus was on mobile games and other experiences that Tegra delivers. Last night we had the opportunity to attend an NVIDIA party where we got some hands-on time with several upcoming games headed to Tegra Zone.

With the wave of upcoming Tegra 3 devices about to be announced later this month, we felt it was a good time to preview a couple of upcoming games for Tegra Zone. NVIDIA’s showcase app has racked up a couple million installs since it launched last year and it now boasts close to [...]]]>

With the wave of upcoming Tegra 3 devices about to be announced later this month, we felt it was a good time to preview a couple of upcoming games for Tegra Zone. NVIDIA’s showcase app has racked up a couple million installs since it launched last year and it now boasts close to 40 games optimized for Tegra devices.

Now that more devices are coming to market, we are starting to see more quality releases (like Grand Theft Auto III and Shadowgun) and more developers are signing up to bring their games to Android. Read on for our top Tegra picks.

Borderlands 2

Last week at PDXLAN 19, Dallas-based studio Gearbox Software showed off Borderlands 2 running on a Tegra 3 tablet. Some attendees at the event were disappointed because they were expecting a demo of NVIDIA’s next-gen Kepler GPU, but this is still a significant announcement for Android.

Borderlands 2 is scheduled for a summer release on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. We are still waiting for more details, but this could be the first time that a console-quality game sees a simultaneous release on Android. We know that Tegra 3 has a PC-class GeForce GPU, but only a couple of developers have taken full advantage of it.

Check out the Borderlands 2 site for future updates on this game.

Demolition Inc.

Also announced last week was Demolition Inc. from Zeroscale. This action strategy game lets you assume the role of a demolition worker and shows off the physics processing power of Tegra devices. Demolition Inc. is currently scheduled for a March release.

Highlights of Demolition Inc. include:

• Car and building physics are fully simulated. Everything is destructible and nothing is pre-animated.
• Use the endless possibilities of combining your tools and weapons to make devastating chain reactions.
• Use your tractor beam to take control of cars, place anti-gravity ramps to maximize damage, use the huge wrecking ball to make way.
• Three cities and 15 districts are awaiting to be demolished by you and lead to their true destination!
• Compare your skills with those of your friends and the world-wide steam community.

Do you love watching soccer, I mean football? I’ve never been a huge fan, but I’ll always tune into the World Cup. Earlier today I said that Gameloft had not release an Android game in awhile, but I was quickly corrected when someone told me that Real Soccer 2012 just launched.

The game [...]]]>

Do you love watching soccer, I mean football? I’ve never been a huge fan, but I’ll always tune into the World Cup. Earlier today I said that Gameloft had not release an Android game in awhile, but I was quickly corrected when someone told me that Real Soccer 2012 just launched.

The game is available for free and Gameloft is supporting a wide variety of devices, including the new Galaxy Nexus. Real Soccer 2012 allows you to replay the game you just watched on TV with Hypergame technology, create your own custom team jerseys, get the latest soccer news thanks to official RSS feeds from goal.com, and access many different game modes including Exhibition, League and various International Cup modes, or practice your skills in Training mode.

Gameloft has the official FIFPro license which includes thousands of real players’ names, 350 teams and 14 league championships to play including England, Spain, France, Germany and South America.

Sounds like a football lover’s dream, right? Just be warned that this free game eats up 483 MB of space after it’s fully installed. Check out the official trailer and conversation with the developers below to see if you might be interested in this Android game.

Real Soccer 2012 Gameloft PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Gameloft still doesn’t give Android the same lovin that goes to iOS, but they are still my favorite mobile game developer by far (seriously, I’ve authored about 50 blog posts on them). They produce some of the best looking games that Android has seen (Modern Combat 3) and they also have one of [...]]]>

Gameloft still doesn’t give Android the same lovin that goes to iOS, but they are still my favorite mobile game developer by far (seriously, I’ve authored about 50 blog posts on them). They produce some of the best looking games that Android has seen (Modern Combat 3) and they also have one of the largest library of titles spanning all genres.

In episode 20 of the Gameloft Podcast, longtime host Josh Goldberg bids farewell to his gig. To celebrate his final episode Gameloft told Josh he could do whatever he wants, which results in one of the more entertaining episodes. I won’t spoil any details, so just check out the show below.

We haven’t seen many new games from Gameloft this year, but they did just launch their free community app Gameloft Live to the Android Market. The app lets you create a 3D avatar of yourself (think Wii’s Miis) and provides access to exclusive news, spotlight promotions, and special discounts on games.

I played around with the app and didn’t see much added value yet, but this is just the first version and I’m sure Gameloft will improve it. Hey, at least it’s a sign that Gameloft is making an effort to grow their Android fan base. Be on the lookout for Dungeon Hunter 3 to hit the Android Market next month.

Gameloft LIVE! Gameloft PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Is EA Mobile finally ready to take Android serious now? They have ported a handful of their most popular iOS games to Android, but most have been met with a lukewarm reception (averaging review scores of 3/5). A quick browse of EA Mobile’s site shows that they haven’t updated their Android section in years, [...]]]>

Is EA Mobile finally ready to take Android serious now? They have ported a handful of their most popular iOS games to Android, but most have been met with a lukewarm reception (averaging review scores of 3/5). A quick browse of EA Mobile’s site shows that they haven’t updated their Android section in years, with only the original T-Mobile G1 being listed as a supported device.

We don’t know much about EA Mobile’s future plans for Android, but their PR team has started to made an effort to reach out to Android bloggers and open a channel of communication. For example, to promote their upcoming Android game The Sims FreePlay, EA mailed me a Sims coffee mug, scarf, and paper speakers. I’m still not sure what the point was of these random items, but I’m sitting here writing this article so I guess they got the job done.

No release date has been announced, but we have heard that The Sims FreePlay should be available in the Android Market by the end of this month. The game previously launched on iOS devices back in December where it won several awards for best freemium game of the year.

EA’s current game The Sims 3 is priced at $6.99 and did relatively well selling between 100,000-500,000 copies (most came when the game was on sale for $0.99). Unfortunately the game has not been updated since September, which has led to many complaints about support and earned the game a 3.5 rating in the Android Market.

Even though most of EA’s titles have been disappointing compared to their iOS versions, we know they are capable of producing some awesome Android games – see Dead Space. Hopefully The Sims FreePlay will receive their best effort and more resources will be allocated to support the game after its initial release.

Do we have any Sims fans in the house?

Gallery

We like games, and we like to be able to afford games. Sometimes purchasing game after game can burn a hole in your pocket. Humble Bundle has been a great solution for affordable gaming before. But this is the first time Humble Bundle has hit the Android platform.

The bundle offers 3 (4 if you [...]]]>

We like games, and we like to be able to afford games. Sometimes purchasing game after game can burn a hole in your pocket. Humble Bundle has been a great solution for affordable gaming before. But this is the first time Humble Bundle has hit the Android platform.

The bundle offers 3 (4 if you pay more) cross-platform games. This means you could play the games directly from your Windows (via Steam), Mac or Linux computer. And you can choose how much you pay for them.

The included games are Anomaly, Osmos and Edge. If you pay more than the “average” you also get World of Goo. The average is currently at about $5.27. It will be going up, so hurry up and get it while it’s still cheap!

• Anomaly: This game was recently released, so it’s definitely a good deal. It’s basically a “tower offense” game, where you fight through a field against enemy towers.
• Osmos: This is a very peaceful and relaxing game. The new age music soothes you into the zone. As a molecule, your objective is to become bigger by absorbing smaller molecules and avoiding bigger ones. (Highly recommended by Taylor).
• Edge: This game is a bit of a trip. You basically navigate a cube in an animated field. The field moves and changes as the game gets more complicated.
• World of Goo: Most of you probably know this one by now. It’s a bit of a surreal physics/building puzzle game. You can use globs of goo to build all sorts of things, like bridges, structures and even cannon balls.

Not only is this an affordable bundle for all the gamers out there, but customers would also be helping out with Child’s Play Charity. When purchasing, you have the option to divide your payment as you wish between the developers, charity and what they call a “Humble Tip.” Humble Tips go straight to Humble Bundle, Inc.

Not only can you name your own price, but you can divide your payment to most benefit whoever you see fit. If you’re looking to purchase some games for your spare time, this deal is quite the no-brainer. Go ahead and purchase the bundle straight from their site, and try to support with whatever you can!

Who’s getting this Humble Bundle? Have you guys enjoyed these deals before? Let us know what you think, and excuse me, as I will be playing these games for a while.

Earlier this month Qualcomm launched their GameCommand application into the Android Market to showcase all the titles that are optimized for their Snapdragon devices. The app couldn’t be installed on non-Snapdragon devices and the design of the layout was rather uninspiring, but Qualcomm is investing a lot of resources to make sure that GameCommand [...]]]>

Earlier this month Qualcomm launched their GameCommand application into the Android Market to showcase all the titles that are optimized for their Snapdragon devices. The app couldn’t be installed on non-Snapdragon devices and the design of the layout was rather uninspiring, but Qualcomm is investing a lot of resources to make sure that GameCommand is a success.

Recently we had the opportunity to sit down with Dave Durnil, Director of Advanced Content and Gaming at Qualcomm, who provided a quick walk-through of the app and talked about the future of the program. He told us that the next version of GameCommand is already in development and it should launch next month around the time of Mobile World Congress. New features include the ability to add custom RSS feeds to the news reader, a landscape layout for tablets, and new filters to sort games by category, publisher, and more.

Dave also told us that Qualcomm now has an in-house studio dedicated to making Android games for Snapdragon devices. We don’t know the exact size of the team, but we were told their goal is to release one flagship title per year. Their first game will be a full blown sequel to the mini-game Desert Winds.

GameCommand already boast over 100 titles, which is more than NVIDIA’s Tegra Zone. Not every game is a blockbuster, but Qualcomm has already made deals with Gameloft and EA Mobile to release exclusive titles. Both Gameloft and EA Mobile were originally listed as partners for Tegra Zone, but we never saw any games come from that.

Qualcomm actually shipped more mobile GPUs than anyone else last year (thanks to the integrated Adreno GPU found in Snapdragon), so developers have a lot of reasons to target Snapdragon devices. GameCommand has yet to crack 5k installs, but if Qualcomm refines the app and pumps out some exclusive titles they might be able to catch up with NVIDIA’s Tegra Zone (currently 1 million+ installs) this year.

If you have a Snapdragon device, have you tried out GameCommand yet? Let us know what you think of the app and list the things that Qualcomm could do to improve it in the comments below.