Belgium-based indie game development company, Vetasoft, has announced the release of the interestingly titled 8 bit vs  16 bit 1.0, a retro-styled shmup for the iPhone. In the game, players switch between 8-bit and 16-bit modes to kill off invaders of the 8-bit and 16-bit variety. The game features retro graphics as well as support for Retina Display and Game Center.

Adriano Baglio of Vetasoft had this to say about the game: “8 bit vs 16 bit is the kind of game that you should put your skills to the best, the concept of 8 bit vs. 16 bit is simple and amazing. The game resumes perfectly the spirit of the old arcade game with a different twist. If you like score games, you will stay stuck for a while!“

Pricing and Availability:

8 bit vs 16 bit 1.0 is only $0.99 USD and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category, check it out over here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/8-bit-vs-16-bit/id451697271?mt=8. There is also a free Lite version available: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/8-bit-vs-16-bit-free/id451697600?mt=8

Guess who is sitting on the hot seat this week for our Indie Game Developer interview segment? It’s none other than Dino Catch developers GeoWoks, represented by co-founder Sheldon Shi. Before we started off with the interview, Sheldon did drop off a nugget of information concerning the promotion of indie games.

In order to gain traction, one should focus on free-app-a-day style of promotions. Maybe you guys out there who are aspiring developers should take this tip up, after all, there’s nothing to lose…and everything to gain.

Nine Over Ten 9/10: Tell us more about yourselves and how you started developing mobile games

Sheldon Shi (SS): GeoWok started out in 2010 when I met co-founder Huazhang Shen, a Facebook game developer. We both agreed that mobile internet on smartphones will be prevalent in people’s lives, and we’d better do something about it. So we founded GeoWok to create games and entertainment apps for the iOS platform. We currently have 7 developers and designers.

9/10: What was the idea behind Dino Catch? How did you get onto the idea of converting an interesting Game Theory (Angel problem) into a game?

SS: Dino Catch is based on a pretty well known math problem called Angel Problem. The problem is about how an angel can escape the blockage of a devil on an infinite grid. In each turn the angel can travel N steps (N >=1), and the devil can block any point on the grid. The problem is complicated. So Dino catch condenses it to its simplest form, when N=1 and the grid is a finite board.

Dino Catch is not the first game to do so. There are PC games based on the problem that has been around for a while. But none of them have been fully packaged as a stand-alone, multi-level game. So I decided to do it for  the iOS platform.

9/10: Could you share with us a little on what you’ll be working on next?

SS: We are cranking out multiple iOS apps every month. Not all of them are games but all are entertaining. Entertaining people for 5 minutes at a time, that is our goal. Stay tuned for some really fun apps.

9/10: Last question, what are your views on iOS games piracy and how has that affected you, and your fellow developers?

SS: We focus on grow our user base. I am sure piracy exists and is a problem, but as a small team, we have bigger problems to solve.

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Don’t forget to check out our review of Dino Catch.

Humble Bundle fans, listen up. The Humble Indie Bundle is back with 5 awesome indie games, and all of them run natively on Windows, Mac and Linux. The bundle includes games like Cogs, VVVVVV and Hammerfight. Like the previous Humble Bundles, buyers are allowed to pay what they want for the 5 games, and part of the money goes to Child’s Play, a charity for sick kids in children hospitals across the U.S.

The games are DRM free and you can even redeem them on Steam and Desura. So what are you waiting for? As of time of writing, there’s still 13 days and 8 hours to go before the Bundle ends. Check it out over here: http://www.humblebundle.com/

If you have an iPhone 4 or a 3rd Gen iPod touch, you might want to check out Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty. Previously priced at USD 4.99, it’s now going for just USD 0.99 to celebrate the stellar opening weekend of “Captain America: The First Avenger“. Remember to check out our review over here, before downloading the game from the iTunes App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/captain-america-sentinel-liberty/id434478300?mt=8

Are you hungry? If you are, you might want to reconsider having a look at the app that I’m about to talk about, it might just whet your appetite to unbearable levels. Indie developers Viki & Joe Software’s Hungarian Desserts is an amazing little app that features the most delicious, easy to prepare authentic Hungarian dessert recipes.

A mouthwatering photo accompanies each and every of these carefully selected and tested recipes. These include the iconic Dobos Cake, Strudels (rétes), filled with apple, cherry, poppy seed or cheese, Gundel pancake, plum dumplings (szilvás gombóc), somlói dumplings and sweet chestnut puree, gesztenyepüré (cooked chestnuts mashed with sugar and rum and split into crumbs, topped with whipped cream).

For aspiring chefs out there, the app has a host of features that make it easy for them to go about making the dishes that establish Hungary as one of the big names in the world of dessert making. Recipe cards can be searched by keyword, name, or ingredient; there’s also the grocery list and built-in kitchen timers, along with conversion settings from metric to imperial.

The app is available on both the iPhone and iPad for just USD 0.99. Check it out at the following links:

• iPhone: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hungarian-desserts/id451006139?ls=1&mt=8
• iPad: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hungarian-desserts-hd/id451011425?ls=1&mt=8

I took a snapshot of IO-Interactive’s (the makers of the Hitman series) job ad on this month’s issue of EDGE as I couldn’t help but notice the focus on FOOD as part of the job perks. I wonder whether it is the same everywhere else? I hope they have comprehensive health care and gym memberships considering what they are feeding their guys:

The Mac App Store is a treasure trove of stuff waiting to be discovered. I was browsing around the other day (can’t really recall what I was looking for), but I bumped into Dejal Systems’ Simon Free, a website monitoring tool for Mac OS X. The app checks websites and servers for changes or failures, and it is what I use to monitor Nine Over Ten 9/10.

Another interesting app that I downloaded is Atomix Productions’ VirtualDJ Home. I’m still dabbling with it, but according to the developer, it’s the most widely used DJ software and uncontested leader of non-timecode digital DJing.

You know what’s the best part about these two apps that I downloaded? Both are available for free on the App Store! Check them out over here:

• Simon Free: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/simon-free/id402359480?mt=12
• VirtualDJ Home: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/virtualdj-home/id417934534?mt=12

So what interesting apps have you found on the Mac App Store recently?

Been seeing several amazing-looking 3D games on the iPhone this week, and Sunday Coders‘ maiden game for the iPhone is no exception. Titled Marball Odyssey (I’m pretty sure there’s a typo in there somewhere, hopefully it’s on purpose), the game is inspired by classic marble madness games but with a few twists.

The principle behind MarBall Odyssey is simple: guide the ball to the  exit without falling out of bounds, avoiding obstacles or by triggering various mechanisms. Along the route, players can pick up various bonuses to improve their scores. The free version of the game contains 3 level and the full game can be purchased in-app for USD 0.99

Check it out over here on the iTunes App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/marball-odyssey-pack1/id432328151?mt=8

Funny how you can find a whole bunch of video game related books on the bottom shelf in the “Culture” section of a huge book store. Harold Goldberg’s All Your Base Are Belong To Us: How Fifty Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture has been something that I’ve been looking for quite some time, and I found it several weeks ago languishing in one of the bottom shelves of Kinokuniya.

The title of the book is a line taken from a Japanese Sega Mega Drive game, Zero Wing, known for the use of broken English in the European translation of the game, which became an Internet meme of sorts. This sets the tone for the book as each chapter in the book takes readers through some of video games greatest moments and achievements, most of which have far reaching effects on popular culture.

I really like the parts about Trip Hawkins and the rise of Electronic Arts, on how BioShock came about, and the two chapters dedicated to Rockstar and its magnum opus, the Grand Theft Auto series. Other highlights include the making of some of the most influential MMORPGs of all time.

The rest of the book is no less an enjoyable read as it is brimming with of video gaming anecdotes, like the  one on Nintendo’s Miyamoto which kinda implied that the guy is a company mascot of sorts, which in turn confirms what I think about that chap (I don’t like him).

All Your Base Are Belong To Us deserves to be on the bookshelves of anyone that considers him/herself a  fan of video gamers. It’s prose is friendly and engaging enough for non-gaming folk to enjoy as well. Nine Over Ten 9/10 rates All Your Base Belongs To Us at 4.5 out of 5. The book is available on Amazon, check it out over here.

Someone should file NuOxygen Game’s new Monster Trouble HD 1.03 under the category of pretty-looking 3D games for iOS devices. This new release from Bologna’s leading iOS game development studio is a HD, 3D and even multi-touch upgrade for the Game of the Week that had re-invented the Tower Defense genre. Enough talking, check out the trailer for the game:

Monster Trouble HD 1.03 is $4.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category. Monster Trouble HD comes also in the iPhone only version and a Lite Universal for free. Check out the games over here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/magic-dream-games/id399608346