Firemint’s hit air traffic management title Flight Control has surpassed another major sales milestone. The company reports that Flight Control has achieved global App Store sales in excess of three million units.
Flight Control, originally released for the iPhone and iPod Touch in March of 2009, has since seen a number of free content-expanding updates and the release of an HD version designed specifically for Apple’s iPad. The most recent version of Flight Control introduced Retina Display support for the iPhone 4 and the upcoming fourth-generation iPod Touch.
Firemint notes that the next version of Flight Control will add support for Apple’s Game Center social network, which launched earlier today.
Ports for smartphones and for Nintendo’s DSiWare service followed in the wake of Flight Control’s App Store success. Next month will bring the release of an enhanced PlayStation Network version, which will include four-person multiplayer, stereoscopic 3D, and support for the PlayStation Move motion controller. A WiiWare edition is slated for release later this year.
If you’ve preordered the iPhone 4, you might soon find a pleasant surprise at your doorstep. Apple has authorized its shipping services to deliver preordered iPhone 4 devices earlier than expected, with many arriving in advance of its scheduled Thursday release.
Coinciding with the device’s early launch, App Store developer Firemint has released iPhone 4-optimized versions of Real Racing and Flight Control.
Version 1.22 of Real Racing includes support for the iPhone 4’s three-axis gyroscope, in addition to existing accelerometer mechanics. Firemint promises smoother graphics on the iPhone 4 thanks to iOS 4 anti-aliasing, higher-resolution textures, and an improved framerate.
Flight Control has been updated with high-resolution graphics suited for the iPhone 4’s Retina display. The new version also includes a selection of minor performance upgrades and a reworked fast-forwarding system.
Firemint’s multi-million-selling air traffic control simulator Flight Control has been updated to version 1.7, introducing a new playable map and a host of improvements.
The new “Windy” airfield challenges players to land planes safely in changing wind conditions. A windsock at the center of the play screen indicates shifts in wind direction — runways facing the wind will be closed to incoming planes, requiring players to redirect flight paths accordingly.
Version 1.7 of Flight Control also features brighter, richer graphics. Shadows and path indicators are visibly improved, and the maps now feature greater detail.
The update additionally includes a “safe” fast forward mode originally featured in Flight Control HD for the iPad, along with a longer version of the Flight Control theme song.
Namco Networks has partnered with iPhone developer Firemint to bring the popular air traffic management sim Flight Control to Java, Windows Mobile, Brew, and Android platforms in July.
Flight Control has sold over two million units since its launch in March of 2009, and was the second application in Apple’s App Store to surpass the sales milestone. A Nintendo DSiWare version of Flight Control is set to debut on February 19th.
Firemint previously collaborated with Namco Networks in the development of Rolling with Katamari, a mobile-exclusive entry in Namco Bandai’s Katamari Damacy series.
“We are honored to work with a company that is considered to be an innovator in our space,” said Namco Networks VP of sales and marketing Scott Rubin. “Collaborating with Firemint to provide casual game lovers with a mobile version of the top selling brand is a proud moment. The Flight Control experience transfers perfectly to the targeted mobile platforms because of the intuitive controls and pure simplicity.”
Firemint CEO Robert Murray comments, “Having sold over two million copies on the iPhone in under a year, Flight Control has achieved amazing success. Our partnership with Namco began over three years ago with our development of Rolling with Katamari and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with them again. It will be a great feat to see our game reach an even broader demographic with the mobile edition.”
Flight Control is one of those extremely basic games that become very addicting. The concept is simple, each level has multiple landing strips and each one houses a certain plane. The air crafts range from sea planes, helicopters, jumbo jets, and a few others that I cant think of names for. All you have to do is guide the plane using your finger on to the correct landing strip, sounds simple enough but as you go on more and more planes come in to play and if you crash, you lose. This game is great and perfect for being bored at work, killing some time on the road or just trying to beat your old score, however I found one big draw back…..There is only four levels which is far to small for this type of game. This game should at least have 8-12 levels and they are so basic it would have been so simple to do.
PRO’s
- Addicting
- Great concept
- Fun finger control
CON’s
- Not enough levels
Final Verdict- for 0.99$ it isn’t bad, really wish it had more levels
After reaching one million units sold in June of last year, Firemint’s air traffic control simulation title Flight Control has reached another sales milestone. Firemint reports that the title has now sold more than two million units worldwide.
Firemint’s report arrives less than a week after developer Bolt Creative announced that its casual entertainment title Pocket God surpassed two million units in sales, becoming the first application in the iTunes App Store to do so.
Firemint notes that Flight Control achieved its sales target in less than a year, after launching in March of 2009. According to data released by the developer, Flight Control saw its biggest sales after its initial release, with an additional sales spike occurring in June after a content-expanding update.
Flight Control recently saw another rise in popularity over Christmas, though additional feature updates have not coincided with noticeable sales increases.
The Game Developers Association of Australia is celebrating its region’s developers with a set of awards for 2009, with Firemint’s hit iPhone title Flight Control winning in three categories.
Flight Control won the Best Game, Best Gameplay and Best Mobile awards, while Infinite Interactive took home two nods for Puzzle Quest Galactrix: Best PC Title and Best Handheld Title.
Although developer Transmission Games was forced to close its doors in October, its Heroes Over Europe was recognized in the Best Console Title, Best Graphics and Best Audio categories.
Sidhe’s Shatter earned Best Downloadable Title. In the indie group, Alexander Bruce’s Hazard: The Journey of Life, Powerboard Productions’ Last Life and AIE Melbourne’s Pillager won Best Unsigned Game, Best Gameplay, and Best Graphics, respectively.
“Congratulations to Firemint on their success at the 2009 GDAA Industry Awards,” said GDAA president Tom Crago. “Flight Control has been a phenomenal success and has really been responsible for the creation of an entire new genre on iPhone. We’re very proud that this title was developed in Australia.”
[This news item was written by Leigh Alexander and originally appeared at FingerGaming sister site Gamasutra.]
Developer: PuzzleBox Games
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Graphics / Sound Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
iPhone Integration Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 3.67 out of 5 stars
I request a renaming of this app to Cab Control, referring to it’s obvious similarities to Flight Control.
In a way, it’s almost a complete spin-off of Flight Control. Instead of aircraft coming in from random positions on the outside of the screen, taxis do. You take your finger and drag a line (that happens to be a dotted line, exactly like Flight Control) to one of eight parking spots (sub runways). At this point, the game becomes more complex than Flight Control – which is why I applaud PuzzleBox Games for creating an original game by expanding on one of the most popular instead of simply making a spinoff with different vehicles.
Once the cab (either blue, green, red, yellow, or black) enters the park space, a number appears next to the cab to indicate the number of passengers it requires before leaving. You drag your finger from one of two “passenger docks” (in the upper-right or lower-left corners) to the cab in order to make a passenger run from the dock to the taxi. Now, you are not only jugging cabs but also passengers, making for a much more congested and complex screen (that isn’t a complaint but a thumbs-up to the difficulty of the game).
Once the cabs are filled with the correct amount of passengers, you drag your finger again from a cab to it’s final destination – the upper-left or lower-right corners depending on it’s color (upper-left for blue and green, lower-right for red and yellow, and either for black). You get “cash” for points instead of just counting the amount of cabs you sent off; $10 per cab, so it’s easy to know how many you’ve done (take away the zero, for all of you who aren’t math geniuses).
Problems, Misses, and Wishes
Problems
There are two problems which affected my integration and user interface scores: poor touchscreen integration and incredibly small pause and fast forward buttons.
The game doesn’t necessarily have bad touchscreen integration, it simply doesn’t allow you to interact with the taxis immediately after they emerge from the outsides of the screen – you have to wait a split second before dragging them to their parking space. This seems like a harmless problem, but when you’re playing a game that’s sure to reach a fast pace, a split second can mean everything. You can assume that you dragged that one taxi to its place and then realize that the drag didn’t register because you jumped too quick to move it.
The button size problem is self-explanatory. Can you see them in the screenshot? Neither can I. Press your eyes up against the screen and look along the bottom of the screenshot, got it? Still can’t? I give up. This needs to be fixed.
Misses
Why isn’t there any music during gameplay? There’s some very decent music for the menu screen but none while you’re playing.
Why are there five colors and only two exits? There should be three colors: blue, red, and black. Blue and green share an exit as well as red and yellow. There isn’t a reason for that. Black can go through either exit, fine. But there doesn’t need to be green and yellow taxis (maybe make the red ones yellow, there kind of does need to be yellow taxis…).
Wishes
Copy Flight Control more – Make multiple levels (like Flight Control has) with different positioning of parking spaces, different color/types of taxis, etc.
Fix the buttons – Obviously.
Fix the reaction time of the taxis – Again obviously, that split-second gameplay is crucial.
Music during gameplay – Why create some decent music for the menu and leave it out during the game? I can understand that you don’t want it to interfere with the sound effects (like the sound telling you two of your pieces are about to collide), but it shouldn’t be that hard to make the music fairly soft compared to the sound effects.
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The Game Developers Association of Australia is celebrating its region’s developers with a set of awards for 2009, with Firemint’s hit iPhone title Flight Control winning in three categories.
