Astraware embiggening games for TouchPad 39
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 6:22 pm EST 
Are you ready for Astraware Mahjong HD? Too bad, 'cause it's coming. It's taken a few months since the TouchPad launched for Astraware to jump on the webOS 3.0 bandwagon, so we won't comment on their missing the train before it was cancelled and instead embrace the idea of them bringing their popular games to our favorite webOS tablet. Astraware decided to tease us on Twitter with a photo of a TouchPad running the super-sized version of their Mahjong app, and this is no scaling job, no sir, this is full screen proper-resolution stacked tile matching at work here.
What else can we maybe expect from Astraware down the road? Maybe some artfully-desiogned Board Games or Sudoku? We'd say we're patently waiting, but we've gotten past that point. When it comes, it comes, and we'll be happy to have it when it does.
Source: Twitter; Via: PreCentral Forums
39 Comments
About time :-) looking forward to all their titles...
I have their Mahjongg game on my Pre 2. Great game. Till now I've had to use Flash versions of Mahjongg, but can't wait for Astraware's version to land.
No need to use Flash, DJFun already has a great TouchPad mahjong game: https://developer.palm.com/appredirect/?packageid=de.djfun.mahjongg
There are over a million Touchpads out there. That is no small amount of sales.
I forgot about my Mahjongg. Had it on my Treo 650p. Looking forward to getting this for my TouchPad.
It's already out there from DJFun, in case you were unaware: https://developer.palm.com/appredirect/?packageid=de.djfun.mahjongg
That's very exciting, I love their games!
I am trying to remember if it was Astraware that sold a favorite of mine, Warfare Incorporated, that I spent hours playing on my LifeDrive and tried to get going on my Pre with Classic. Great game.
I believe that was a third party release. And it was so awesome.
nope, it was spiffcode (was a great game)
they also did an iOS port of WI.
Can't wait!
Yay!! I was upset when I finally got my firesale touchpad only to discover one of the things I wanted to do with it was not possible.
Now let's hope that the 3.0.5 update fixes all of the other problems. Will the native facebook app begin working again?
It's "enlarging", Balki. Not embiggening. Enlarging.
Yes, I was going to say the same.
Yay!
The #2 position in the tablet market is making companies sit up and take notice. As stated above, there over 1 million TPads out there and combined with the 1.5 million webOS users, that's almost 3 million eyes. Yes, Apple will snicker at those numbers but the FACTS are:
1) TPad IS the #2 tablet for now, how it got there does not matter.
2) The app count started at 305 on launch day and is now over 1100.
3) BIG NAME apps are being released SINCE the death announcement from HP.
4) People (trolls) on here said "Not one dev will release an app now that HP has "killed" webOS. You people can SUCK IT! ;-)
That is all... :)
While Astraware should be commended for sticking with Palm/WebOS and any new apps are great news, the rest of your post is demonstrably false except for the app count.
The FACTS are:
1) Touchpad is NOT the #2 tablet for now or ever again, for that matter. Kindle Fire sales from Amazon ALONE have been estimated at around 850K and counting (since two weeks ago), and sales from other channels like Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Target put it WELL over the supposed 1 million mark of Touchpads. And keep in mind that it not only got there in a fraction of the time that the Touchpad did, but at a higher price than the firesale $99/$149 units that made up the VAST majority of Touchpad sales. Additionally, developers develop for platforms - not devices - and WebOS is not top 2, top 3....you get the idea.
2) The number of "big name" apps being released since HP killed off the TP can be counted on one hand (e.g. Zinio, uh...) and are likely due to pre-existing development costs that needed to be finished and recouped.
3) I highly doubt more than one mistakenly literal person said "Not one dev will blah blah blah", so continuing to hammer that is just silly.
Celebrate this for the minor win it is. Don't make up pure fantasy to bolster it.
Jerry, oh Jerry (here we go...again)
1) http://www.precentral.net/touchpad-nabs-2-tablet-slot-first-quarters-201... (Try harder next time, really). And of course again, TPad was #2 and #7 on Amazon.com (you know, worlds LARGEST online retailer) at $299 and $399
2) Thanks, I'll be sure to tell Rovio, Handmark, Splashtop, Zenio, Oceanhouse Media, Brittanica, iStoryBooks, Lexi-Comp, Chapura, etc. what you think of them, however like the rest of us, I don't believe they'll give a $#!+ either.
3) Nah, my bad, NO ONE said the TPad was all but a paperweight and would spontaneously combust at 12:00am the night of the announcement....it was alllll rainbows and unicorns.
You know Mobile Nations has websites for OTHER PLATFORMS, you know, one you might like. Try scrolling down the page further...
/smh
1)Gee, what quarter are we in? The Kindle Fire ALREADY surpassed it at a higher price point. The distance will only get bigger. And every time I ask you to show me some verification of TP ranking at those prices, you clam up. And every time I look at the Amazon tablet Bestsellers page - like now, for example - it's selling FAR BELOW those prices. In fact, the 32GB isn't selling at $299, much less the 16GB.
2) Oooooooh....powerhouse lineup. Rovio foisting Angry Birds pt.678 and a bunch of niche **** that few care about.
#3 doesn't deserve the dignity of a response.
I know it hurts that the only WebOS product that was ever successful was ONLY so - for three whopping months - because of a 80 percent discount. I get that.
Hey, relive the fake glory, brother. I won't let stinky ole' reality and facts in again.
*shakes head*
1) What quarter are we in anyway? Seems NOVEMBER might (just might) fall into Q4 if there's some weird astrological event or something...
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57329438-94/hp-surprisingly-emerges-as-...
Clam up eh? Whatever...
http://www.precentral.net/touchpad-going-out-bang-snags-top-amazon-bests...
Last time I do your work for you...
2) Gee, I hope you never cross the street in front of Astraware or Picsel or Zinio developers. "No one cares about" LMAO...
Love how you don't read your own links, dummy.
From the this one: http://www.precentral.net/touchpad-going-out-bang-snags-top-amazon-bests...
AND I QUOTE: "correction: Amazon had some reduced pricing available over the weekend that we apparently missed that was likely responsible for vaulting the TouchPad to the top of the list."
Also, you can't bring yourself to type "Kindle Fire", can you? You can't even acknowledge it indirectly.
Fits the profile of zealots here refusing to acknowledge that which towers over WebOS. Oh well...keep living in dreamland.
go. go. Gadget Webos!.....(sigh!)
Welcome Back Astraware! I enjoyed many of your games on my Treos\Centro. Good to see you (finally) back home again. You DO remember you were part of the 50,000 Palm apps available on PalmOS when that I-thingy launched with ZERO and there now deceased leader said he didn't want apps. Unfortunately you didn't come out to support the Pre when PalmOS evolved and contribute to our app counts then.
We forgive you though, and welcome you back with open arms. Now that your coming back, maybe your friend PopCap will come too!
Sincerely,
Your old Palm Fans
Thanks for the welcome back, but actually you're wrong. We did support the Pre. We released Astraware Casino, Tradewinds 2, Astraware Boardgames, Astraware Sudoku, OddBlob, Astraware Mahjong, and Police Range and they were all compatible with the Palm Pre, Pre+ and Pre 2. We were even lucky enough to be a winner in Palm's Hot Apps contest with Astraware Casino!
So no forgiveness required! :)
Astraware
"...but actually you're wrong."
Yeah, he gets that a lot whenever he steps beyond the walled garden of the PreCentral forums.
Out of curiosity, what would be the chances of Astraware Casino being brought to TP with the ability to be an online game similar to what Selfaware games did with Card Ace Casino?
Just wondering cause I would get this in a heartbeat along with others that play poker with me that have a TP
Astraware Casino has always been designed as a single player game, so it would be a massive amount of work to pull it apart and redesign it as multi-player.
As we don't know how bit the Touchpad market is for apps yet, we can't say what is or isn't possible going forward.
Suffice to say that if Astraware Mahjong does well, we'll bring other existing games across to the platform.
Touche. My comments were somewhat biased I guess because I was waiting for Bejewled 1 & 2, Alchemy, Collapsed, Insaneaquarium, GTS Racing (not sure if that was yours), Super Bounce Out, Text Twist. Basically the ones I missed from PalmOS.
My apologies as those other titles weren't on my device. :) Speaking of...MANY people here have been requesting Bejeweled (myself included), any chance of that being your next app? You'd make a lot of webOS users happy.
Regards,
CK
Just to break this down:
Bejeweled 1 & 2, Alchemy, Insaniquarium were all games we licensed from PopCap for Palm OS and Windows Mobile.
Collapse, Super Bounce Out and Text Twist were all games we licensed from GameHouse for Palm OS and Windows Mobile.
GTS Word Racing was a game we published for Pazzazz Games.
in the case of PopCap and GameHouse, both companies are handling their own development for newer phone and tablet platforms, so it's up to them what games they create and for which platforms. We definitely won't be doing Bejeweled for webOS, because we don't have the rights to do so. We're primarily focussing on our own IP, and occasional published titles these days.
GTS World Racing - Pazzazz is a sole developer. He decides which platforms he wants to develop for and we handle the publishing. So far, he's only done iOS out of the newer platforms, and nothing new recently. I think it's unlikely that he'll add the Touchpad.
Hope this explains things.
Thanks for clearing that up! Didn't realize back then Astraware did so much licensing. Still, your own offerings have grown and well be glad to have (and buy) them.
Astraware!!! I am excited! I have missed your titles from palmOS
Edit: I enjoyed the Pre version of Tradewinds!!! Hope we can get that as well in the future! Thanks again Astraware!
Thank you. Tradewinds 2 for Touchpad isn't out of the question, but we'd need to get agreement from Sandlot, who created the original PC game.
Once we get Astraware Mahjong released for the Touchpad and we see how big the market is for TP apps, then we can see what happens next. This is a toe in the water for us. We want to support the platform, but it really is dependent on lots and lots of sales.
Just a quick update on Astraware Mahjong for Touchpad - we've submitted the app to the review team at HP/Palm, so the app is with them now!
Very cool. Thank you so much for sticking with WebOS, and also for actively participating in the community.
Curious,
How difficult was it to develop these for TP vs. the iPad?
It was relatively simple as the Touchpad has the same screen resolution as the iPad. Our main hold-up was simply that we hadn't been able to get a device to develop and test with.
Great News! I'm a Mahjong fan so I'll be buying for sure. Thanks for working on webOS. There are a lot of TouchPad out there with owners looking for apps to buy and many want more games. (read some of the reviews for popular games in the App Catalog)
I miss Astraware on Pre3, would be great to have a good Casino app again
A Mahjongg game that doesn't involve massive eyestrain? Works for me.
Hi Everyone, it looks like Astraware Mahjong for Touchpad is in the store now! Link: http://developer.palm.com/appredirect/?packageid=com.astraware.mahjongtp
Looks like screenshots aren't working on the webpage. Hopefully they'll look OK for you on the Touchpad!