Digital versions of Imagine Publishing’s magazines are among the most popular paid for books on the Apple App store less than three weeks after launch.

Powered by PixelMags, the games™ and Retro Gamer apps enable iPhone and iPad users to read the latest issue of each magazine free in its entirety, as well as purchase back issues or subscribe within the App using their iTunes accounts.

The digital editions are stored on the device, enabling users to read, zoom, scan, bookmark and browse through each issue. The digital version of the prestigious UK gaming magazine games™ ranked 7th in the App store’s Book section making it the most popular videogame publication on iTunes, while Retro Gamer, which focuses on classic games ranked 22.
 
games™ Editor in chief Rick Porter commented: “The popularity of the App is excellent news. It offers a great opportunity for those outside the UK to sample a magazine that we are very proud of and put a lot of hard work into – and the upcoming iPad will make the Apps even more relevant.”
 
Follow the links to check out the games™ app and Retro Gamer app right now.

Story via Nowgamer.com

Donkey Kong maestro Steve Wiebe has reclaimed the title of Donkey Kong Junior World Champ by beating the previous high-score record set by Mark Kiel of Enid, Oklahoma.

This is the official word from Twin Galaxies, the organisation which records and verifies videogame high-scores, who congratulate Steve on his impressive achievement.

“On behalf of Twin Galaxies, I’d like to congratulate Steve Wiebe of Redmond, WA for re-claiming the WR on Donkey Kong Junior! Steve reached the kill screen and scored 1,190,400 points on his home machine on 2/12/2010 to take back the crown.”

Great work Steve, does this mean another world record attempt at Donkey Kong is on the cards? Here’s hoping

Download the App and get your first issue free

As of this week, you’ll be able to buy every issue of you favourite Imagine magazines via the Apple iTunes Store and read it on your iPhone or iPod Touch and, for those lucky enough to get one, the apps will also be compatible with Apple’s iPad.

The app costs £1.19 and comes free with one issue of the magazine; subsequent issues will cost £2.99. You can also buy back issues or subscribe to the digital edition for 6 or 12 issues – all from within the App using an iTunes account.

You can flick and zoom through the pages of the magazine, share issues and bookmark favourite pages. The magazine can be read in either landscape or portrait format.

To download the Retro Gamer app, simply search iTunes Store for Retro Gamer Magazine or hit this link.

26 years and almost as many console generations separate these two characters, but there’s no denying their similarities - It’s the deep sea diver helmet that does it. Had Nintendo fitted its G&W diver sprite with a nice drill piece, like the one Big Daddy is showcasing here, he would’ve made easy work of that giant cephalopod blocking him from his fortune.

As far as weird box arts go, a picture of wrestler who is either a) headless and has his bodiless opponent in a headlock, b) is headless but has his own head in a headlock, or c) simply has a very long neck and can bend it backwards in a way that makes it seem as though he’s headless but has his own head in a headlock, has to rank pretty high in the ridiculous stakes. 

The game surely can’t be as bad as the box art though, can it? The game’s called ‘Pro’ Wrestling, and that ‘pro’ bit probably stands for professional wrestling…or maybe it’s Probably Wrestling??

So here’s the game’s title screen. Everything looks in order. Though the fact it nicks the fist punching through the logo idea from Nintendo’s Punch-Out!! is a bit lame – especially as the game isn’t about punch things, but more about grabbing men in leotards called Fireball.

We opted to play as Orient Express, but only because they had the best name, and one of the wrestlers sports the most diminutive and tightly packed facial features ever seen on a character sprite. The other, similarly, sports the most impressive mouth hair.

To be fair, the presentation is pretty good. Here you can see my wrestlers entering the ring. Either they’re wrestling at a school, or judging by the size of their heads in comparison to those of the spectators, they are 30 feet tall.

One of the weirdest features about Pro Wrestling is the fact that whenever you attack, and it connects, the game tells you the name of the move you’ve just performed. Here, I’ve just been punched, and the game’s told me as such. Cheers game. Shame that I keep looking at the hot wrestling action and missing your helpful annotations.

[The Verdict]

This one is a clear case of pretty bad box art for an equally naff wrestling game. Nice colourful visuals, but sticky controls and god-awful collision detection.