20
Dec
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[New Game] Gameloft Brings Toy-Sized Swashbuckling To Android With Playmobil Pirates

Posted by in Games, News

Playmobil, famous for miniature people and toy sets covering themes from knights to doll house life to Native Americans, has partnered with Gameloft to bring their Playmobil Pirates game to the Play Store. While Pirates is significantly different from its Nintendo DS namesake, the game features the same animated Playmobil pirates and environments you'd expect, plenty of missions, and social integration.

Starting out, players will need to build a "pirate camp," or home base for a team of pirates you'll assemble to help in your ultimate quest to defeat Blackbeard. Before getting to the infamous pirate boss, however, players will need to complete one hundred levels of swashbuckling, firing cannons, and steering pirate ships, along with plenty of mini games, all while defending their pirate camp.

22
Aug
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[Oh Snap] FBI And DoJ Seize Three Android App Pirate Sites, Including Applanet

Posted by in Apps/Games, News

One small and two major sites that have a long history of distributing pirated Android apps have been seized in a first of its kind operation conducted by the FBI, DoJ, and a variety of U.S. and foreign governments. These sites are:

  • applanet.net
  • snappzmarket.com
  • appbucket.net

seized

Each of the taken down hosts is now displaying this FBI seizure notice

According to PC World, FBI agents downloaded numerous copies of paid Android apps as part of the operation before seizing all three domains and executing nine search warrants on August 21st. It's a little unclear whether the FBI and the DoJ will be pursuing criminal action against the site operators or whether anyone was detained.

23
Jul
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Madfinger Games Issues Statement Regarding Dead Trigger Price Drop: 'The Piracy Rate Was Unbelievably High'

Posted by in Games, News

Madfinger Games has taken to its Facebook page to make an official statement regarding the decision last Friday to remove the $0.99 price tag from Dead Trigger. The decision, which has angered many users who had only recently paid for the game, can be summed up in one word: piracy.

Regarding price drop. HERE is our statement. The main reason: piracy rate on Android devices, that was unbelievably high. At first we intend to make this game available for as many people as possible - that's why it was for as little as buck. - It was much less than 8$ for SHADOWGUN but on the other hand we didn't dare to provide it for free, since we hadn't got XP with free-to-play format so far.

05
Jun
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Sid Meier's Civilization And Pirates! Heading To Android Thanks To 2K Games/GREE Partnership

Posted by in Android OS, Games, News

Android users who are fans of Sid Meier's classic games Pirates! and Civilization now have something to look forward to – it appears hat GREE and 2K Games have teamed up to bring the beloved sim/strategy games to the mobile world.

The companies' statement indicated that the games would be available as "social titles on select global markets," evidently starting with Japan.

“Creating social mobile games based on the  Sid Meier’s Pirates! and  Sid Meier’s Civilization franchises are our way to connect with Japanese fans in a fun and innovative way,” said Fabien Siouffi, Vice President Online and Social at Take-Two Asia.

09
Apr
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Editorial: Does The Ability To Sideload Apps Create A Piracy Problem For Android? RIM Seems To Think So

Posted by in Android OS, Editorials, News

Oh, RIM. You're hemorrhaging customers, executives, and share value. It's painfully obvious you're on track for a disaster of Palm-proportions. And still, your upper-level management fling zingers at the competition that would make anyone but the die-hardest of BlackBerry fans skip the facepalm and go straight to a facedesk. It's almost like watching a Shakespearean tragedy unfold.

If you've not been keeping up with the cutting edge of all things RIM, allow me to give you a quick run-down. RIM's Alec Saunders (VP of Developer Relations) announced recently that future BlackBerry PlayBook tablet updates would no longer allow the sideloading of apps (sideloading is the ability to install applications from outside of the official BlackBerry App World).

16
Jan
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[Review] Pirates of the Caribbean: Master of the Seas Will Let You Pillage And Plunder On A Race To Own The Seas

Posted by in Games, Reviews
Last Updated: April 15th, 2012

Right around the end of last month, we found a new social game by Disney, and to be completely honest, I didn't think it would be that spectacular. This game, of course, is Pirates of the Caribbean: Master of the Seas. Not only is it extremely popular, but it is also oddly addictive. Something about games like this really draw people in and keeps them coming back for more.

First Things First

First off, it should be noted that Master of the Seas is more closely related to the social games you'd find on Facebook than anything else. So if social games just aren't for you, then you probably won't get much from this one.

17
Dec
pirates

[New Game] Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean: Master Of The Seas Hits The Android Market, Finally Allowing Us To Plunder The High Seas From The Comfort Of Home

Posted by in Games, News
Last Updated: February 22nd, 2012

Yar Matey! Take to the high seas and plunder all in your path! Disney's new social game, Master of the Seas, promises to be "the first mobile game to combine deep story and brilliant graphics with compelling social gameplay."

In this 'Pirates of the Caribbean' themed game, you'll be able to become the ruthless pirate you've always dreamed of being, build a loyal crew, and battle other players for notoriety and treasures. As you navigate the seas and explore islands, you'll be able to complete quests, earning booty and experience points. Invite your friends to play along side you, or even against you.

06
Jul
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[Review] Age of Wind 2 Makes Us Yearn For The Seafaring Life

Posted by in Game Reviews, Games, Reviews
Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Age of Wind 2 indulges the side of us that would like to go off with Captain Jack Sparrow and look to make our own fortune. After an opening "story" sequence where you're tossed overboard from an exceptional ship, you're left to start with your own crew and a smaller vessel, hopefully to achieve success.

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Yo ho!

Age of Wind 2 plays a lot like one of my favourite titles, Sid Meier's Pirates!. In that title, you would take on the role of a budding young pirate, patrolling the Caribbean and plundering how you'd like. The game was great because it was a sandbox game with a great premise: you could choose national allegiance and help them gain dominance over the Spanish Main, or just wreck everyone.

27
Jul
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Google Sends An FU To Pirates, Introduces A Centralized Android Market Licensing Service

Posted by in Apps/Games, News

Android Pirates

Have you ever seen one of those annoying comments on the Android Market promising the riches and all the Android apps in the world for a low-low monthly price of $10? Sites like that pirate paid games and apps off the Market and then distribute them illegally, pocketing all the revenue. That's modern day warez at its finest.

Whether it was because of Android's openness or Google's notoriously poor focus on the Market, no DRM or licensing protection was available in the SDK for developers to utilize; so unless you rolled your own licensing scheme from within the app (which had a side effect of circumventing Google's payment system and therefore netted developers a whole lot more than 70% rev share), your app was easily "piratable".