By Alec Meer on December 18th, 2007 at 5:05 pm.
I’m having a bit of a moment. Portable gaming has just been sorted, made a done deal. There is no need for anything else.
Peggle has been released for iPod. Peggle! PEGGLE!
It’s the easiest £3.99 I’ve ever spent (or five of your Yanqui dollars). I no longer need to set off on a journey with a bag full of laptop, PSP, DS, MP3 player, and required cabling. I just need my iPod and Peggle. Thanks, by the way, to the various folks who tipped us off about this gladdest of tidings.
I’ve had a quick play, and can report that it seems to be essentially perfect. The wheel tracks a little slower than I’d like, but clearly it’s an ideal interface for Peggle’s left a bit, right a bit, GO controls. But other than that, the look, the feel, the sounds are identical to the PC version, beautifully realised in just 320×240 pixels. It’s enough for me to eye my iPod suspiciously, convinced that it just shouldn’t be capable of something of that relative complexity.
I am so very happy. I’m less happy about the quality of my hastily-taken photographs, but hey.
Confusingly, however, the download (only available through iTunes, with associated DRM, sadly – also it’ll only work on video-capable pods) amounts to around 4.6 Peggles. A Peggle is no longer equal to a Peggle. Guh.
So we’re going to have to revise our RPS-exclusive unit of measurement for downloads. Should we retain the proud Imperial Peggle (equivalent to 15 of your Earth Megabytes) or switch to the new-fangled Metric Peggle (69Mb)? RPS-Nation: decide!
18/12/2007 at 17:07 The_B says:
Dear God. So they’ve done Guitar Hero on the iPod, and now Peggle. Surely only Orange Box is left before we abandon the PC and all hail our Apple masters?
18/12/2007 at 17:15 Flint says:
It’s a shame that this won’t probably work with the older models :(.
Not that it matters since I still couldn’t get anything from iTunes.
Why must the universe hate me so.
18/12/2007 at 17:29 Dr Snofeld says:
Stick with the Imperial Peggle, I say. These fancy new French measurements are no good!
Also Peggle Extreme is the most evil yet brilliant marketing strategy ever created. “Wow, TF2 is taking a while to download, may as well give this here Peggle thing a try…”
18/12/2007 at 17:32 Phil says:
I vote for Metric Peggle measurements – New = better, Hollywood remakes (especially of Michael Cain starring originals) have clearly taught us this.
18/12/2007 at 17:39 SteveTheBlack says:
Despite what the EU may back, I vote for the Imperial Peggle!
It’s been around longer, and requires much less mathemagicry to transfer into megabytes than this johnny-come-lately that is the Metric Peggle.
18/12/2007 at 17:51 Phil says:
But surely the mathemagicry Metric Peggle encourages is very popular at the moment – it’s Brain Training without the lamentable Nicole Kidman endorsement.
18/12/2007 at 17:54 Pod says:
Still with the old — why? More people use it.
Also, considering the iPeggle will have much smaller art-asset files…HTF is it BIGGER than normal peggle? Could it all be the code required to make the iPod do non-music stuff? (which DX9 nicely provides for peggle, natch)
18/12/2007 at 18:05 Mo says:
Definitely going for the Imperial Peggle.
The reason it’s bigger is actually a classic (if not the classic) Computer Science problem: size versus speed.
On the PC, where we have infinite processing power, assets are compressed to hell to keep the filesizes low. This takes a hit on the speed, but it’s nothing noticeable on the PC. Thus, we have smaller files size, at the cost of slower loading speed.
On the iPod, which doesn’t have much in the way of processing power (66MHz I believe), it’s far more important to have Peggle load up faster, even if the assets need to be 100% uncompressed. Heck, some of the data might even be duplicated to increase load times. In this case, size isn’t deemed as important as speed (and rightly so I might add), so we have larger files size with the benefit of faster loading speed.
18/12/2007 at 18:11 Ben Friesen says:
Imperial Peggles to be sure – it converts easier, it’s a finer unit of measure, and it’s the one already in use. Think of the cost of switching! You would have to go back through old posts and clarify “Imperial”. Also, if you continue using Imperial Peggles, just call them Peggles. That way, we can pretend that our system of measurement isn’t completely arbitrary.
18/12/2007 at 19:03 DoomMunky says:
Another vote for Imperial Peggle, for all of the reasons mentioned above.
Also, when forced to use the Metric Peggle measurement, it should be denoted “iPeggle”, as above.
18/12/2007 at 19:33 Greger says:
I’m voting for the Imperial, but just because it’s easier to calculate what x/15 is than x/69.
18/12/2007 at 19:53 Eric Tams says:
Hey Flint,
The game should work just fine on any of the video iPods. My favorite is the new little 8gb model. That thing is so small it’s amazing how much horsepower it’s got.
Cheers
18/12/2007 at 20:31 b3n says:
Imperial Peggles, if only for the sheer joy of reading future posts that will inevitably include the “Imperial” modifier for clarity and distinction. So long as someone doesn’t try to shorten it to “iPeggle”. *shudder*
18/12/2007 at 20:57 Bob Arctor says:
That would be madness as surely “iPeggle” would refer to the new or Metric Peggle?
18/12/2007 at 21:00 Ben says:
I really want someone to port this to the Sandisk Sansa.
18/12/2007 at 23:02 Alan says:
God damn it. Doesn’t seem to be compatible with the iPod Touch. Now what do I do..
Ah yes, PC Peggle binge.
18/12/2007 at 23:30 Seth Tipps says:
Imperial Peggle. Not just because it’s a neater unit for measuring indie games, either. For one, I’m American and anything with the word “Imperial” in it makes me happy in a way that only a newer, larger SUV is wont to do. Second, the last thing we need is Steve Jobs telling us that in addition to everything else, Apple has also “revolutionized” (does he mean that in the Coopernican sense?) measurement.
18/12/2007 at 23:34 t.carl says:
peggle on mac now too: http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/18/peggle-finally-coming-to-mac/
18/12/2007 at 23:39 DigitalSignalX says:
I am cursed (blessed) without Steam or an iPod, but will try peggle tonight. However, even as an unpeggled person, I can agree with the imperial x/15 befitting more ease of use then x/69 even though it’s a sexually charged ratio.
18/12/2007 at 23:56 Ben Hazell says:
Vote for Imperial Peggles. Peggles made this website great, and the insidious creep of ipeggles is destroying the fabric of our cyber-society.
19/12/2007 at 01:08 Dorian Cornelius Jasper says:
Imperial Peggle.
For all the reasons Seth Tipps gave. Including the American part.
19/12/2007 at 01:34 WCAYPAHWAT says:
I vote the old Imperial Peggle. If only for ease of use. And hell, us Aussies have been using metric since before i was born, but anyone over 30 still measures stuff in feet and yards.
19/12/2007 at 02:33 terry says:
clearly whoever took that screenshot has no concept of the finer points of peggle playing! unicorns, pffft!
19/12/2007 at 02:49 A Different Terry says:
Saw my name in “Respond to our gibberish” and just had to reply.
Peggle didn’t really do anything for me personally – with so many great indie games out this year I’m really surprised that anyone is still talking about it, let alone playing it. But whatever – I must admit that Peggle on the iPod is a magnificent fit!
19/12/2007 at 05:48 Nobby says:
DONT YOU SEE WHAT YOU’RE DOING?!?!?!
If we swap to Metric Peggles, what the hell do we swap to when Peggle Nights comes out?
19/12/2007 at 08:43 Piratepete says:
I for one welcome the day our glorious Mac overlords make the PC redundant.
*fingers collar*
*looks shifty*
19/12/2007 at 10:25 nickski says:
ahhhhh, just in time for a flight to India on Friday, Christmas in the sun and Peggle thrown in, i ask you, what COULD be finer? assuming i can keep my girlfriends mitts off it, does it work on the new Nano? bought her one to keep my 80gig viddy rascal to myself, may have to load the peggster up on hers too
19/12/2007 at 15:45 Alec Meer says:
Ooh, we’re currently topping Google for ‘ipod peggle’.
And nickski – yes, the most recent model of it, anyway.
19/12/2007 at 16:14 Max says:
Is it just me that doesn’t get this Peggle thing?
It’s almost as bad as the Companion Cube obsession >_
19/12/2007 at 17:02 Solario says:
Anyone want to tell me how I actually add it to my iPod? Or should I just expect the usually Guessing-game involving Apple products?
19/12/2007 at 17:15 Solario says:
Nevermind, got it. But as per usually I had to use two authorisations to get it on my one computer.
24/12/2007 at 02:34 Krupo says:
@DoomMonkey, it’s ironic, though, that Metric peggle is the “iPeggle”, seeing as how “Imperial” starts with an “I” and all…
BTW, burn Max at a stake. Now.