Miguel has been working on this for quite a while already, and we’re glad to announce we’re almost done with it. Ricochet Infinity for iPhone and iPod touch is not an straight port from the brick busting PC classic. The user interface has been completely re-imagined, there’s a new tilt mechanic that replaces the ‘recall’ feature on the PC and it’s got 100 new levels specifically made for the iPhone.

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The initial hype about the iPad seems to be fading away, but we remain truly excited about this new little device and can’t wait to get our hands on one.

The powerful hardware specs and the high-resolution screen is surely going to drive a new generation of games with new user interfaces and much more detailed graphics overall. And when compared to the iPhone games market, the greater value and increased development costs of iPad games should translate into higher game prices overall too.

In addition to original games, some direct, 1-to-1 ports of casual games will also become very popular among iPad users. We won’t be surprised if many time-management or hidden-object object prove to be more fun —and easier— to play on the 9.7″ touch screen than on a PC or a Mac.

Finally, although Apple has not said how many units they expect to shift in 2010, we guess that the iPad market probably won’t reach a critical mass until the second half of 2011. That said, we are currently assessing several potential iPad projects and we should probably be able to ship something on this platform before summer.

Our latest project for german publisher INTENIUM entered the german App Store’s top 100 last week, at position #70. This action-puzzler is a conversion of the original PC game. The iPhone version does offer two new features, though. First, you can play on both portrait and landscape orientations, and second, you can post your high-scores to your Facebook wall. Oh, and we also added Spanish on top of the original localizations (English, French, Germand and Dutch)!

There is no lite version yet, but it’s coming soon ;). In the meantime, you can download the full version of Diamond Drop at the App Store.

Update: Diamond Drop Lite is now available. Get it here!.

I will be speaking about what we do at Lemon Team in the Software Development Days 2009 conference at the University of Alicante (Jornadas de Informática 2009) on the thursday 22nd this month at 11 AM. I will go through some of the technical problems we have faced so far, and how our education in Software Engineering helped.

Later in November, I will be also speaking at the Spanish Game Developers Conference 2009 (Congreso de Desarrolladores de Videojuegos). I will share some insight into the creation and management of a service oriented game development company like Lemon Team, and comment on several good project management practices. CDV 2009 runs from the 5th to the 7th November at Fira de Valencia.

On a side note, NatGeo’s Lost City of Z, our latest Mac port for our friends at Merscom, is already available for download at Mac Game Store and Reflexive Arcade.

Righteous Kill 2 and Winemaker Extraordinaire, our two latest Mac ports —both commissioned by Merscom— are now available at the Mac section of Big Fish Games.

Righteous Kill 2 is a hidden object game, where the player assumes the role of a NYPD investigator who must hunt down a copycat killer and try to stop a rash of murders across New York City.

Winemaker Extraordinaire is a strategy game (in casual terms) around —you guessed it— winemaking. Maria Bellaventura has just inherited an Italian winery, and is leaving her stress-filled life as a corporate lawyer behind. Players must help Maria transform her small rural winery into an international winemaking empire, and become the Winemaker Extraordinaire she is destined to be.

Both games seem to have done pretty well, with Righteous Kill 2 now sitting in the #7 spot of the BFG Mac charts and Winemaker reaching #6 when it launched back in june.

Commissioned by Reflexive (now a part of Amazon), and based on the original PC/Mac title developed by my good friend Juan Pablo Ferreyra from South Winds Games, Airport Mania: First Flight is our latest iPhone game available on the App Store. Coincidentally, it is the first iPhone project we started working on, back in 2008′s summer.

The game has about two thirds of the levels found on the original title and keeps all of its features, unlockable paper planes included. Everything, from positioning and size of dialogs to level balancing, has been revised and adapted for the touch screen, resulting on a top of the line port that has been received very positively so far. Special kudos go to Reflexive’s Russell Carroll, for his support and personal involvement on this project.

So, what are you waiting for? Go look for $1, get the game, and fasten your seatbelts :)

Mahjong Epic is our latest commisioned iPhone game to appear on the App Store. Designed by Kristanix Games and based on its big brother for PC and Mac, Mahjong Epic’s unique selling points are the vast collection of boards –100- and the built in board editor. AppCraver.com reviewed it recently, giving it an 8/10 score.

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Today’s been a great day for us. We made it both into the front page of the local newspaper and the tv news:

Welcome to our brand new blog!

We —Lemon Team— are an independent game developer based in Alicante, Spain, currently focused on Mac and iPhone game development and porting.

After years of freelancing or working for others, both Miguel and me decided to fund our own start-up to keep doing what we love best: developing games. Setting up the company has been a tiresome experience, not without problems. Our office is located at the local administration’s business incubator, which provides us with a host of services for a very low rent. You can check out some pictures of the office at the revamped About section.

Because we want you to trust us way before you need us, we will be blogging mainly about what we do and how we do it. We will regularly publish useful tidbits of information regarding game development —specially for the Mac or iPhone—, without getting too technical.

Thanks for reading, and see you on the next post!

Julio Gorgé, co-founder