As I said in an earlier article, Rolocule is the dev team whose iOS games appeal more to Apple TV users than it does to iPhoners. Unlike other dual screen games which just provide alternate HD visuals on mirroring, Rolocule motion games are AirPlay exclusive. These games turn your iPhone into a Wii-like motion controller and are playable only over Apple TV.

Motion Tennis was their first game which was widely popular thanks to its unique and never-before style of gameplay. You can read our full review here. Motion Tennis for Apple TV is currently available for free in the AppStore to celebrate the release of their new game, Dance Party of Apple TV, which we will be discussing in detail today.

Dance Party for Apple TV is surely what it sounds like – A dancing game which can be played with friends at parties, over your Apple TV. But after spending a few hours with it, I can assure that it’s so much more than that!

Basically, each level in Dance Party has an on-screen dancer who steps to custom songs and the users have to mimic his/her moves. Your iPhone or iPod Touch is held in the right hand and the user dances as if he’s seeing his mirror image on the television. The app tracks the various motion sensors on your device, similar to the Wii controller, to find out how well you’re doing.

The game gives you live feedback as Perfect, Good or ‘a red X’ based on your choreo skills and you’re awarded with points. A continuous stream of avatars at the right bottom hints on the upcoming steps so that you can always be in sync with your dance tutor. At the end, all points add up to rate you in stars, along with an approximate count of calories you just burnt!

The game currently provides two free songs and three more can be unlocked via an in-app purchase, with still more songs to come. The Dance section is the single player mode which you can use to better your stars, for practice or for a work out. The Party mode unleashes the actual beauty of the game and literally turns your living room into a disco floor! You and your friends can play simultaneously (or one after another) in front of your TV and clash your dancing skills. An online mode is coming soon while the blind mode for expert dancers, which obviously I haven’t been able to unlock yet.

So coming to the main question – is it any good? Rolocule claims that they have brought highly polished graphics and much more accurate motion engine to Dance Party, as compared to their one year old Motion Tennis game. To be honest, the change is clearly evident right from the beginning.

You might remember me complaining about the physics engine in my Motion Tennis review, but Dance Party instantly feels different. Try messing with the steps and you’ll see that “X” mark thrown at your face while stepping according to the beat is bound to fetch you a Perfect. Of course as time passes you’ll learn to cheat your A7 chip, but that is a sort of necessary evil on all motion controlled consoles.

The songs are great and the steps are simple enough for users to replicate.  Yes after each game, you do feel like you were dancing and the fun just multiplies when you’re in goups. There is no appreciable lag nor any lost connections worth mentioning.

So far, my only complaint with Dance Party is its poor replayability. Once you’re an expert with a song, you can consistently score high with them and your first-time-playing guests will probably lose to you, again and again. Though it would be impossible to randomly animate new steps, I would have loved if the order of steps were a little mixed after each session. However, the gameplay is not too simple like it was with Motion Tennis and getting to that five star rating can take forever. This brings some replayability to the game and it’ll probably be a week until you can get every step perfect in each song. Maybe this issue can be overlooked when more and more songs get added to the library.

Dance Party supports iPhone 4S and above, iPod Touch 5th gen, and Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3. If you donot have an Apple TV, Dance Party can mirror even to your PC or Mac with the help of third part softwares like AirServer. The game can be downloaded for free from the AppStore with two songs included. If you like what you get, you can buy more songs or unlock an unlimited songs package for 9 bucks.

In short, if you love to dance and have a supported iOS device & Apple TV, there is no game worth recommending more than Dance Party. Get Dance Party for Apple TV for free.

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There is probably only one developer team, whose iOS games appeal more to Apple TV users than it does to iPhone users. Yes, we are talking about Rolocule games. After the completely unique and hugely popular Motion Tennis for Apple TV game, the team is now rolling out their next title, Dance Party for Apple TV.

Just like last time, Dance Party turns your iPhone into a Wii-like motion controller, which pairs with your Apple TV to give a full screen gaming experience. But instead of the grass court, we have a dance floor this time.

Dance Party essentially has an on-screen dancer who steps to beatful songs and users have to replicate the moves in their living rooms. Your iPhone held in hand detects your movements and provides real time feedback on how well you’re doing. You can have your friends over and play mutliplayer modes to let the best dancer win.

FEATURES:
* Move it: Dance to 5 foot-tapping songs, that will make you feel the groove and shake a leg, appealing to everyone.
* Work it: Get accurate calories burnt as you dance, manage your daily, weekly and monthly calories counts.
* Party with your friends in Real Time Multiplayer: Its your time to shine, dance with your friends together in a group in real time multiplayer. With support of upto 4 players that can dance simultaneously on a song.
* Party with your family in Turn Based Multiplayer: Perfect for families to have a fun time taking turn based multiplayer to a new level. Enjoy a local tournament with upto 5 players and get bragging rights on scoring that win.

Rolocule claims their new game to be more polished and the physics engine to be more accurate than the Motion Tennis era and expects to provide an overall enhanced experience to players. There’s only one way to find out! Well, I will be playing Dance Party over this weekend and also do a complete review soon. In the meantime, you can get Dance Party for free on your iPhone right now!

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You are probably already familiar with Motion Tennis for Apple TV, an app that brings Wii-style gaming to Apple TV. Thanks to Rolocule Games and its award-winning rolomotion technology, your iOS device turns into a tennis racket while the grand slam tournament takes place on your television via Apple TV. You can read our in-depth review of Motion Tennis here.

Celebrating yesterday’s Djokovic’s great victory in Wimbledon (as well as last week’s Independence Day…), Rolocule has reduced the price of Motion Tennis from $7.99 to ZERO, so go and grab your free copy of the game now, as this amazing offer may not last long.

Watch this video to learn more about Motion Tennis.

Rolocule is currently in the process of adding some final touches to its next motion powered game, Dance Party. Their rolomotion technology has been vastly improved and the developers are boasting console quality precision and performance for their new release.

Dance Party is a multiplayer game where users can dance along with an on-screen artist while your iPhone or iPod touch analyses how well you’re doing. The best dancer wins, but all users will get a count of the calories they burned during the last dubstep.

In short, its a mix of game, dance and workout:

Dance Party is set to be released on the App Store in the second half of July but you can already sign up here for an early free access.

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Rolocule Games, the company behind Motion Tennis for Apple TV, is currently in the process of adding some final touches to its next motion powered game, Dance Party. Their award-winning rolomotion technology has been vastly improved and the developers are boasting console quality precision and performance for their new release.

Dance Party is basically a multiplayer game where users can dance along with an on-screen artist while your iPhone or iPod touch analyses how well you’re doing. Of course, the best dancer wins but all users will get a count of the calories they burned during the last dubstep. In short, its a mix of game, dance and workout.

Watch the video below for a better idea:

Dance Party is a multiplayer rhythm game where users mimic the movements of onscreen dancers using their iPhone or iPod Touch, while rolomotion precisely tracks their movements to provide real time feedback. [..]

Dance Party allows users to connect multiple iOS devices together and dance simultaneously in front of big screens like HD TV, Mac or PC using AirPlay Mirroring. Moreover, all personal statistics like calories burnt etc. of each user during multiplayer dance will stay on their iPhone as opposed to traditional motion controllers, which are merely used for detecting gestures.

Besides huge performance improvements to motion gaming, Rolocule also confirmed that they’re working on enabling iOS 8’s peer-to-peer gameplay for Apple TV and integration with the HealthKit.

Dance Party will also feature turn based multiplayer for local dance tournaments, blind mode for expert dancers, single player mode to just dance and online dance offs.

The game is set to be released on the App Store in July but you can already sign up here for an early free access.

The game will support iPhone 4S and up or iPod touch 5 with Apple TV 2nd or 3rd gen. So if your devices are supported, head over to Dance Party’s official website for more info and a free copy.

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Apple TV still doesn’t have its own App Store (though this can change soon), so the possibilities of using it as a game console are very limited. Fortunately, there are some great dual screen iOS games out there and there is also Motion Tennis for Apple TV, a one-of-its-kind game that brings motion gaming to your Apple TV. Motion Tennis turns your iPhone or iPod touch into the tennis racket while the game takes place on your television via Apple TV.

You can read our review of Motion Tennis here.

If you are curious to try it out, think no more and join our giveaway to have a chance to win one of 10 free copies of Motion Tennis for Apple TV. Here’s what you have to do:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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You might remember our huge coverage (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3) of iOS games that allow dual screen AirPlay mirroring with Apple TV, turning your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch into the controller, while the HDTV becomes the game arena. However, there is an app that not only does dual screen mirroring but actually brings motion gaming to your iOS device using Apple TV. Here is a complete review of this one-of-its-kind game, Motion Tennis for Apple TV.

As you might have already figured out, Motion Tennis turns your iPhone or iPod touch into the tennis racket while the grand slam tournament takes place on your television via Apple TV.

Swish your hand in the air and give your wrist some exercise to score aces in this spectacular game. The developers at Rolocule promise “the most immersive tennis experience ever on iOS”. But does it really live up to all the hype? Let’s see.

Getting Motion Tennis connected to the Apple TV

The first thing you need to know before purchasing this 8 bucks game is that you have to own an Apple TV to make any good out of it. Don’t expect to start an idle match directly on your iPhone while travelling or in the bedroom, because there is no provision for an in-device display of the gameplay.

Unlike other dual screen games, AirPlay is not just an optional feature in Motion Tennis, but rather the only way of playing the game – you won’t be even able to have a glimpse of the home-screen without connecting to an Apple TV.

The process of connecting to the Apple TV is as usual and fairly straight forward. Pull up the Control Center -> tap on the AirPlay button -> choose the Apple TV -> toggle on Mirroring.

Once you set up mirroring and fire up the app, you’ll see large banners on the Apple TV and their miniature versions on your iPhone or iPod touch, prompting that the dual screen gaming has been activated. A few taps into the game, a short tutorial and some calibration and you’re holding the virtual tennis racket similar to Nintendo Wii games.  At the same time, the beautiful 80 ft. court pops on your television.

The gameplay

Raise the iPhone above your head to serve the ball and the game starts with a smash. Of course, the automated second player will have the green ball flying back to your side. Use the device just as a bat and thrash it back in any direction or height you want.

As you would expect, your TV avatar would replicate your gestures. Fortunately, you don’t have to do any of the running up and down the court. You’ll be automatically placed at the best positions and all you have to do is decide the side and type of the shot you need to play.

You already know the rules and point system, no surprises there. The real eye popper is the different kinds of shots you’ll be able to execute just using your wrist movements – you can do standard, slice or lob shots depending on the angle at which you hold the device.

Once you score the game point, your performance is measured in stars and, more importantly, you get an approximate count of the calories you just burned while playing the digital tennis. Obviously it is not accurate, but to know that you’re contributing to your health and not just wasting time with silly games, it’s hilariously comforting.

The game has single player, survival and multiplayer modes. The first one lets you rally with the ‘A chip’ of your iPhone and has various difficulty modes. The survival mode is analogous to the endless modes and goes on till you lose a point. Finally, in multiplayer mode you can ask one of your friends to join you in a doubles match against the CPU.

The verdict

To be honest, Motion Tennis scores the most by being unique and nothing like anything else we’ve ever seen – no complaints there. However, the gameplay as a whole feels buggy or, more correctly, a bit automated, at most times. Your digital form seems to play the perfect shots even if you completely screw up the swing or timing. Sometimes you shoot to the right and the ball bounces to the left and gets you a point.

Also, you hardly score any outs or faults while the guys on the other side of the net has plenty of them. Overall, it all seems a bit biased for me.

Motion Tennis is a great app to be showcased when you have some friends over or to test the power of your iDevice – Apple TV combo. But you won’t find yourself playing it everyday nor will it replace your gym.

It sure shows a lot of potential to grow into a more realistic game someday in the future and when that happens, it’ll be undoubtedly a must buy.

Get Motion Tennis for Apple TV from the App Store ($7.99) and try it out yourself.

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