The keynote is about to begin! For up to the second coverage check out Mac Rumors Live, otherwise this post will be updated periodically with things that pertain to iPhone gaming.

So far we've seen new laptops, a demonstration of Snow Leopard complete with its $29 upgrade price point, and now Scott Forstall is taking the stage to discuss the iPhone.

Scott is currently going over the features of 3.0 which include everything we've seen before, Bluetooth multiplayer, in-game downloadable content purchases, and the ability to talk to other devices via the dock connector or Bluetooth.

Mark Hickey from Gameloft is unveiling a new game, Asphalt 5, which he claims will be the best racing game on iPhone. Lets you play music from your library while you drive, advanced lighting and graphics -- fully pushing the hardware, Peer to Peer multiplayer over Bluetooth, worldwide multiplayer over wifi in-game voicechat, content packs for sale (1 racktrack and 3 new cars for 99 cents).

Neil Young from ngomoco:) unveiled Star Defense, launching today for $5.99. Also briefly mentioned is the "Plus Network" to play online, and additional 3.0 features when 3.0 goes live. (We are attending a ngmoco:) press conference later this afternoon where I expect we will hear more about this.)

iPhone 3.0 available for free on June 17th, and iPod Touch users can purchase the upgrade for $9.95.

The iPhone 3G S is here! (Well, coming soon.) The biggest benefit that has been announced so far for gamers is the inclusion of OpenGL|ES 2.0, and faster hardware. Also included is a 3 megapixel auto-focusing camera, digital compass, and voice commands. Since these are all accessible by developers using various API's, who knows what kind of crazy geolocation photo games/apps we'll see in the future.

The new iPhone 3G S will be released on June 19th for $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB). Also, the 8GB 3G iPhone will stick around and be sold for $99! All prices listed are with a two year contract. According to the fine print- "For non-qualified customers, including existing AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB)"

It remains to be seen what if any concessions Apple and/or AT&T will make for existing iPhone 3G customers looking to upgrade.

Apple's 2009 WWDC kicks off today with a keynote address by Phil Schiller. TouchArcade is here at WWDC and will be reporting on the latest news to come from Apple.

Apple has said they would be featuring iPhone 3.0 firmware which has remained in beta. On everyone's mind though is the possibility of a new faster iPhone which has been rumored for months. All the rumors seem to point to a number of new features including faster processor, digital compass and use of video. Many of these changes will, of course, directly impact the games that will run on future devices.

We're excited to see what happens, and will post a full report. Meanwhile, later in the week we should be some updates on some major new titles as we meet with developers about their games.

Stay tuned. The keynote begins at 10 a.m. Pacific / 1 p.m. Eastern.

Hands-On Mobile released their first person shooter Prey Invasion [App Store] tonight.

The world is under attack from an alien menace, but they've picked on the wrong man and his girlfriend. Tommy Hawk takes no prisoners as he plows through level after level of mutated aliens in search of his loved one. But can he rescue her before she is hideously transformed into one of them?

The game was first revealed back in February with some recent hands-on time at E3. Based on the PC and Xbox game, Prey for iPhone offers 5 levels of first person shooting action that should last you "a couple of hours" in gameplay time.

The game offers a multitude of controls that were detailed in this walk through video:

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Some early reactions can be found in our forum.

App Store Link: Prey Invasion, $2.99

It's been quite a week and it's only getting busier. Publisher Chillingo and developer h.grenade have released their long awaited space shooter Circuit Strike.One [App Store] for a mere $0.99.

At its core cs.one is a fast paced 2.5D shooter powered by an inertia based physics system much like the classic game Asteroids.

The premise of the game is that you are flying this ship within an advanced computer network. To hack into the system, you must first destroy the shield generators and then destroy the Core itself. In the meanwhile, the system will defend itself by sending enemies to destroy you.

The game is structured like a traditional arcade action game where you start on level one try to get the highest score as possible given your limited number of lives. The controls can be a bit disorienting at first until you realize how the zero-g physics work. Small timed thrusts work much better to navigate the fields. The music seems to a real highlight of the game with the integration of the game sound effects.

Here's a quick look at some of the early levels:

Some early reactions note some "lag" on iPhone 3G. For reference, the above video was shot on an iPhone 3G. We're provide more detailed impressions over time.

App Store Link: Circuit Strike.One, $0.99

Readers may remember that we had originally met with Marc Ecko Entertainment back at GDC in March.

At the time, we got the first look at the upcoming Dexter game based on the Showtime television series. As we said before, the game tries to remain very true to the show with close tie-ins to the first season as well as the involvement of one of the show's writers and Dexter actor Michael C. Hall.

We met with the company again at E3 and found that the game was still scheduled for a summer completion and that the game is said to be about 80% feature complete and 60% content complete. Much of the gameplay is similar to our earlier video, though a lot of work has been done on the UI, tutorial and cut scenes. This gameplay video shows the "kill room" which we didn't show much of before:

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The company also released new screenshots of the game.:

The game is expected this summer ahead of the next season of Dexter.

Firemint has announced that their Real Racing title will finally be arriving on Monday and be priced at $9.99. So, save your pennies and count down your time until Monday.

Firemint first demoed Real Racing back in August 2008 but has continued their hard work on it for these past 6 months.

Our own Eli Hodapp has been playing with an early build and called it a "technical masterpiece". He's been spending more time with the game, and we'll give you a full report when the game is released. In the meanwhile, here's the latest trailer for you to watch again while you wait.

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Update: App Store Link

The app store comes in cycles, and this weekend we have seen a bunch of new games released. TouchArcade is still winding down from E3 coverage and in transit to WWDC, so we haven't had time to take a deep look into these games, but here they are with some early impressions from our forums.

Prices link to the App Store:

• X2 Football 2009 ($6.99 / Lite) - Finally, another high production quality American Soccer game. Be sure to try out the Lite version. Albie took a look at the game and enjoyed it more than Real Soccer 2009:
  

  I enjoy the gameplay in X2 Football more than in Real Soccer because the controls are so much more intuitive and responsive. A directional marker appears for whichever player you’re controlling, and the instant replays allow you to watch from different angles and speeds. At anytime, you can access the options or pause by tapping the mini map in the upper right corner. For me, the game seems to flow better in X2 Football, but I will say that Real Soccer has more depth in terms of teams, the use of real player names, and the ability to choose different stadiums. But at the same time with Real Soccer, some of the players tend to run around like headless chickens, while in X2 Football, they seem to behave more as a real team.

  X2 Football 2009 Discussion

• Real Tennis 2009 ($5.99) - Just previewed at E3, this sports game has already shipped. Some have had some problems with the controls at first, but seem to be getting the hang of it:
  

  Played for about 30 minutes over the course of an hour or so. At first I couldn't win a point at all. I thought hmm, maybe they're right about the controls. Started with the D-pad, switched to joystick and then back to D-pad - About 20 minutes in it all clicked. I started winning point with regularity and now can at least hold my own. Just narrowly lost my fourth match, 4-6, 6-6(7-6).

  Part of the major problem is that the game does a really poor job of telling how to use the controls. There's no 'tutorial' or practice level to get you familiar with how to use things. Once you do though, you can at least be fairly competitive.

  Real Tennis 2009 Discussion

• Rise of Lost Empires ($5.99) - The first of a number of real time strategy games coming to the iPhone. An early look by Alibe:
  

  Overall, Rise of Lost Empires is a mobile port that well, plays like a mobile port. The graphics and voiceovers are appealing, and the game should provide plenty of gameplay for casual gamers. However, for hardcore gamer who finish games in hours vs. days or weeks, Rise of Lost Empires will be short. Personally, the game plays well, but don’t expect an epic RPG.

  Rise of Lost Empires Discussion

• DJ Mix Tour ($5.99) - Another rhythm game but with licensed songs including:
  

  - Poker Face
  - Just Dance
  - Womanizer
  - Get The Party Started
  - Open Your Heart
  - Ibiza
  - Four to The Floor
  - Cry For You
  - Show Me Love
  - De Janeiro
  - Infinity 2008
  - Alive
  - Sandstorm
  - The Bomb
  - Ecuador
  - Sing Hallelujah.

  DJ Mix Tour Discussion

A few days back we posted a preview of Mountain Sheep's upcoming 3D action shooter Minigore, to be published by Chillingo.  The developer has since provided us with additional screenshots as well as an exclusive gameplay preview video.

Minigore puts you in control of a little square fellow known as John Gore, using two virtual sticks in an iDracula-like control arrangement.  Your mission is to defend John from "the Furries," hairy, round creatures with particularly sharp teeth.  The Furries come in three shapes and sizes: the small Minifurry, the Furry, and the lamentable Giant Furry.  But be warned — blast a Giant Furry and the problem only gets worse; it will split into several Furries which, if destroyed, themselves split into Minifurries.  It's Russian Nesting Dolls with a vengence.

The developer indicates that the last two images, above, in a snow setting...

...are from a possible upcoming update which is a flashback sequence to John Gore's past - from time when things weren't so strange, except for the red nosed hammer wielding giant Cossacks with vodka powered flame throwers.  In the flashback update we're thinking about having the vehicles as "power ups", imagine jumping into that assault helicopter or tank instead of picking up a bazooka!

See the game in action.

Minigore is a very impressive looking title with stylized, endearing graphics that looks like a lot of fun to play.  The reader response to our initial preview was very positive and we're quite anxious to get our hands on the final release for a closer look.

The game is expected to debut in the App Store sometime later this month.

Mobile developer Vogster was also present at E3 showing off their first iPhone title Robocalypse. Robocalypse was an award-winning real time strategy game that was originally released for the Nintendo DS in 2008 and is now coming to the iPhone.

Robocalypse – Mobile Mayhem for the iPhone features all the zany characters, hilarious dialog and fast-paced, yet accessible action of the original game. In Robocalypse – Mobile Mayhem, players will build and command robot armies to fend off attacks from the evil Demolisher and his near-endless supply of maniacal mechanical marauders.

The game has been adapted to the iPhone with enhanced graphics, music and improved play area.

The game includes 17 single player missions as well as 18 multiplayer (Wi-Fi) missions in both head-to-head and coop modes. Vogster is also hard at work at online multiplayer but can't promise it will make it into the initial release. There are 10 different robot units to use each with different skills, weapons and personalities.

Vogster has posted this trailer of the upcoming game which gives you quick glance at the title, but we've also recorded a walkthrough of the game at E3 which we will post shortly.

Though you may not have heard of iPhone developer Muteki, you've probably already played one of their games. The company has been around for about 3 years and started as a consulting/contracting company for previous mobile platforms. When the iPhone SDK launched, however, Muteki teamed up with Ngmoco and was the development team behind Maze Finger [App Store] and Topple 2 [App Store].

While still enjoying a good relationship with their partners, Muteki is starting to release a few titles under their own brand. They found that their employees simply loved making games and would pursue their own projects after-hours. Rather than stifling that creativity, Muteki is encouraging it and nurturing these promising "homemade" projects. Muteki President Bryan Sawler explains:

The main goal for this series of games is to find a single focused gameplay element and try to really do as much as we can with it.

They are poised to released two of these games in the near future.

The first, which is due any day now, is called Master Jumperton and is another game that is reminiscent of Skybound. The game involves jumping higher and higher by drawing platforms beneath the character. In the meanwhile, you must avoid various baddies while bouncing to higher scores. Global leaderboards will allow you to see how you rank compared to the world.

The second game is one that I was particularly interested in. It's rare that I see a game and think to myself "I love it", but that's what I thought about The Battle of Pirate Bay. Superficially, the game might remind people of Flight Control but the gameplay mechanic seems much more strategic.

The game involves controlling 3 ships by simple swipe controls to defend against the attacking pirates. The big ship is the slowest but has the longest attack range. The small ship is fast but has a very short attack range. And of course, the middle size ship is somewhere in the middle.

Each ship has limited ammo that can be replenished by incoming supply vessels. Your job is to defend your home base as long as possible.

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Both The Battle of Pirate Bay and Master Jumperton will be $0.99 games, and Muteki has committed to at least a couple of updates to each game.

They also have an interesting plan to involve the players themselves in feature planning by allowing in-game voting to find out which updates are most wanted. They envision a quick voting choice to appear in-app and results will be sent back to their central server. This way, they will know which features to prioritize for their customers.

Chillingo and Gimka Entertainment have released to TouchArcade some exclusive screenshots from the upcoming Defender Chronicles. We knew it looked good before, but these latest screens really make it look amazing.

For those not familiar with the title, Defender Chronicles has been described as Tower Defense meets Role Playing Adventure. The classic campaign mode offers a full storyline as you lead an army through the land of Athelia with the company of your trusted advisor.

The gameplay video shows the game in action:

The game is said to be coming soon to the App Store.

Tetraedge Games has just released Return to Mysterious Island 2 iPhone Extension [App Store], a free download that includes five mini-games inspired by puzzles from the desktop version of Return to Mysterious Island 2, as well as a sync utility that allows the iPhone-based mini-games to unlock their PC game counterparts.

The included mini-games:

• Ants - A challenge to pick up as many ants crawling about an animal's corpse as possible before the timer runs out.
• Code - Find the four-digit code that opens a robot's access door in 10 tries with partial success shown by red and green lights.
• Circuit Board - Repair an electric circuit by placing matching spare components into the vacant sockets.
• Altar - Arrange 15 numbers in a grid formation such that the row / column intersection point is the sum of its edge numbers.
• Ocarina - Hear and see a musical sequence played on an Ocarina and repeat the sequence.  With each success, the sequence gets longer.

The app also includes several Return to Mysterious Island 2 iPhone wallpaper images.

Return to Mysterious Island 2 is the Mac / PC 2009 sequel to Return to Mysterious Island (which is available for the iPhone [link]).

App Store Link: Return to Mysterious Island 2 iPhone Extension, Free

Besides Marble Madness, Handheld Games also showed us a couple of their own titles coming the App Store.

The first title is called Batting 1000 and is a bit of a cross of baseball and bowling. True to its title, the game is primarily a batting tournament where you try to do you best across 10 rounds of play. The game is well rendered in 3D akin to Handheld Games' Touch Sports Tennis. Controls are simple and involve swiping upward at the right time to connect with the pitch. The direction of the swipe will affect the direction of the baseball. Handheld Games CEO Thomas Fessler walks us through the game:

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The second game is called Lock 'n Load and is a survival shooter in which you are defending your bunker. The game is still at least a month away so several of the details remain in flux. Multiple weapons, power-ups and extras are planned, as well as the eventual possibility of different "skins" or themes.

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At E3, we met with 17 year old developer Josh Rosen who had an early build of his upcoming game SciFly 2. Rosen kicked off his iPhone developing career with his original dogfighting game SciFly [App Store]. The original version of SciFly was successful enough to encourage him to dedicate more time and energy into programming. Rosen has been programming since age 10 or 11 and has always had a strong interest in game development.

The early of SciFly 2 shows a more ambitious project with the introduction of various upgrades, weapons and enemies. The game is presented in a single world map with multiple islands. Each island must be overtaken by destroying all enemies. Movement from one "level" to another simply involves flying from one island to the next. This level system is similar to the linked island environments we saw in Glu's Glyder.

SciFly 2 offers multiple aircraft with differing abilities (damage, shield, speed, and armor) as well as various slots for upgrades (weapons, shields, thrust). Ships can additionally be customized by color as well.

This video of the current build shows off some customization and then actual combat:

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Rosen believes the game may take 1-2 more months to complete.

I had the pleasure of meeting with iPhone developers Team Phobic at E3 this week. Team Phobic is a small development group based out of Boulder, Colorado that is responsible for iTD, Bounce On and, most recently, Micro Mayhem. Team Phobic is also a very active member of TouchArcade's forum community.

Bounce On seems to be their flagship product and they've continued to pour in massive amounts of effort to provide additional content to their iPhone platformer. While we took an early look at the game back in December, the developers have since added 3 additional "worlds" as free upgrades. The latest World 4 update was released just yesterday and brings a great new look as well as a number of new features to the platformer.

World 4 (Mystic Oasis) offers a number of nice new gameplay elements:

• Speed ball power-up
• 16 new levels
• New enemy
• Traps
• Physics puzzles
• Boss level

This gameplay shows many of the new elements from World 4 as played by one of the members of Team Phobic -- so be warned, it's really not as easy as he makes it look:

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So, if you passed up Bounce On before, now's the time to take another look. It's on sale for only $1.99 at the moment which is an amazing value.

Team Phobic revealed that there will be one more free world (World 5) added to Bounce On before they will consider it complete, and have also started work on Bounce On 2 which they promise will bring innovative new elements and look to the genre.

App Store Links: Bounce On, $1.99, Bounce On Lite, Free, Micro Mayhem, $0.99, iTD, $1.99, iTD Lite, Free