Simon Edis of Ezone met with us at WWDC to show off their latest creation. Ezone has been responsible for such titles as Crazy Snowboard, Scarecrow and many more. When we first heard about that they were working on a hoverboard game, my initial thought was that they would simply be reskinning their existing snowboard game. But, instead of another downhill racer, they actually have created the beginnings of what feels more like a 3D exploration platformer.

Explore a turbo-charged 3D world of the future with your fully customized avatar. Hover World features high-speed racing, half-pipes, grinds, loops, exploration, fighting, puzzles, and infinite unlockables. Coming soon to iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Central to the game is a world hub where you can fly around and get upgrades and customizations. From there, you can go to any one of many portals that take you to different levels with independent missions. We're told these missions can be one of various goals including collecting gems, tricks, fighting and potentially more. The early version of the game that we were shown showed how you could get from one mission to another and the various environments possible.

On the hoverboard, you can perform tricks on supplied obstacles such as ramps, half pipes, loops and more, along with a trick system planned. Some of the other features they've listed show a pretty ambitious project:

• Collect gems (the in-game currency) to unlock items, upgrades, and character accessories
• Customize: play as male or female, change face, hair, hats, skin, clothing, boards, accessories, etc
• Discover hidden secrets by solving puzzles and completing challenges
• Create your own skate-park area with items you unlock
• Social game-play lets you visit your friends' customised skate-park
• Episodic updates with additional content including new gameplay areas, missions, items and character accessories
• PhysX engine for realistic motion and collisions

Here's Edis showing us the game hands-on at WWDC:

Edis also reports they have plans for allowing you to dismount your hoverboard as well to participate in some types of missions. It's still early, and the final game remains a few months off, but the early prototype had a great feel and shows a lot of potential. We're looking forward to see if they can fill in the game content with missions and goals to match. Hover World is expected to be released as a Universal Binary with support for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

Illusion Labs' latest iPad game Foosball HD just went live on the App Store after a quick approval process. We previewed the game earlier this week at WWDC.

Focused around a multi-touch interface, the Foosball HD allows two players to compete with each other on a virtual foosball table.

Each player has control of their respective players and can move their men using simple swipe controls. Forward and Back move the players horizontally on the field while Left and Right spin them in the appropriate direction.

We had a great time playing Foosball HD at WWDC as did many others. Illusion Labs' Anders Mårtensson had the game in tow at our TouchArcade developer mixer last night and the game had a constant crowd around it, yelling and cheering for goals. While the game comes with a single player mode, the multi-player is where the game shines.

With familiar gameplay, solid controls and a great implementation, Foosball HD delivers on one of the early promises of the iPad, in-person social gaming. Early adopters are also enjoying it in our forums.

EA has released the first screens for their upcoming NCAA Football game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. No details have yet been announced, but we expect to hear more at E3 next week.

EA had previously revealed that NCAA Football 11 would be coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch this fall.

One of the most beloved and recognizable classics in the relatively short history of video games is Konami's Frogger. The timeless gameplay of getting your character from point A to point B, while navigating a busy highway and hazardous river, has spawned many variations during the years and is still fun even today. Banzai Rabbit (formerly called Frogman) is the newest game from Revolutionary Concepts, who most recently brought us the excellent port of Karate Champ, and it takes the very basic premise of Frogger and turns it on its ear with new gameplay twists, gorgeous 3D graphics, and a comic book style storyline. The overall experience feels more like an actual evolution of the Frogger series than any of the spinoffs ever have.

The story starts in a lab, where scientists are experimenting with building teleportation pods. During some commotion, test lab rabbit Banzai escapes his cage, leaping into one of the pods (with a stowaway flea coming along for the ride as well). The pod then activates with two scientists inside, one getting fused with Banzai and one getting fused with the flea. The results are rabbit and flea humanoids. After the dust clears from the accident, the enemy now known as The Flea plots world domination and kidnaps beautiful lab assistant Mary Beth. Having strong feelings for her, Banzai plots how to stop him, and thus the story begins. Ok, it's basically the plot from the 1986 film The Fly mashed up with elements of Spiderman, but it works pretty well in setting up the story for Banzai Rabbit.

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TouchArcade Rating:

Pankaku is about to release a sequel to their Lightbike game called Lightbike 2. The original Lightbike was a Tron lightcycle inspired game that was released in January 2009. It was playable and did well on the charts, but we thought the gameplay was a little boring at the time.

Clearly inspired by the newest Tron movie, Lightbike 2 looks far from boring.

Pankaku reports that they've made great improvements to the visuals as well as adding new gaming elements including "jump" actions, 3D stages, and customizable cycle bodies. They've also incorporated online multiplayer with up to 4 people at the same time.

The game will be coming out tonight and will be free. Lightbike 2 is powered by their own social networking service Pankia which promises massively real-time multiplayer gaming features. This game seems to be a demo of their social gaming platform which also supports the usual friending features and more.

App Store Link: Lightbike2, Free

TouchArcade Rating:

As we've had our time spent in meetings and activities this week at WWDC, several notable games have been released that have been getting some positive feedback in our forums. Here's a roundup of a few of them and links to their discussion threads.

2XL TROPHYLITE Rally

The latest racing game from 2XL games, this time they've applied their skill to a rally racing game. See our discussion rhread for impressions.

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SuperBlox

A game we first saw some time ago as a preview but finally came out last week. Superblox has been generating positive impressions on our forums.

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Pac Match Party

A Pac-Man Match 3? Crazy, I know. Even crazier? People seem to be liking it. A Flash version remains available for web play.

The fine folks at Cowboy Rodeo are putting their port of 1992 Amiga classic Pinball Dreams free today and despite being a nearly 20 year old game, Pinball Dreaming: Pinball Dreams [Free] offers up some great pinball action, even a year and a half after it's initial release. From Blake Patterson's original review:

I am a huge fan of the original and its various sequels and, years ago, spent days playing them on various Amigas.  I can say with authority that the iPhone version is actually more enjoyable than the Amiga original.  All of the nice elements of the original are here, but in a far more convenient (pocketable) package.  What's more, while the iPhone and Amiga feature the same horizontal pixel resolution, the iPhone's display is twice as tall (pixel-wise) as the Amiga's, and so only slight vertical panning of the table is needed to track the ball on the iPhone (where the vertical panning in the Amiga version was extreme).

If you're a pinball fan and have somehow not already bought Pinball Dreams or tried the lite version, then right now is an excellent time to see what you've been missing. The “video game” feel may turn off some real life pinball table purists, but at the time of it's original Amiga release it was considered to be quite revolutionary and is incredibly fun in it's own right.

If you enjoy Dreams, the sequel Pinball Fantasies [$5.99] is available as well. With 4 tables in each game you're getting a grand total of 8 different tables for 6 bucks. Plus, with this increased support of Cowboy Rodeo comes increased odds that we'll see the third game in the series, Pinball Illusions, ported over sometime down the line. On any account, for a game that has never dropped below $3.99, Pinball Dreams is a must-download during this free promotion.

I have immense respect for Backflip Studios. They are one of the few iPhone development groups that has been able to leverage one of their early successes and build it into a strong and sustainable business.

The company was founded by Julian Farrior (pictured left), Dale Thoms (pictured right) and Tom Blind in April 2009. Their first game was Ragdoll Blaster and launched on May 15, 2009. Three weeks later, they launched Paper Toss for free. Paper Toss, of course, went on to be massively popular to the surprise of everyone including Backflip. But Backflip recognized the value of having such an incredibly successful free app and used it to both generate revenue for the company and also help launch its other games up from obscurity.

After their first year, Backflip has generated $3.5 million in net revenue and has expanded to 8 full time employees and over a dozen contractors. 60% of their revenue comes from direct App Store sales while 40% comes from advertising. Of the 11 apps (including Lite versions) they've released, they've seen 8 of them reach the top 5 overall rankings, and they presently serve 1 million unique players a day.

We spoke with Backflip's Julian Farrior and Dale Thoms today at WWDC 2010 and got a look at their upcoming projects. Farrior reports that they have been aggressively ramping up production of games and has 4 new games coming in the next couple of months. He provided us hands on demos for them. They included one paid game and three free games:

• Tunnel Shoot - tunnel shooter developed with Team Phobic
• Graffiti Ball - level-based physics game
• Ninjump - casual jumping/climbing game
• Buganoids - retro-styled circumferential shooter

Julian and Dale walk through the gameplay of each in this video:

We expect they'll continue with their great success. Tunnel Shoot is the first title to be delivered on June 24th with Graffiti Ball, Ninjump and Buganoids each following every 2 weeks. Julian Farrior is an active participant in our forums as Backflip Studios.

Imangi Studios, made up of husband and wife team Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckyanova, were also in attendance at WWDC 2010. We met up with Luckyanova who sat down and gave us a hands on demo of their upcoming dual stick shooter Max Adventure. We had previewed the game back in April which remains a work in progress. Imangi hopes to have the game ready by the end of July.

The game's plot consists of an end-of-the-world scenario where all the adults have been abducted by aliens. That leaves you, Max, as the only one who can save the other children and save the world.

The game specifics remain a work in progress but currently features multiple weapons (standard, wide spread, dual shot, radial shot), powerups (invincibility, power boost) and 3 different types of enemies. They haven't finalized the number of levels that the final game will contain.

Max Adventure is due for release in late July. Both Natalia and Keith are active participants in our forums as nattylux and kshep.

At WWDC 2010, we got a chance to meet up with New Zealand developer David Frampton who had his latest creation in hand to show off. Frampton was a long time Mac developer turned fulltime iPhone developer after the success of his original App Store launch title Chopper. Reminiscent of Choplifter, Chopper put you in tilt-control of a chopper with missions to save your comrades while taking on enemy forces.

After a year in development, Chopper 2 hopes to add a number of improvements to the game. Frampton has worked hard on improving the graphical engine for the game. The sequel offers a 3d terrain over which to fly as well as offering both iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch support. The level designs have also been tweaked by adding a variety of goals. Goals can include saving your men, pick up and drop off goals, as well as defending a structure from spawning enemies. The game comes with 4 different terrains each with 3 different missions. Meanwhile, these 12 missions come in 3 different difficulties offering 36 total distinct levels.

One eye-catching feature that Frampton will be adding to the final version is the inclusion of the Bluetooth remote control that allows the iPhone to act as a controlled for the iPad version.

The game will come in a single universal binary that can be used on either device and includes the remote functionality within. So, a single purchase can be used for both devices.

We shot some video of the current version of Chopper 2 at WWDC. This shows a couple of terrains as well as the Bluetooth iPhone/iPad interaction.

Chopper 2 is expected to be complete in the next couple of months and the base price is going to be $4.99 (Universal) but with an introductory sale.

While we're busy stuffing our faces with Moons Over My Hammies at WWDC, IGN is listening in on Take-Two financial calls where they revealed an interesting tidbit for any current or potential iPad owner: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is making its way to the big screen. Unfortunately, there aren't any details to be had currently aside from the mention that it will be available later this month.

We thought the iPhone version of the game was great in our review, and actually, GTA:CW is a game that looks quite good even running at the 2X mode on the iPad. It will be interesting to see what if any improvements Rockstar adds to the iPad version of the game aside from running at the native 1024x768 resolution, which might be reason enough for fans of the series to potentially re-buy the game anyway.

Needless to say, we'll take a close look at Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the iPad as soon as we get our hands on it.

Back in April, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 [$4.99] finally made its way to the App Store following an odd Twitter announcement by Tony Hawk himself. In our review, we absolutely loved the game:

If you're only familiar with more modern Tony Hawk games, you might be annoyed that it's lacking (and I use that word loosely) things like a story mode, a more structured career mode, greater depth of customization, and other things that have since become common place in recent skateboarding games. But, honestly, none of that even matters, because the actual skating in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 has an absolutely timeless feel to it.

This is a game I will never delete from my iPhone.

...And I still haven't deleted it from my phone.

For whatever reason, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 was originally only available in the US App Store, but as of today it appears to be up in most major international App Stores. If you live in one of these areas that formerly was without the awesomeness that is Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, the wait is over.

During WWDC this week we met with Glu to get a peek at their upcoming game lineup, along with the not entirely surprising news that they're going to be shifting towards the freemium market towards the end of this year. In the meantime, they showed us four of their upcoming games, which will all be coming out in the next few months.

Escape From Nom - A physics-powered puzzle game where you have to aim a colored circle (named Alan) to get to the bottom of the water at the bottom of the screen. You can control where you drop Alan, and levels often involve either using existing or placing new gizmos in to the game world to bounce off of to avoid being eaten by the Noms, multi-colored blobs which are either stationary or moving about.

Much like Enigmo, later levels require a quite a bit of thought and manipulation of various objects to bounce Alan about. Some levels even have Alan starting out as a different color than the water, at which point you must have him bounce off an appropriately colored bumper in order to change to the correct color to complete the level.

Escape From Nom also comes with a full featured level editor which will allow you to create and share new levels. Aside from user-generated levels, the game will come with 30 pre-made levels of increasing difficulty across 3 different game worlds. Escape From Nom will be released soon, potentially even before the end of June.

Build-a-Lot 2 - This is a sequel of the original Build-a-Lot, which came out in early 2009. We liked the original in our review, and it sounds like the sequel is more of the same with additional enhancements. There are new blueprints to unlock, and a new curb appeal system that adds another level of depth to the game as curb appeal increases as a house is built closer to a playground and other desirable structures.

Tons of other parts of the game has been tweaked, and it's safe to say if you enjoyed the original you will also like the sequel. Build-a-Lot 2 is expected mid-July and Glu is also working on an iPad-optimized version of the game.

Deer Hunter African Safari - More of the same Deer Hunter action, this time set in Africa. You'll be able to do 3 different hunts in 4 separate locations and shoot exotic game like lions, zebra, kudus, elephants, and other virtual African animals begging for your bullets. Like the other Deer Hunter games, there will be DLC to purchase additional equipment and other fun hunting toys to allow you to more efficiently cleanse the land of life.

Deer Hunter African Safari will be available mid-August.

Deer Hunter 3D for iPad - The original Deer Hunter 3D is making its way to the iPad, with 16 different hunts in 4 different locations. 7 different types of animals are packed in to the game, and there are 13 different weapons to shoot them with. Everything is up-scaled to 1024x768, and the game looks just as good as you would expect on the iPad.

Deer Hunter 3D for iPad is coming in early July.

Hasbro and EA have released the first screenshots for the official iPhone and iPod Touch version of Risk. An official Risk game was first announced back in 2009 and will finally be making its way into the App Store this summer.

The iPhone version offers both AI adversaries or up to 6 multiplayer opponents. Risk-like strategy games have been very popular on the iPhone, so an official version is a welcome addition. Data sheet from the upcoming iPhone version lists the following features:

• THE ORIGINAL WAR GAME TRADITION LIVES ON IN AN EXPLOSIVE NEW WAY - The updated look and feel also captures the powerful tradition of the authentic RISK experience. Strategize over the world map, attack with a “roll” of the dice, and fortify your advances with the same rule set as the classic board game.
• ENGAGE IN MULTIPLE MODES OF BATTLE - Test your power against strong AI opponents, each featuring unique strategies and even emotional responses. Escalate the action in two Multiplayer modes. Challenge up to 4 of your greatest rivals via WiFi or Bluetooth, or up to 6 with Pass ‘n Play.
• CRUSH YOUR OPPONENTS AND ACHIEVE HONOR - Attack enemy forces, and transfer and fortify your armies in phase-based warfare. Track the progress and relative strength of opponents with easily accessible in-game statistics. Earn an extensive list of achievements as your armies dominate territory after territory.
• STAY ON THE MARCH BACKED BY AN INSPIRING SOUNDTRACK - Stirring sound effects and morale-boosting music enhance the feelings of struggle – and triumph!

It appears multi-player is limited to local Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or pass-and-play options. The game is due out this summer.

As promised during yesterday's keynote address, Activision released an official version of Guitar Hero for the iPhone and iPod Touch yesterday.

The game costs $2.99 and comes with 6 songs with additional song packs available as in-app purchases. The included songs include:

• Queen - We Are The Champions
• Rise Against - Savior
• The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black
• The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
• Weezer - Say It Ain't So
• Vampire Weekend - Cousins

Despite the rather short tracklist, impressions have been positive with particular praise for the game's fun notecharts:

Gotta say i'm pretty impressed thus far. Much better than I expected and way deeper, more challenging and fun than Rockband. I really like the variety in the gameplay created by the slides and "strums" - it adds a lot of challenging segments and can be much more interesting than the somewhat stagnant note charts from TTR3/RB.

More feedback and impressions are available in our discussion forums.