Last month we posted some news about an impending update to Flight Control HD [$4.99] that would add an online multiplayer mode to coincide with the introduction of iOS 4.2 and Game Center to iPads. As planned, just a couple of days after iOS 4.2 was introduced several weeks back, the update to Flight Control HD was released. Earlier today, the original Flight Control [99¢] for iPhone and iPod touch played catch up to its HD sibling and received a similar update adding online multiplayer using Apple's Game Center.

The multiplayer mode in Flight Control is actually quite a lot of fun. For those who haven't played it before, one player takes control of the red commercial planes and the other player controls the biplanes and helicopters. As you land the aircraft you're responsible for, you simultaneously send your opponents aircraft off the edge of your own screen to appear onto theirs. The trick is to not send a plane in the same spot that they are sending you one, as there's a high probability they will crash. It's more of a cooperative effort than a competitive one. As a nice touch, the new update includes support for voice chat which makes it very easy to strategize with whoever you are playing with.

In our testing of the Game Center multiplayer, everything worked pretty well, although with some hiccups. Games where I directly invited a friend from my Game Center friend list all worked flawlessly. When I searched for random matchups, however, it was a bit more hit or miss. Some games were just fine, but some lagged horribly to the point of being unplayable. Likely this is just due to the update being so new, and the fact that there aren't quite as many players online means I'm getting matched with people really far away from me. It'll be interesting to see how the multiplayer performs as more players update in the coming days.

At any rate, it's a welcome new feature to one of the most popular games on the App Store, and if you haven't already make sure to update your copy of Flight Control and hop online for some matches, or drop by the thread in our forums if you're looking for some people to play.

Alright Street Fighter fans, you've spoken loud and clear and Capcom has heeded your cries. Last month, we posted about the latest update to Street Fighter IV [$9.99] for iPhone. In this update, a brand new multiplayer mode was added that will auto-connect players into a match via Bluetooth if they are within range of each other. Also, two new playable characters were added to the roster of fighters, Sagat and Dee Jay. This is nothing new by now, as Street Fighter IV has been one of the most well supported titles in the App Store with a ton of new content and characters added in updates since the game was initially released last March.

Something was different about this last update though. Sagat was available right out of the gate, but in order to unlock Dee Jay one would have had to engage in 3 Bluetooth multiplayer matches with another device owner who also had the game. This made sense from the developer's perspective, as they had just come out with an interesting new multiplayer mode and would like to entice players to check it out by rewarding them with a character for doing so. The problem though is that many players in our forums and elsewhere didn't know anybody else with an iOS device, or if they did those people weren't avid gamers who owned a copy of Street Fighter IV. This left people frustrated as they had no way of unlocking Dee Jay, unless they happened to own multiple devices and could play versus matches against themselves (which is exactly how I ended up unlocking him).

Well, this is a problem no more, as the update released earlier today addresses this issue by allowing Dee Jay to be unlocked by beating Tournament Mode with every character or by the 3 versus matches requirement. Now, this isn't exactly a cake walk either, as it will take a significant amount of time to work through Tournament Mode with everyone. And I know what you're thinking, you clever player - that you will just change the round count to 1 to speed up the process. But not so fast, as Capcom figured you would try some shenanigans like that and requires that you keep the round count at 3 in order to unlock Dee Jay. At any rate, it's nice to know that even if it takes a little effort, you can now play as Dee Jay without relying on interacting with other human beings. If you have yet to unlock Dee Jay, make sure to grab the latest update for Street Fighter IV and hop into Tournament Mode to get started.

John Kooistra and his development studio Cat in a Box Games have just dropped the price of their excellent real-time strategy title Red Conquest! [Link] to free for a limited time. Red Conquest! ties the stories of Kooistra's previous Blue Defense! [$1.99] and Blue Attack! [$1.99] titles together, and is one of the more full-featured RTS titles available on the App Store. We originally reviewed Red Conquest! last December when it was released, and while we thought it was easily one of the most robust RTS experiences we had seen, it was mired by a confusing tutorial and frustrating difficulty curve. Those who stuck with it and learned the intricacies of the game, however, were rewarded with a superb game.

Thankfully this past year has been kind to Red Conquest! in the way of substantial updates. Practically any problem we had with the original release has since been addressed, and then some. A new tutorial offered a much easier way for RTS newbies to grasp the controls and gameplay, and the difficulty was balanced more appropriately. Beyond these tweaks to the existing content, an entirely new faction, the green faction, was added in addition to the red and blue factions. Also, internet multiplayer with a chat functionality was added, and most recently the game was updated with Retina Display support.

Red Conquest! saw a 50% price drop during this past Summer, but it has never been available for free. It goes without question that everyone should download and give the game a try during this promotion. If you aren't really an RTS expert and find yourself having trouble grasping onto the play mechanics, a very dedicated group of players in our forums have put together some excellent resources for you: a visual diagram of all the unit types, an in-depth tutorial on all aspects of the game interface, a level walkthrough video from John Kooistra himself, and an additional thread where players can swap strategies or ask for assistance.

We remain huge fans of Homerun Battle 3D [$4.99 / Lite / HD] even though it's changed a lot since our review. In fact, even the name of the game has changed. And now it looks like our love will have to grow even more to accompany another, though more unconventional update. At midnight, Com2Us plans to drop Santa Clause into the game. Yeah. THAT Santa.

According to press materials, Santa will take on the role of pitcher for Homerun Derby match-ups and will reward players "x2," "x3," and "x5" gold balls or special pieces of stat-bending equipment such as shirts, pants, and helmets whenever they hit a homerun off of one of his special giftbox pitches. The gold balls can, in turn, be used to purchase an item in the in-game store, which by the way, will be updated as well with seasonal sales prices this midnight, too.

Of course, Homerun Battle 3D isn't the only Com2Us joint scoring a holiday-themed update. Slice it! [$.99] (above) has received 20 new stages, Christmas carol BGMs, and new themed visuals. Starting now, actually, you'll be able to hack away with all the holiday pride you can muster at lush evergreens, snowmen, or even lit candles. Go get 'em, Tiger!

Hey, guys, did you know Christmas is less than 20 days away? Yeah, just thought about that and my mind was blown. I wonder what Eli is getting me?

If you were App shopping around Thanksgiving, you probably gobbled up one of two of the usually-premium priced SEGA titles on sale. If you missed out for one reason or another, well, here's your second chance at correcting that egregious error. SEGA has slashed the prices on every single bit of content it has on the App Store. From Chu Chu Rocket HD to Streets of Rage, every SEGA published or developed title's price has been permanently dropped.

Now, you can grab titles like Shining Force and Ecco the Dolphin for a mere $.99, or even grab newer ports like Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 for $6.99. In the interest of keeping you fully informed, here's a list, provided via SEGA's own blog, of all the Apps original and new prices:

Chu Chu Rocket: THEN: $4.99, NOW: $2.99
Chu Chu Rocket HD: THEN: $6.99, NOW: $4.99
Ecco the Dolphin: THEN: $2.99, NOW: $0.99
Golden Axe: THEN: $2.99, NOW: $0.99
Gunstar Heroes: THEN: $4.99, NOW: $2.99
Phantasy Star II: THEN: $4.99, NOW: $2.99
Shining Force: THEN: $2.99, NOW: $0.99
Super Monkey Ball 2: THEN: $5.99, NOW: $2.99
Super Monkey Ball 2 Sakura Edition: THEN: $7.99, NOW: $4.99
Sonic The Hedgehog 1: THEN: $5.99, NOW: $4.99
Sonic The Hedgehog 2: THEN: $5.99, NOW: $4.99
Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode 1: THEN: $9.99, NOW: $6.99
Streets of Rage: THEN: $2.99, NOW: $0.99

Of course, just because these games are on sale doesn't mean you should go on an all-out Sega buying bender. For example, as cool as Shining Force is, and as fun as it still remains, SEGA didn't optimize it for touch screens. Similarly, all of the emulated games were designed to be played with a physical controller, and your fun will be limited by your ability to adapt to using the virtual controls. So, be wise, be resourceful, and use our forums before you sink all your dough.

Early this year we got word that Cyan's Riven: The Sequel to Myst, would be making its way to the iPhone. An update came in a Myst online forum post by Cyan's Mark DeForest ('Chogon') back in August, including a few screenshots and an indication that an iPad version, Riven HD, would follow the iPhone release into the App Store.

This past Saturday, DeForest announced that Riven has finally been submitted to Apple and that we can expect to see it in 10 days to two weeks.

A number of specifics concerning this release have been revealed in Cyan's Riven for iOS forum thread.

• The version that was submitted is the iPhone / iPod touch release -- Riven HD that specifically supports the iPad will come later. (Of course, like all iPhone games, it can be played on the iPad in the shrunken fashion.)
• The iPhone version was not written to specifically take advantage of the iPhone 4's Retina display, but the source images that make up the game are 608x392 pixels in size, which iOS scales down to 480x320 on older displays. The iPhone 4, thanks to the way iOS handles the scaling, will take advantage of the image's source resolution to render them more clearly on the Retina display.
• This initial release contains Game Center support, but in a limited fashion. There is one achievement and a score leaderboard for the fastest time getting to the end of the game. "Tons" of achievements and OpenFeint integration will come in a future update.
• The game features an integrated Shake-A-Hint system, with various settings, that highlights action points to help stuck players along.
• The game is huge -- it will require 2GB free to install (though some of that will be freed up once the install process is complete).
• Riven will launch at a price of US $5.99

We'll be sure to let readers know when Riven: The Sequel to Myst goes live in the App Store.

Cyan's classic Myst [link] arrived in the App Store in the Spring of 2009 and is currently priced at $4.99.

Back in July, we brought you word that Seaman developer Yutaka "Yoot" Saito and Digi Toys had plans to bring its simulation game The Tower for iPad to the US App Store after a Japanese release. Due in part to the language barrier, it's been hard to keep tabs on the international project, but we've received new intel via Digi Toys' official Twitter account that The Tower is slated to come "soon" to the US.

But how soon is soon? On Twitter, Digi Toys is refusing to pin down a date. Instead, it has said release is hinging on "Apple's intention." There's a couple of ways to interpret this, but we think this means that the title has been recently submitted to cert, so unless there's a "Christmas miracle" as my brother-from-another-mother Eli said to me this afternoon, we probably won't see The Tower until next year. (We've heard from many developers that Apple's cut-off for pre-holiday approvals was over a week ago.)

But we'll never see "The Tower" on the US App Store anyway. One big mention in the Digi Toys' reveal of the game's impending release is that it's been renamed to "Yoot Tower." Your guess is as good as ours on this one, we're thinking it might have to do with licensing, but we welcome flashier names.

You, me, the rest of us here, and perhaps your tech savvy grandmother are excited about this game for good reason. Yoot Tower is a simulation joint that plays like a vertical take on Sim City. In the game, you'll play as a building manager with a mission to build a massive tower. This tower, however, won't just be filled with bricks, iron, and cement. No, it'll also house people -- residents and workers and the like -- who all have individual stress levels and needs. Negotiating these needs, while continuing to build your tower and placing desire facilities, composes the core of a game. So, like a good sim, Yoot Tower appears to have quite the interesting juggling act between you and outside forces.

Here's a video, released long ago, featuring the game in action. You'll see the similarities between Yoot Tower for iPad and Saito's first major release SimTower for the Macintosh and PC.

We'll continue, obviously, our watch on Yoot Tower's progress and will fill you in on anything we possibly can. You'll have to excuse the ticky-tacky nature of this post, but this is an exciting game, for sure, that also presents an interesting challenge on the coverage side of things.

Ngmoco has just released Touch Pets Dogs 2 [Free], the follow up to last year's popular virtual puppy game. The original Touch Pets Dogs [Free] was generally well received by gamers barring one major issue – the constant need to feed your puppy. A bowl of food was required in order to get a small amount of playtime from your doggy, and if he or she went unfed then you were unable to do anything with them except stare at them sleeping. Of course, food bowls were available as IAP for those willing to pay to play with their virtual puppy, but the value of purchased food was pretty thin. There's no sense in playing a virtual pet game, even an attractive and entertaining one like Touch Pets Dogs, if said virtual pet is a borderline narcoleptic.

Luckily Ngmoco realized this, and Touch Pets Dogs 2 doesn't implement any cruel restrictions that prevent you from playing with your pet, rather it more closely resembles their recently released feline-themed virtual pet game Touch Pets Cats [Free]. And when I say resemble, I mean that it's practically identical. Touch Pets Dogs 2 gives you the ability to personalize your living space with a plethora of different kinds of furniture and items. These can then be “searched” by your pet which will net you some coins that can then be used to purchase more items. Coins can also be earned by taking care of your puppy and completing other types of goals in the game.

The catch is that the frequency with which you can search furniture is time limited, with longer wait times resulting in more coins. The IAP in Touch Pets Dogs 2 comes in the form of dog bones which can be used to speed up the wait times of coin collecting. You can also feed the bones directly to your dog which will send it into a state of excitement, similar to catnip in Touch Pets Cats, that will allow him/her to collect even more coins. There are other time limited events as well, like daily goals that can be completed, which can also be sped up with the use of bones. Unfortunately, when the time limits have been reached for coin collection you'll need to act quickly otherwise they will expire.

While I'm not really a fan of games that require you to keep a constant watch in order for your rewards not to expire, there are some really nice things about Touch Pets Dogs 2. The game supports the Retina Display on newer devices and the graphics have been much improved over the original. This is a very sharp looking game, and your puppy's mannerisms and personality are just adorable. There is also a staggering amount of different items to collect in the game, such as furniture, toys, clothing, and more. It's actually pretty fun to decorate your house and upgrade to premium items as you collect enough coins to do so.

If you aren't bothered by Ngmoco's freemium model and have enough free time to keep a vigilant eye on your game's progress, then you'll find a lot to like about Touch Pets Dogs 2. Honestly, I enjoy the game a lot, but I just can't get behind the limiting factors associated with playing. At the very least it's worth a download to check out Touch Pets Dogs 2 since it's free to do so, and you can leave any comments in the discussion thread in our forums with your own thoughts on the game.

In early March, Galoobeth Games first announced Aralon: Sword and Shadow on our forums. It wasn't until two months later that it popped up on our radar when Crescent Moon Games mentioned they were taking the game under their wing to undergo what they described as an "extreme RPG makeover." Since then, there have been some amazing before and after screenshots released, but it wasn't until we saw the new trailer and the original trailer back to back that our jaws really hit the floor. But after nearly 10 months of pre-release excitement, the real question is, does Aralon live up to the hype?

After sinking a stupid amount of time into the game over the last four days, without a doubt, yes, it does. In the world of the App Store, where many games can be described as "casual time wasters", it is beyond refreshing to play a game that has depth on top of depth, a game world that's easily describable as "epic," all with the potential for tons of replay value. Aralon grabs you with a mysterious story beginning with prophecies of shadow and evil, then ropes your character in with the death of Sir Roderick, who expires holding a cryptic letter from your late father.

The game begins with the selection of three difficulty levels ranging from casual to hard. Casual mode reduces all monster health and allows you to level much faster, while hard mode increases all enemy health and slows leveling. Normal is right in the middle. From there, you select one of three races: Human, elf, or troll. The race you choose doesn't seem to make any difference aside from class restrictions and starting stats (as well as the obvious cosmetic differences). Multiple hair, hair color, and face options are included, providing an impressive amount of customization right out of the gate.

So far I haven't focused on powering through the game as much as I have on dabbling in each of the classes: warrior, rogue, ranger, and mage. I've found myself very impressed that not only does each of the four classes play substantially differently, but each class can also be used strategically depending on how you spend your skill points as you level up. Skill points work a lot like a simplified version of World of Warcraft (and similar) skill trees, allowing you to specialize in and beef up various abilities.

For instance, playing as a warrior, you can invest skill points into specializing in using a shield. From there, you gain abilities that allow you to stun enemies by slamming your shield into them. Using a shield, you'll do less damage, but you'll also take substantially less damage by blocking. Alternatively, you can decide to invest points into dual wielding. After that, you can boost your parry rate, and then gain access to stun abilities following a successful parry. Further down the tree yet, there are skills that do bonus damage to stunned enemies, and it's up to you whether you're doing that stunning by whirling two weapons around, or bashing with your shield. Similarly, as a mage you can decide to dump points into powering up your fire elemental which transforms the mage into more of a pet class, or you can say nuts to it and spend points on boosting your sheer damage output instead.

Aralon controls well with multiple camera options including first person, third person, and a third person view with the camera locked behind your character. A bar along the bottom of the screen can be loaded with icons like many RPGs, and casting spells or using abilities is as simple as tapping on them. Aralon boasts an extensive menu system to handle its various functions from a huge inventory, to a map, quest log, the previously mentioned skill trees, and more. Playing through the game involves completing what seems to be tons of quests. Like many similar games, it seems like everyone in the world wants something from you or to do something for them, and there is never a shortage of things to do in game.

The game world is expansive; it's filled with boats crossing oceans, bridges crossing rivers, caves of all kinds filled with all forms of evil and so much more. Crescent Moon Games did a great job reworking the graphics, and it's very easy to just disregard your packed quest log and go exploring to just see what there is to see. There's even a day and night cycle complete with beautiful sunsets that then reveal a sky filled with stars, weather effects, and more.

I'm really not sure how we're even going to begin to truly "review" Aralon: Sword and Shadow. I've spent the better part of four days with Aralon, and I've barely felt like I've scratched the surface of what the game has to offer. Aralon is going to rewrite expectations of RPGs on the App Store, and it's just incredible to think that I'm playing a game like this on my phone. It gets better yet, the initial release of Aralon HD is going to be completely universal, and I've been enjoying the game equally on both my iPhone and iPad. All of the screenshots in this post were taken on the iPad, but it looks just as good (if not better) on the Retina Display of the iPhone 4.

Aralon: Sword & Shadow is scheduled for release on December 16th for $6.99.

Last December we reported that legendary, long-time game developer Jeff Minter of Llamasoft had fixed his sights on the iPhone, adding it to the extensive list of platforms for which he has developed games over the past 30+ years. We recently checked back in with Jeff to see how things are coming along and were pleased to hear that his first App Store release is just weeks away.

At the time of our previous post, Jeff was working on a Time Pilot-style, tilt-controlled multidirectional shooter which was serving as a testbed for the general iPhone game engine he was in the process of putting together. Since that time, he has taken his impressive Neon "light synthesizer" engine, which powers the XBOX 360's music visualizer and excellent Space Giraffe title, and taken it to the next level in the form of the new Neon 2 engine for iOS.

According to Jeff, Neon 2 is much improved as compared to the original, featuring a much cleaner framework and a lot more bang-for-the-buck in terms of shader usage. (Neon 2 exists for the PC and soon the Mac as well, so let's cross our fingers for Mac App Store goodness from Llamasoft.) And, it is upon this new engine that Solar Minotaur Rescue Frenzy, Llamasoft's first iPhone game release, has been built.

Solar Minotaur Rescue Frenzy can be succinctly and quite accurately described as: Asteroids meets Spacewar! on an Atari VCS. With minotaurs. While seeing trails. I could really stop there, as far as the game's description. Of course, the drippy trails part is pretty standard for Llamasoft games, but the minotaur element -- that's a new twist. (It's usually llamas or giraffes.) But, I'll share a bit more detail in the interest of thoroughness.The game, which is a Universal app that natively supports both the iPhone and the iPad, consists of an active starfield play area with a sun at the center. In its core gameplay mode, you control an ever-firing ship that can fly about this starfield (wrapping at the edges) and is affected by the intense gravitational pull of the aforementioned sun. And so, too, are the asteroids closing in from the edges. Your job is to blast apart these asteroids (as opposed to slamming into them), some of which contain minotaurs that must be rescued before they drift into the sun. If too many asteroids drift into the sun, it will turn into a black hole...which is bad. The closer to the sun a minotaur gets before you rescue him, the more points you gain for said rescue. And, the more minotaurs you rescue and the closer you are to the sun, the faster your auto-fire tosses out rounds. Just to keep you fully on your toes, the occasional enemy saucer passes through (and some are tiny), shooting at you and dropping mines.

A touch-anywhere control pad puts you in the pilot's seat, with perpetual auto-fire engaged, as mentioned previously.

In addition to the core gameplay mode, Minotaur Rescue features three other playmodes, as well. There's Deep Space Minotaur Madness which is like the above, but with only the Asteroids elements in place (plus minotaurs) -- no sun and associated gravity. And, perhaps oddly, there's also the Tanks! and Jets! modes, which are like the simple, core playmodes of the pack-in Atari VCS cartridge Combat. But, of course, with minotaurs to pick up along the way.

I've spent quite a bit of time with the ad hoc build Jeff provided us and have been loving it. But that's in solo play. The iPhone version also offers a two-player mode (on the same device) while the iPad version allows four people to get in on the action at once. If only I had four friends.

As mentioned previously, graphically, everything looks (and sounds) like an Atari VCS game. And that's by design. In fact, Jeff has rather strong feelings about the modern-retro aesthetic, and had this (and a lot more, actually) to say about it in the game's About screens.

The goal of the Minotaur project is to make new games in the style of the old hardware, but with none of the limitations of the original platforms and a thoroughly modern heart inside giving gameplay sufficiently rewarding and involving for today's players.

We've begun in the VCS-era and this first game is presented on the entirely fictional 'Ataurus TVC 2605' which uses primitive graphics shapes but allows for an effectively unlimited number of them on screen, and also for some fullscreen feedback effects. Things that would have been entirely impossible back in the day.

The fact that so many games try to look like Geometry Wars, a game whose look was designed specifically to evoke the sparsely abstract games of old vector systems, shows that there is still a desire of players to play once more in that pure, symbolic space, deliberately far from any though of realism.

As suggested, Llamasoft's intention is to develop and release numerous titles featuring retro gameplay, progressing forward from the Atari VCS aesthetic to the VIC 20, Commodore 64, and beyond. Future games would be based on the Neon 2 engine, as well, but offer perhaps more dynamic graphical effects, as Jeff indicates that they took it fairly easy on the eye-candy in this first iOS release out the gate. A forthcoming iPhone 4-specific, Neon 2-based "toy" that Llamasoft will shortly be releasing will go a long way towards showing us what this new visualization engine is capable of. It's all basically a dream come true for retro junkies like myself.

Have a look at Jeff demonstrating Solar Minotaur Rescue Frenzy on an iPad, an iPhone, and a big-screen PC in an interview with Retro Gamer magazine's Darran Jones.

The developer indicates that there's about a week of work left before Minotaur Rescue gets submitted to Apple. In that time, online leaderboards will be added and there's a chance that a one-ship survival mode will make its way into the game. Minotaur Rescue should be available for download just about at the turn of the year.

Now, while what I've presented here is a somewhat longwinded song of praise for Llamasoft's first iPhone release, it's true that it will certainly hold the most appeal to those who can appreciate the retro aesthetic. And that's well worth noting. But, I would encourage causal gamers who may be curious as to why I would run on so about a game that looks 30 years old to try and appreciate what the developer was going for in designing this title. There is a purity and a distillation of enjoyable gameplay to be found here and I expect to find the same in the forthcoming iOS titles we should be seeing from Jeff Minter in the coming months.

And, as for the Time Pilot-like game we saw demoed a year ago? A Neon 2-based rework of it should be among the coming Llamasoft titles. Stay tuned.

If you've got a taste for peg legs, hook hands, fine vintage grog, the open sea, loot, and refined civilization simulations, this is your afternoon. Free-to-play specialist ngmoco has released the evolution of We Rule [Free] on the App Store this afternoon. The game is called Adventure Bay [Free / HD] and it's a curious blend of all the above with a touch of slick art and your typical F2P annoyances, such as long wait times.

Perhaps the coolest thing about Adventure Bay is its quest system, a component that ngmoco has added to We Rule since its initial release. When you're waiting for crops to grow or a building to finish being built in Adventure Bay, you can take off in a ship to an island with various bits of loot. This, of course, isn't an instantaneous thing -- trips take time and the adventuring itself takes place on a dull grid with limited moves available to you -- but you can grab a few friends to speed up the process. The loot you fetch, in turn, can be cashed in for gold, buildings or items when combined with other bits of loot.

Adventure Bay is fresh, fun, and above all, free, so give it a shot if you need another title in your freemium rotation. Lord knows I need a couple more.

The long-awaited Universal update for Carcassonne [$4.99] is going to be submitted to Apple for approval on December 7, developer The Coding Monkeys has announced. And as the studio declared months ago, the price of the App will raise alongside with this release. With the onslaught of submissions, it's hard to say when it will actually be approved, but we've got our fingers crossed we'll see it before the holidays.

Currently, the game is setting at $4.99, a veritable steal considering the depth and quality of the German board game turned touch screen App, but soon it'll be hiked to $9.99 on the US store. It almost goes without saying, but if you've been planning on making a purchase, grab it now it at its regular, non-Universal App price. Save some cash for some other games and Christmas gifts, eh?

The Coding Monkeys has shown off the enhanced UI for the iPad version of the game before. Built from the ground up for the larger screen, Carcassonne on the iPad looks and sounds like a faithful port. We'll give it a go both privately and with friends just to make sure, but the developer has yet to let us down, so there's no reason to think it'll stink up the place.

On a related note, following this release, the creators will now start to focus on updates and add-on packs for the game. Give us "Inns & Cathedrals," first please! Thanks!

Back at E3 we got a look at the OnLive client running on the iPad, and were surprised by how well it worked. If this is the first you've heard of it, OnLive is a game streaming service that is trying to do to video games what NetFlix streaming has done to movies. There are a variety of different payment options, but it comes down to this: If you've got a solid internet connection (the connectivity requirements are stringent) you can play next-generation video games on any device capable of running the OnLive client, including a micro console they're selling that hooks up to TV's.

Unfortunately, the OnLive client for the iPad is only a viewer, and you can't actually play any games currently. Fortunately, the viewer aspect of OnLive is really cool, and totally worth checking out. Utilizing the iPad client (or any OnLive client) you can view any game that's currently being played by any player connected to OnLive. If you've never seen Assassin's Creed, all you need to do is scroll to someone playing it, and you're instantly watching them. The down side of all this is that much like playing games using OnLive, watching them also requires a considerable amount of bandwidth. Viewing games is much more forgiving, but you'll still need a substantial chunk of downstream to not see any video artifacts.

OnLive Viewer for the iPad is a free download, and currently is available in New Zealand. Much like the Wednesday night game releases, it will slowly become available to other regions throughout the day before finally making its appearance on the US App Store at 11:00 PM EST.

App Store Link: OnLive Viewer, Free

Seeing as our little Apple devices have such fantastic touch screen keyboards, it only seems natural to utilize this as a play mechanic in iOS games. We've previously seen this done successfully with games like Texting of the Bread [$1.99/HD] and Font Monsters [$1.99/Lite], and at a recent EA Mobile event I had the chance to try out a new game called TxT Fighter that also utilizes typing as its core gameplay.

Developed by 5 Elements Entertainment and published by Chillingo, TxT Fighter takes all the core elements of a one-on-one fighting game and replaces the button mashing with keyboard mashing. You'll choose from 7 different characters and 7 environments to fight in through a single player arcade mode or local multiplayer using Bluetooth.

When the battle begins you're given two words on screen, one for a punch attack and one for a kicking attack. There's no backspace button, but each incorrect letter you type will decrease the amount of damage that particular move will do. Each character has two special moves that can be used by filling up a blue meter below your life bar and then typing out an alternate, more difficult version of a word that appears below the original.

I went a few rounds against the developers of TxT Fighter and have to say that the whole concept works really well. There have been some decent iOS fighting games released, but they are always held back by the lack of precision found in virtual controls. In TxT Fighter this isn't a problem as you're only bound by how well you're able to type on the keyboard.

Panic sets in as you frantically try to type a word correctly before your opponent does. A decent amount of strategy is involved as well as you try to make split-second decisions whether to go for the easier words that do less damage or try to fill your special meter and bang out a more complex word and go for a knockout.

The single player mode will offer a nice progression as you unlock new abilities for the fighters as well as follow along with an interesting storyline. The Bluetooth multiplayer connected quickly and the connection felt solid, and of course it's always more fun to play a game when you can talk smack to your opponent's face. In addition to these two modes of play, TxT Fighter will also offer two different mini-games that let you hone your typing skills in different ways, one of which has you beating up on a giant statue as it slowly crumbles and breaks apart à la the car smashing game from Street Fighter II.

TxT Fighter is scheduled to release this month for iPhone and iPod touch, with an iPad version in the works for early next year. In-depth character bios can be found on the TxT Fighter Facebook page if you're looking for some more background information, and we'll be taking a closer look at the game when it launches sometime in the next few weeks.

Here's something that'll make you say, "Uh, what?" It's the teaser trailer for Perfect Cell, the next iOS title from Edge [$1.99] and Cross Fingers' [$1.99] developer Mobigames. At first glance, you might think it's Shadow Complex sans Nolan North. We did, at least. But after a bit of digging, we've discovered that Perfect Cell is nothing of the sort.

The IGF 2011 listing for Perfect Cell fills in some of the gaps. That pink octopus-alien-thing is a cell, the "most advanced creature ever discovered on Earth." In the game, you'll control up to three of these unusual creatures in an attempt to escape a submarine. You'll run into puzzles, enraged guards, and need to keep a low-profile at times by exploring the game's infiltration mechanics.

Here's the full listing, which while helpful, is still pretty abstract:

"Play as the most advanced creature ever discovered on Earth. You are trapped in a high security submarine base and you must use your superpowers to escape from this hostile environment; dodge lasers and AK-47 bullets, solve puzzles to progress and try to survive the many other dangerous and deadly traps.

Play through an original story that uniquely combines the best of action and infiltration games. Use intuitive, multi-touch gameplay; play as up to 3 Cells on the same screen, dash through the air with a swipe gesture or cut off your enemies’ heads with a ‘draw and dash’! Use your mind to find your way out covertly or, if you prefer, use fast-paced action gameplay to kill every scientist and soldier in your path. You are the Perfect Cell!"

What's with the lack of info? Our guess is that Mobi wants to build up a significant amount of pre-release hype, which makes sense consider how fast the App Store moves. The good news is that the wait to see what Perfect Cell is won't be too long -- at the end of the teaser, Mobi notes that the game is coming "soon" to the iPad and iPhone. We'll get our hands on it as soon as we can, that's for sure.