Orbotix is an unconventional developer with a project we posted about a while ago. Its mission is to bring smartphone controlled, open devices to market. The first of these is Sphero, a robotic ball that responds to inputs from an iPhone or iPod Touch via Bluetooth and an device-specific app.

It’ll be about six months before Sphero is ready for store shelves, but the lack of polish didn’t stop Orbotix from taking their balls on the road to CES in Las Vegas where, of course, Mac Rumors got their hands on them.

The demonstration, which took place in a mini-arena of sorts, yielded some neat pieces of intel about Sphero. Most relevant to us is the fact that Orbotix wants to release the API to App Store creators, allowing anyone with the knowhow to sculpt games around the device.

At the event, Orbotix suggested soccer or bowling games could be made, which yeah, I totally could see that happening if the device took off. But will it take off? I don’t know. I lost my fortuneteller license in a fire. But I do know that people like crazy little devices that can move around.

Orbotix hopes to launch Sphero in “late 2011” for under one hundred bones -- and hopefully well under $100 if it hopes that more than 12 people will take a look at it.

[via Mac Rumors]

Ever heard of Steam? It’s a digital distribution platform created by the ever-clever minds at Valve. When it launched, it was PC-exclusive. Now, it supports the Mac and Valve has even created tools for developers to port their games over.

The “Games” section of the Mac App Store feels like Steam, with some benefits that Eli mentioned in his first impressions post such as being able to move games around in their own self-contained .app bundles instead of being tied to the Steam folder. Of course it all comes down to developer support, but currently the cost to developers to publish their games on both Steam and the Mac App Store are equal, although Steam offers benefits like cross-platform support, microtransactions, achievements and leaderboards -- all features that Apple could conceivably add to the Mac App Store in the future.

While we watch Valve and Apple battle it out, here are three games we've been spending some time on from the Mac App Store:

BEJEWELED 3 -- Fun As Ever
There’s been a lot of creative takes on Bejeweled since its last numbered sequel, but for my money, Bejeweled 3 [$19.99] is the best match-3 experience yet. It’s gorgeous, simple, and stylized and boasts several game modes that push the tempo or turn the core play on its head. I’m not much of a purist, so I’ve been spending the glut of my time with the standard mode of play, which has a few twists, too. For example, whenever you line up like-colored gems in an “L”-shaped pattern, you earn a special lightning gem that, when matched with other like-colored gems, annihilates rows of gems.

It’s these kinds of additions that make Bejeweled 3 so special, though of course, there is a standard Classic mode. This is a tired phrase, but if you like Bejeweled, you probably shouldn’t pass this one up.

Last week we took a look at the upcoming Mad Skills Motocross from Turborilla and Racer X Online. The game is a 2D side-scrolling motocross game with colorful graphics, a fun physics system, and a lot of content. I've spent the past week with a preview build of the game, and I have to say I've been having a ton of fun with it so far. We've seen our fair share of these motocross games over the years, but Mad Skills Motocross does justice to the genre, and even throws in a couple of new features to set itself apart from the rest.

My favorite part about Mad Skills Motocross is the excellent physics in the game. There are so many subtle nuances with how you're able to lean on your bike when accelerating and taking jumps that it adds a lot of skill and strategy to how you race. It's very organic, and the gameplay just feels right. With a little practice, you'll quickly learn when to lean back to gain speed or tilt in the air to land smoothly into a jump. Also, the ragdoll physics of your rider when you bail can be pretty hilarious, and after taking a spill you'll hear a painful sounding crack as his body flops around the course. It's sadistic, but fun.

Another neat aspect to Mad Skills is the ability to send challenges to friends. The game uses OpenFeint for the standard leaderboard and achievement tracking, but also utilizes the challenge feature where you can send a challenge to a friend from your buddy list after you've completed a track. This feature works really well, and suits this type of game perfectly. The Racer X Online website is a big part of the actual motocross racing community, and as a result of their involvement in Mad Skills Motocross many actual professional racers have preview copies of the game and have been helping out during the development process.

This video shows the challenge feature in action with top amateur racer Adam Cianciarulo versus “just some guy”, and shows how the world of video games can level the playing field in competition:

Aside from the physics system in Mad Skills Motocross, there is also an interesting set of special moves you can perform during a race. These must also be mastered if you're looking to maximize your potential for fast lap times in the game. We'll delve more into these intricacies when the full version of Mad Skills Motocross launches as a universal app for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad early next week. Until then you can check out the upcoming thread in our forums for some discussion on the game, or download the desktop version demo to get a taste of the game before the iOS version launches on January 10th.

(Note: It was kindly pointed out to me that while there are a number of top professional racers and freestylers currently playing the game, the one featured in the video is technically still an amateur and so the wording has been changed to reflect that. Thanks Bryan!)

Back in October, we posted a preview video of Bug Heroes from Foursaken Media, developers of the popular iOS title N.Y. Zombies [99¢]. The aim of Bug Heroes was to provide a dual-stick shooter combined with elements of tower defense, as well as multiple playable characters who could also level up and upgrade in a somewhat RPG fashion. It sounded like a tall order for an iOS game, possibly too tall, and we were anxious to get our hands on the game to see how it would pan out. Today, Bug Heroes [$1.99] has launched in the App Store, and not only has Foursaken come through with all their promised gameplay variety but they have surprised me with just how remarkably well it all works together.

The bulk of Bug Heroes takes place in the Adventure mode. Here you battle in 4 different environments using a combination of three different characters as you defend a stockpile of food from an onslaught of hungry insect enemies. Money is collected as you defeat enemies which can then be used on various types of upgrades. You can add several different types of turrets to your food pile to protect it while you are away, or you can buy better weaponry to increase the offense of each character. Gameplay involves exploring each environment to collect additional food to add to your stockpile while simultaneously fending off enemies. The game ends when all three characters die or your entire food reserve is depleted.

The three characters in Bug Heroes each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and play quite differently from one another. There's the ant who has average strength and defense but can use an assortment of guns to dispatch enemies from a distance. Then there is a beetle and a spider who have a melee-based offense. The beetle is slow but heavily armored, and can damage a group of enemies in one blow. The spider is quick with powerful attacks, but isn't as well protected. Each of these characters can be changed to on the fly, and it's imperative to recognize which one to use in any given situation in the game.

There are a ton of different enemies in Bug Heroes, both large and small, who will react differently and must be dealt with accordingly. Some will come after your character directly, some will bypass you and go straight for your food pile, and some will sit stationary and use ranged weapons against you, forcing you to go to them. Enemies come in waves, with their strength and numbers increasing with each new one. Your heroes will earn experience as they defeat enemies which allows you to add attribute points to their various skills as they level up.

The combination of switching characters, dealing with the different enemies, upgrading and leveling up, and worrying about your stockpile of food ensures a constant stream of action as you play Bug Heroes. There is a lot going on in the game, but it flows really well and ends up being a lot of fun and not overwhelming. If this wasn't enough, there are also timed quests that will pop up as you play, like collecting coins or killing certain enemy types, that can earn you additional money and experience. Besides the Adventure mode, there is also a more standard survival mode called Coliseum. This mode has you picking just one of the three characters and taking on endless waves of enemies. You still level up, gain money, and can upgrade your weapons, but it's a more straightforward way to play Bug Heroes and feels different enough that it could almost be its own separate game.

Visually, the game looks fantastic, with dynamic lighting effects and a day/night cycle that changes the ambience as you play. The character designs in particular are really well done, and your heroes and the many different enemies all have a lot of personality. The nice graphics do bring up my only gripe with Bug Heroes though, which is that the game has a tendency to stutter at times when there is lots of action onscreen at once. The game is optimized for all devices, and you can choose to tone down the graphical effects in the options, but it still will occasionally hang even if you do.

There is just so much going on in Bug Heroes, it's amazing that it all blends so incredibly well. What I like the most is that Foursaken has put a lot of different gameplay elements into the game, but there is a wide range of personalization in how you choose to use them, allowing you to play the game the way that suits you the best. Bug Heroes reminds me a lot of Cave's Mushihimesama Bug Panic [$4.99/Lite] in that it adds a ton of skill and strategy to the dual-stick shooter formula, instead of the typical mindless killing, and it's going to be really hard to ever find a way to enjoy a typical dual-stick shooter again. Bug Heroes is receiving a lot of positive impressions from players in our forums, and Foursaken is actively addressing feedback and suggestions. If you have any interest in the various genres present in Bug Heroes, or you just like a solid action game, then it's definitely recommended to give Bug Heroes a look.

The Mac App Store is upon us, or, those of us who own a Mac, I suppose. After spending the day fiddling with it, buying various games, and trying out other things, there's a lot of potential here but still room for improvement. What sticks out as one of the immediate best things about the Mac App Store is how wonderfully open it seems to be. Back when it was first announced, many DRM doomsday theorists proposed that this was going to lead to the Mac being just as locked down as the iOS platform. So far, this couldn't be further from the truth.

Setting up a Mac App Store account is easy, and using that account on multiple computer is as simple as logging in and verifying your billing information. For me, this meant filling in the CV2 code from my credit card and verifying my county for tax purposes. From there, both of my computers have had full access to the same Mac App Store account, which is made even easier thanks to the "purchases" tab on top.

I hope this "purchases" functionality makes its way over to the iOS App Store, as it is absolutely phenomenal to see all the things you own, and be given the option to re-download and install them. Currently on the iOS App Store, the only way to check if your account owns something is by attempting to leave a review and/or digging through convoluted receipt listings. It's also much nicer to have the Mac App Store as its own standalone application, as many of the features in functionality of iTunes feel like they have been shoehorned in over the years (to say the least).

(more...)

Last month it was revealed that the Mac App Store, which was announced by Steve Jobs last October, would be opening for business on January 6th. A quick glance at your lock screen should tell you that that day is today. While it was rumored that the Mac App Store wouldn't officially become available until 12pm EST today, it appears that the folks at Apple just couldn't wait to let everyone through the front door. Mac owners running OS X Snow Leopard can check their Software Update option for the newest version 10.6.6 which will add the Mac App Store to their dock.

As of right now there only appears to be 74 apps available in the Games category, but here's a short list of some of those games which are also available on iOS, and a few games exclusive to the Mac App Store. If you're an iOS gamer, these new Mac games should be familiar:

• Chopper 2, 99¢
• Angry Birds, $4.99
• The Incident, $2.99
• Flight Control HD, $4.99
• Pac-Man, $4.99
• Osmos, $9.99
• Zen Bound 2, $4.99
• Toki Tori, $4.99
• Compression, 99¢
• Pinball HD, $2.99
• Splode, $4.99
• Ancient Frog, $4.99

There's quite a few others as well, and for iOS App Store faithfuls who are used to games costing just a dollar or two, be prepared for some sticker shock with some of these titles. Enigmo and Enigmo 2 are selling for $14.99 each, Peggle and Peggle Nights run $9.99 each, and Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 clocks in at $49.99. In the cases of Chopper 2 and Compression, these appear to be limited introductory sale prices, and those titles should eventually fetch a greater amount too. It will be interesting to see if the Mac App Store will incorporate the same race to the bottom pricing techniques that have been so prevalent on iOS.

We're going to poke our noses around the brand new Mac App Store a bit more, and will likely bring you some impressions of how these games translate to full blown computers. Until then you can stop in at our brand new Mac App Store Games forum to discuss this experience with fellow forum members, and if you're a Mac owner make sure you grab the latest software update so you can check it out for yourself.

Early last month we previewed Solar Minotaur Rescue Frenzy from noted psychedelic shooter author Jeff Minter. The game is basically a trippy combination of Asteroids and Space War! played on the screen of the iPhone or iPad and marks the first in a series of Llamasoft games that are part of the "Minotaur Project," an effort by the developer to release numerous titles featuring retro gameplay, progressing forward from the Atari VCS aesthetic to the VIC 20, Commodore 64, and beyond.

The game is now complete and, with a few additions and enhancements over the preview build examined earlier, is available for download in the App Store [link].

Minotaur Rescue, 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 four other playmodes, as well. There's Survival mode, where you've got just one life in a bid to score as highly as possible before obliteration. There's also Deep Space Minotaur Madness which is like the core gameplay mode, 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 playmodes of the pack-in Atari VCS cartridge Combat. But, of course, with a heavy dose of psychedelia and floating minotaurs to pick up along the way.

The game features solo play, as well as (for those who have friends) two person play on the same iPhone and up to four person play on the same iPad. OpenFeint and Game Center integration are both in place, here.

See Minotaur Jeff demonstrating the game on an iPad.

Minotaur Rescue makes use of Llamasoft's new Neon 2 game engine for iOS, an evolution of the original Neon "light synthesizer" engine, which powers the XBOX 360's music visualizer and Space Giraffe title. According to Minter, Neon 2 is much improved as compared to the original, featuring a cleaner framework and a lot more bang-for-the-buck in terms of shader usage.

As fan of Minter's work, and of retro titles in general, I've had a blast with Solar Minotaur Rescue Frenzy, but also feel that the simple yet challenging gameplay may appeal to a wider audience, as well.

If you're an ancient App Store RPG fan, you'll likely clearly remember the late 2008 release of Chronicles of Inotia. At the time, it seemed fairly amazing compared to the basic offerings of the early App Store, but in early 2009, Inotia was completely outclassed by Gamevil's Zenonia in nearly every way. In late 2009, Com2uS upped the ante by releasing Inotia 2: A Wanderer of Luone. We liked this sequel so much we even featured it in our 2009 Best iPhone games listing.

If you enjoyed Inotia 2, you can pretty much stop reading now and just pick up Inotia 3: Children of Carnia [$4.99] as after playing nearly four hours of it, the best way to describe it is more of the same. This isn't necessarily a bad thing either, as what made Inotia 2 really cool also makes Inotia 3 just as fun.

Gameplay is centralized around your initial choice of one of six classes ranging from different types of ranged, melee, and magic using characters. As you proceed through your adventure, you'll be playing in a party of three characters, each with their own completely customizable set of passive skills, active abilities, and equipment load-outs. You can freely switch between directly controlling one of your party members while the AI does a decent job of controlling the other two. This allows for a surprising amount of strategy, and customization as explained in our Inotia 2 review:

For the first part of the game, I controlled a mage (my main character) and a templar, the latter of whom served as both my healer and frontline. I controlled the templar and led the way into battle, creating a safe environment for my mage to attack from a distance behind me. At first, the only skill that my templar had access to was a basic healing spell, but with a broadsword and careful attention to the health bars of my party members, I was able to make it through most situations with ease. Later, I added a knight to my party, which added even more strategic options due to the fact that my templar was now freed for full time healing duty while my knight charged headfirst into enemies. The combination of class types in my party gave me a lot of wiggle room for experimentation with strategy, making the game much more than a simple hack-and-slasher.

Like its predecessors, Inotia 3 comes packed with what (so far) seems like an entirely predictable JRPG (or, KRPG, I suppose) storyline initially involving your character coming of age, accepting some small quests, and quickly stumbling in to the role of being solely responsible for saving the world. Dialog is also absolutely loaded with the dreaded ellipsis. Thankfully, combat and party system is fun enough that you won't really care that the protagonist really loves the ol' triple dot.

"..."

The quest system seems fairly extensive, and never really leaves you without something to do. The main quest line guides you from place to place, and every town has other people that want you to complete tasks for them. Unfortunately, a lot of these quests feel fairly grindy, and often involve killing things to farm quest items they drop or collecting things in the game world. Again though, the combat and party system is engaging enough that you often don't mind going out and gathering up ten bear skins, a skunk skull, and some rare mushroom at the whim of some random NPC.

I look forward to spending more time with Inotia 3: Children of Carnia. It's a solid action RPG from Com2uS, and while it doesn't feel very innovative, Inotia 3 is a good sequel that continues familiar systems from the previous games. Also, it comes packed with its own oddly elaborate original soundtrack which is where the above music video is from, so make sure you play the game with the sound on if at all possible.

"..."

Note: Inotia 3: Children of Carnia is presently being advertised on this site, but it has no influence on our choice of coverage or the outcome of our reviews. See advertising and editorial policies for additional details.

You've likely spent quite a bit of your life walking, running, and jumping. Since you initially learned how as a child, these motions have all been second nature and usually don't even require any thought. But what if you needed to walk, run, or jump without using your legs which you've spent your life mastering? Well, that's where QWOP for iOS [$1.99] comes in.

QWOP, originally named after the keys used to control the runner in the free Flash game, actually seems much more complicated on the iPhone. You need to tilt your device to control your balance, and two virtual joysticks control the positioning of your legs. Your first ten minutes with the game you will likely do nothing but fall flat on your face. However, after a little practice, you'll get in to the rhythm and be at least making a few baby steps forward.

After you run 10 meters, you unlock the hurdles, the long jump, the steeplechase, and the 50km walk. Actually getting to 10 meters, however, is easier said than done. Check out how silly this all looks in action:

The learning curve in QWOP is astronomical, but what's so amusing about the game is just how simple it all actually is. All you have to do is put one foot in front of the other. If you manage to master the game, you can compete in all kinds of Open Feint powered leaderboards. If all you do is face plant over and over, well, you'll be greeted by funny headlines regarding what a failure you are.

I wouldn't call QWOP a "must-have" by any means, unless you're the kind of person who collects the oddities of the App Store and has a dedicated folder on your device for Enviro-Bear 2010 [99¢] and other similar crazy games. In which case, you need QWOP.

Grimm [99¢] is an interesting little platformer from developer Robox Studios that popped up in the App Store yesterday. You play as a perambulator (a baby carriage, for the non-British amongst us) that has carelessly been left behind at a train station by a couple of snobbish-looking parents. Not only did they leave the carriage behind, though, but they've left their infant child in it as well in their haste to board the train for a seaside trip. A shady character named Mr. Grimm notices the abandoned child, and will harass you as you control the carriage through the game in an effort to reunite the baby with its parents.

It's an odd but intriguing premise, and Grimm is absolutely drenched in a sick and twisted art style that suits the game well. It has a look that's light-hearted and macabre, and highly similar of the illustrations of Edward Gorey, as so astutely pointed out in our forums. You control the perambulator by tilting the device to move either left or right, with a button for jumping and another for stopping on a dime. Humorously, you can also drag down on the carriage when it's standing still and a trajectory line pops up. You are then able to actually launch the baby out of the carriage at enemies or to activate puzzle elements.

These clever puzzle portions are what work really well in Grimm. You may have to launch the baby onto a switch that lowers down giant barrels into a gap so you can safely cross, or activate the tap on a barrel of ale so that a portly drunkard can drink his fill and become heavy enough to push a platform down, thus creating a way for you to pass. You'll constantly be coming across blocked paths in your travels, and will constantly be amused with whatever silly means are necessary to enable you to forge onward. These puzzles, coupled with the wonderful art style of Grimm, are the high point of the game.

Unfortunately, there are several low points as well. First, the tilt controls can be a little fussy, and there aren't any options for adjusting sensitivity or calibrating them. They work, but it's really hard to be precise, especially when trying to jump on an enemy. Second, and much more annoying to me, is the way the carriage scoops the baby back in after being launched. It's a cute little animation but it takes way too long to complete, and leaves you vulnerable to attacks while it's occurring. I've died several times just from this, and it can be frustrating. Aside from these two big problems there are also a few more instances of clunkiness in Grimm, but nothing too major or distracting. Also, with such terrifically illustrated graphics, it would be really nice to have high resolution support for Retina Display, which sadly it currently does not.

Even with its flaws, Grimm is a highly entertaining game. It's worth the price of admission just to hear the baby's gleeful cry as you launch it across the screen. Levels tend to be rather long, but there is a reasonable checkpoint system in place should you lose all your lives or have to leave the game. The story is told in between levels via poems which are both clever and funny, and even though I feel like I'm a long ways away, I can't wait to see how it turns out in the end. Some adjustments to the controls and an overall smoothing of the rough edges would go a long way in making Grimm a more complete experience. But even as is, there is a lot to like in Grimm, and if you can deal with tilt-only controls and some minor frustrations, it's worth taking a look at.

Canabalt, $2.99 - After raising more than $30,000 for the Child's Play Charity as part of the Indie iPhone Game Sale over the holidays, developer Semi Secret decided to celebrate by making their game Canabalt open source for people to tinker around with or use to create their own game (with limitations, of course). The Canabalt code that was released as open source was an even more up to date version of the game than what was currently in the App Store. Now this improved version has become available as an update for iOS owners of the game.

The update features Retina Display graphics and 60fps on iPad and 4th generation devices, Game Center integration for high scores, and other performance optimizations and fixes. Significantly, this update appears to have finally fixed the long standing problem of stuttering and choppiness on 3rd generation devices. Canabalt running at a rock solid 60fps with Retina Display graphics is a sight to behold, and the game is now crisper and smoother than I ever imagined it could be. Game Center integration is nice for comparing scores with my buddies, but sadly there are no achievements included at this time.

With so many running games available, it had been a while since I fired up Canabalt. But playing it today to check out the new features reminded me why it's one of the best in the genre. The simplicity and elegance is unmatched, and my goodness do I love the music. If you own a copy of Canabalt make sure to grab the latest update, and if you have yet to pick it up it's currently still on sale for just 99¢.

Chopper 2, $2.99 - Back in July, Majic Jungle Software released Chopper 2, the sequel to the Mac and App Store hit Chopper [99¢/Lite]. We really liked Chopper 2 in our review, noting that it improved upon the formula of the original and also featured a number of neat innovations, like the ability to control the game on the iPad using an iPhone or iPod touch, or utilizing the video out feature to play the game on a big screen.

Recently, Majic Jungle announced that a version of Chopper 2 would be coming to the Mac App Store, and in keeping with the innovative technical features of the iOS version, the Mac version will be able to be controlled using the iOS version of the game with an iPhone or iPod touch, which is demonstrated in the video below. Today, the update went live for Chopper 2 in the App Store that adds this functionality to the game in anticipation of the Mac App Store launch this Thursday.

Not to be overshadowed in this latest update is the inclusion of Game Center integration with a number of online leaderboards and 56 achievements to unlock, as well as a few minor bug fixes in the game. To celebrate the launch of Chopper 2 on Mac, the universal iOS version is currently on sale for just 99¢. Additionally, the Mac version of the original Chopper can now be downloaded for free from the Majic Jungle website, which is a neat bonus. Make sure to update your iOS copy of Chopper 2 and be looking for the game to launch alongside the Mac App Store this Thursday.

The iOS platform is home to some great input methods. Developers have utilized multitouch, tilt, and, in some cases, even the gyroscope and microphone for some incredibly creative games that would only be possible on iOS devices. But what about more traditional games that can't be controlled this way? As many of you know, that's where the highly debated virtual joysticks and buttons come into play. The problem with these virtual controls is that for as great as multitouch input is, no iOS device can offer any kind of tactile feedback for virtual controls.

Depending on how adept you are with working with them and how cleverly developers design them, the effect of virtual controls ranges from being largely game-breaking to not that big of a deal. Still, over the lifespan of the App Store, it's not hard to think of several games that would be much better using a real controller regardless of how good (or bad) the virtual controls may be. This is a problem that Ten One Design hopes to solve with the Fling Game Controller for iPad.

The Fling is a cleverly designed device with two suction cups on one side connected to a plastic ring. Inside of the plastic ring is a spiral that suspends an electrically conductive joystick in the center. This spiral works like a spring, always returning the joystick to the center, and providing more resistance the closer you get to the edge of the plastic ring. It's made out of clear plastic with a Fling logo that comes in three different colors: black, blue, and purple.

NOTE: The preview units are from the initial prototype run, the final units will be made of completely clear plastic, not the slightly yellowish material these are made of.

Using the Fling is as simple as loading a game that you want to play that uses some kind of virtual control, and sticking it on the device with the attached suction cups. If you're playing a game with floating virtual joysticks like most dual stick shooters, all you've got to do is position it wherever is most comfortable to you, press down both suction cups, and you're ready to roll. Games with controls that are static take a little bit more fiddling around. Sometimes you need to get creative with which direction you're going to have the Fling facing in order to hit the center of the touch point while still having ample room for the suction cups to stick.

The build quality of the device seems sturdy enough to do the job, but the way the internal spiral is constructed makes me a little nervous to just haphazardly pocket it or throw it in my laptop bag. I'm reluctant to really do any durability tests since these are preview units, but according to Ten One Designs, the Fling is made of a type of resin which very difficult to break and they've subjected it to "major torture" without issue. Still, there is no escaping the fact that the Fling feels like a piece of plastic, which doesn't exactly inspire confidence when considering the price at which they are selling them.

Ten One Designs is currently taking preorders of the Fling for $25 each, or $38 for a pair, which seems expensive for a piece of plastic. The price, however, is probably in line with what most iPad accessories cost. Either way, Ten One Designs is expecting the Fling to begin shipping towards the end of this month.

The good news is, for many games, the Fling is absolutely outstanding. Playing dual stick shooters using the Fling is, in a word, glorious. I easily decimated my Geometry Wars [99¢] high scores. With real joysticks, Max Adventure [99¢] is a joy to play. Age of Zombies [$2.99] feels like it was made to be played with the Fling, with the secondary weapon buttons positioned perfectly outside its plastic ring.

First person shooters work great as well. In fact, I almost felt like I was cheating in N.O.V.A. 2 HD [$6.99] my overall accuracy improved so much. It's really incredible just how much of a difference it makes, almost making N.O.V.A. 2 feel like an XBOX game with a real controller. Similarly, the Fling works really well in every Gameloft game I tried, as the ability to move the various on-screen controls around allows you to perfectly position the Fling wherever you're comfortable, while also placing the buttons within reach.

Games that use a single virtual joystick also work awesomely, as expected. LEGO Harry Potter [$4.99] and our own game of the year's iPad counterpart Space Miner HD [$4.99] are both great with a real joystick.

As far as what doesn't work so well: any game that relies on swiping instead of a virtual stick with both a center point and a maximum that are inside of the Fling's range of motion. Aralon: Sword and Shadow [$9.99] was on my short list of games I really wanted to try with the Fling, and while the movement joystick works fantastic, camera controls don't. Positioning a second Fling on the left side of the screen only moves the camera as much as moving your finger around would, so you hit the limit of where the Fling can move, and that's as far as the camera goes.

Games that you can't move interface elements around that have buttons close to the virtual joysticks also don't work. I was really excited to try Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light HD [$9.99] following our not so positive first impressions but by default, buttons are positioned under the Fling's spiral, making them impossible to press. It seems like you might be able to move them around in the game's settings, but it crashed 100% of the time when I tried.

I suppose now it comes down to the inevitable question of do I recommend preordering the Fling? Well, it all comes down to what you do with your iPad. If you're the kind of person who loves dual stick shooters and FPS games, and do the majority of your gaming at home or somewhere that needing to fiddle around with accessories is not out of the question-- and if you can swallow the $38 --I say go for it. However, if you primarily use your iPad as a ultra portable tablet that you also game on, I'm not so sure I'd want to cart my Fling(s) around wherever I go.

The beautiful thing about both the iPhone and iPad is you don't generally need to haul around extra junk. They do so much as is that all you might ever need is a pair of headphones for most outings. Also, it really comes down to how much of an issue virtual controls are for you. If the inherent lack of precision generally found in virtual controls doesn't really bother you, then you likely won't see much of a benefit from using the Fling. Also, don't bother buying a Fling if you don't have an iPad: it's too wide to attach well to the iPhone and obscures over half the screen.

Personally, all too often I find myself saying, "This is good, but it would be so much better with real controls." A Fling still isn't a substitute for a real analog controller, but it sure is a step in the right direction... Assuming you can put up with yet another accessory, of course.

Product Page: Fling for iPad

Here's something awesome: You can rock out Max Adventure [$.99] with a projector, TV, or any other video display device with a VGA input and a Apple Dock to VGA adapter. (It also might work with the component and composite adapters as well, but Imangi hasn't had a chance to test them -- let us know if you own either of these cables and are able to get it going.)

To show you how, Imangi Studios has released a neat little YouTube tutorial video about these "video-out" capabilities -- tech-speak for "yo, you can plug a cable in your thing to make a game work on a TV or whatever." Check it out!

This capability isn't new by any stretch, but only a small number of iOS games take advantage of it. Each time a really good game like Max Adventure adopts the tech, we get excited like we just found a Zero bar buried in our couch.

Max Adventure's video-out, by the way, runs natively at that projector's full screen resolution, which is 1024x768. We're told the actual implementation of it was pretty easy -- Imangi was able to drop it into Max Adventure in a day. The possibilities!

Of course, totally wireless iPhone-to-TV would be better, right? That's something Imangi is thinking about. The studio told us that it wants to develop for Apple TV so it could stream content over AirPlay. And while there's no solid way to do that with the SDK as it is, Apple could, theoretically, write up some APIs that would allow real-time streaming in lower resolutions similar to how OnLive operates. The needed hardware is, apparently, already in the iPhone 4, according to Imangi.

In case I lost you there, no worries. I was just spitting out some stuff about grey magicks and tech voodoo that I don't even completely understand. What I do get, though, is that Max Adventure is pretty rockin', so give that a check if you're in the mood for a game.

Dead Space for iOS appears to be as promising as it is pretty -- which, in hindsight, is a weird thing to say considering the experience boils down to blowing off the limbs of space aliens with gruesome space weapons. But, whatever, the game looks great and, as you'll soon see, so does the iPad version.

Just a few moments ago, publisher EA Mobile busted out two drool-inducing images taken from the iPad build of the game. It also left a note for those of us with the high-priced tablet to look for Dead Space for iPad on the same day it launches for the iPod Touch and iPhone. Thanks, EA Mobile!

Dead Space is an atmospheric horror joint with a strong focus on action. I actually ended up digging the hell out of the console version of the game for its ability to conjure feelings of hopelessness, captivity, and dread instead of the alien-killing part. That's so not Brad Nicholson, I know, but the sound and art design are absolutely brilliant and rattled me much more than I like to admit. To be fair, it's impossible to tell at this point if the iOS versions of the game  will have me wondering if I should really open that door to see what's inside or not, but I definitely want to give them a shake.

Miffed that EA made Mirror's Edge free for everyone but Americans? Well, here is a whole bundle of freebies that everyone can get in on. Like always, these freebies are all limited time promotions. Everything was free when I posted this, but with the volatile nature of the App Store, they could return to their regular price at any time. If you're interested in any of these games, it's probably best to snag them ASAP.

Some of these games may seem a little old for veterans of App Store gaming, but if you just picked up an iPod touch or iPhone for Christmas, these are all worth downloading:

Death Worm, $0.99 - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - Super Mega Worm [99¢] seems to really have stolen Death Worm's thunder by releasing first, even though Death Worm is actually a official version of the original game, developed in conjunction with its creator. If you've skipped Death Worm because you already owned Super Mega Worm, give this game a try and see which you like better.

DrawRace, $2.99 - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - This is a really cool game, and old enough that it's likely that recent iPhone owners might not even know about it. The premise of the game involves drawing around a race track with your finger, the faster you draw, the faster your car goes. Similarly, to slow down, you slow your finger down. Your car then races on the path that you made for it. Very cool stuff that was highly innovative when it was first released.

:Shift:, $0.99 - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - This puzzle game was originally a free Flash game that was also a bunch of fun. Basically, you're able to shift the world around, which turns white objects black and vice versa. Doing this allows you to run and jump on top of what was open air, and solving puzzles often requires many shifts to get to the exit. This game is a little old, but it's still a bunch of fun.

Vector Tanks (Classic Version), Free - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - A gloriously retro re-imagination of the classic game Battlezone. If you like this version of the game, Vector Tanks Extreme is totally worth a buck as it comes with even more content, universal compatibility and Retina Display graphics.

Fallen EP-1, Free - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - I actually had stumbled across this game while looking for something unrelated for our year end posts, and it's still a really cool survival horror game. Unfortunately, it's still version 1.0 so the issue with the game allowing you to save in game-breaking places are still there, and even more unfortunate, a second episode was never released. Still, this is a short fun game that will make you sad that the series seems to have been abandoned.

Rogue Runner, Free - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - While Fallen has seen no developer support, Rogue Runner has seen tons. What started as a fairly basic running game now has tons of different levels, characters, and more. If you like endless running games, this is one you need to snag.

This is just a small selection of what's available for free, for a full listing check out AppShopper or download the free AppShopper app.