Last week we met with the guys from Owlchemy Labs who are responsible for the highly controversial physics game Smuggle Truck. We've already posted about the controversy as well as the playable web demo, but this was the first time we actually saw it running on an iOS device.

Check out the game running on an iPad:

Owlchemy Labs plans on submitting Smuggle Truck to Apple for approval sometime around the 15th. They're using Unity for the game engine, which is allowing them to have a surprising amount of cross-platform compatibility. Once its all said and done, levels created in the level editor seen in the video will be playable across all platforms. What platforms are those? Well, Owlchemy is planning a release on the iPad, iPhone, Mac, PC, and potentially even distributing the game via Steam.

I can't wait.

Gigaom is running a fantastic editorial about how App Store sensation ngmoco changed its business model from conventional to unconventional, how it was forced to transform or die.

As the story goes, the studio was had a traditional game-making approach -- spit out a premium game and move on to another. As time went on, ngmoco discovered that this wasn’t a model that it could use to become a million-dollar developer. The rush to the bottom and the volcanic nature of the App Store’s charts both aren't conducive to this. So, the studio made the hard and reasonable choice: move to ‘freemium.’ The thinking was that, in order to become a multi-million dollar company, ngmoco needed to put several games on the charts for around a year -- and that's in addition to enticing people to keep paying for the same product over and over.

It worked.

Speaking to Gigaoam: “Games are not built for a fleeting moment in the charts, but are built for an (ongoing) relationship with the customer, “ ngmoco CEO Neal Young said. “The longer you can maintain that relationship, the longer the opportunity.”

Moving to this model wasn’t a hit among the hardcore base -- like our own here -- but it did score ngmoco a sweet buy-out opportunity from DeNA. End of the story is that ngmoco succeeded in its switch and is flourishing as a developer. Not that this is new information or anything -- but it's interesting to see the company reflecting on its own history.

Really, I guess the thing you should take home from this isn’t that ngmoco are sell-outs, conceptually and game-wise. Nah, the thing to take home is that ngmoco wanted to be a company that could support itself and, as a result of the App Store climate, freemium was the only way that it could.

Broken or not, the App Store is evolving at a rapid pace, with freemium now becoming the model most big companies are tackling post-ngmoco success. I wonder if we'll still be nodding our heads in understanding at this piece just a few years from now, or if the App Store will oscillate in the opposite direction and will be driven by premium titles instead. We'll just have to wait and see.

While we were out at GDC 2011, TouchArcade attended an EA Mobile media event where a number of titles from both EA Mobile and Chillingo were demonstrated. One of the titles demonstrated under the Chillingo banner was the upcoming Blobster for iPhone and iPad, developed by Divine Robot, who brought us the unusual shooter Eveningstar.

Blobster is a physics-intensive puzzle platformer that puts you in control of a cute little red blob on a mission to clean up the countryside after an unfortunate environmental disaster has littered mother nature with nasty, toxic blobules. It's your task to collect said blobules and solve various puzzles along the way to make it from start to finish and on to the next level.

The game features an impressive physics system, which you'll immediately notice thanks to the undulating fluid surface of your little blob as he moves about the levels by way of both tilt and a swipe-hold-and-release elastic jump mechanic. Actually, Blobster is not always little; the more blobules he absorbs, the larger -- and heavier -- he becomes, which comes in handy when interacting with certain structures found in the levels.

A number of power-ups can be collected along the way that bestow various enhanced abilities upon your undulating blob. These include the ability to float on water, shrink in size, super jump (10x higher than normal), go zero G, and experience reversed gravity.

Divine Robot's Creative Director Henrik Jonsson took us through the gameplay.

Blobster has a great feel that combines a heavy dose of cute with that satisfying feel of realistic physics to deliver a rather engaging game experience. In just my brief time with the title, I've already developed a craving to start sucking up blobules. I'll have to wait until late April to get started, however.

We'll have more on the rest of the titles we saw at the EA Mobile media event, shortly.

Last week while we were all busy with GDC shenanigans, developer Simogo quietly announced Bumpy Road, the follow-up to their previous iOS title Kosmo Spin [99¢]. After being pointed in the direction of the game’s trailer (thanks Daniel!), it didn’t take long for me to realize that Bumpy Road is shaping up to be something special. It utilizes an interesting control mechanic where you directly change the elevation of the ground using your finger. This enables you to raise and lower a car driving on that ground in order to collect various objects and negotiate the terrain.

It’s a unique idea, and one that is easier to understand by watching the following trailer, which also displays the lovely art style of Bumpy Road:

The premise of Bumpy Road will revolve around a family out for a leisurely drive, and the items you collect are actually memories that will tell the story of their lives. According to the information on Simogo's website, it sounds like Bumpy Road will contain an endless mode, a timed mode, and a story mode, but the exact details are unknown. Simogo does promise that it will be a universal app with Retina Display graphics and Game Center integration for leaderboards and achievements.

So far people are getting pretty excited for Bumpy Road in the upcoming games thread in our forums, and based on the hints from Simogo in that thread the game could be available as soon as next month. We'll keep a close eye on Bumpy Road and bring you any new information as it becomes available.

Grumpyface Studios released their first iOS game called Wispin [$1.99/Lite] for the iPhone and iPod touch last November. Wispin is a unique take on arcade-style arena battling games and used a color coded system of combat that had you matching the colors of your foes in order to defeat them. The gameplay was fun and decidedly different from any similar games, and the wonderful art style gave it a certain charm that was hard not to like.

While we really enjoyed the game in our original review, there were a few hiccups associated with a first time release, mostly dealing with finicky controls. Grumpyface updated Wispin several times since then, incrementally improving the entire experience and tightening up the controls. The culmination of this was the 1.1 version released in early February which finally struck upon a solid feel for the controls as well as added a brand new level, a new enemy, and an assortment of other goodies.

With all the rough edges finally smoothed away, Grumpyface went to work on a native iPad release of Wispin which has just gone live in the App Store. Wispin HD [$2.99] retains all the core elements of its iPhone counterpart but comes with a few iPad-only features to accommodate the device’s larger screen. Each level is expanded accordingly to fit within the larger play area, and the controls are now completely customizable with the ability to drag and place them wherever you choose.

There’s not currently a video of the iPad version as its too new, but if you’re completely unfamiliar with Wispin then the original trailer will give you a good idea of the game:

Wispin has remained one of my favorite games since its release, and now iPad owners have the ability to experience it in a version that is tailored for their device. There is a ton of fast-paced and strategic gameplay in Wispin, with achievements and leaderboards using Game Center that will have you giving it “just one more go” for a new high score. There are plenty more positive impressions in our forums, and if you’ve been holding off on Wispin until an iPad version was released then now is your chance to get in on the action.

I’m clicking rewind on our post-GDC 2011 coverage in order to... cover some stuff we weren’t quite able to at GDC 2011! Here’s the deal: During our partying at GDC, we kept running into Paul from Tag Games. On top of being able to hold his brew like a champ, the dude can design games with the best. He took the time to chat with us about Car Jack Streets 2, and as I hinted just a second ago, it’s sounding mighty good.

To rewind a little further, Car Jack 2 appears to be a faithful follow-up to the original Car Jack Streets [$3.99]. It’s like Grand Theft Auto, if the name didn’t ring a bell. To quote from our original review of Car Jack Streets:

Randal's [the protagonist] money-making options are many and fall on both sides of the law. While, as one might expect, money can be earned by jacking cars for chop shops, helping with bank robberies, delivering "merchandise," and knocking off or protecting thugs, there are also legit ways to bring in the cash, such as driving taxis and buses and delivering pizza. A pizza pays a bit less than a hit, however…

As you’ll notice from the forum post, CJS 2 has an unusual art style, also, if you’ve been following the App Store, you already know that it’s hitting AFTER Rockstar put out a full and really good Grand Theft Auto game for the iOS. So, what’s the ace up Paul’s sleeve? Word on the street is that Car Jack Streets 2 is free-to-play with oodles of social features.

We’ll let you know when we know more stuff about the game. But, hey, just wanted to put it in your mind. Looks like a winner, and we're really curious to see what can be done when you combine social gaming with a genre that typically always been single player.

While I personally am more than a little tired of modern trends in first person shooters, there seems to be a pool of millions of people who can't get enough of 'em. If you're looking for another modern military themed first person shooter, you're going to be in for a treat on March 17th when Gameloft's Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard hits the App Store.

There have been a ton of games based on the Tom Clancy universe released in the past 13 years since the launch of the initial Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. Rainbow Six games are typically squad based, and take place in tight urban environments. Shadow Vanguard seems to fit right in line with that per the above trailer, and boasts a few cool features. You'll be able to play the 11 included missions online in a co-op mode with 3 players, and there's even 10 player multiplayer.

Judging by the trailer, this isn't one of the upcoming Unreal Engine games we've heard about, but it's hard to not get excited about online co-op in a first person shooter running on a phone. That feels like the future.

We still have a ton more GDC content in queue after being inundated with more meetings than we even had time to write about last week, but I just figured I'd throw this out there now: I'll be heading to PAX East this weekend in Boston, MA which is being held at the Boston Convention Center this year. PAX is put on by the guys from Penny Arcade, and historically has been wildly hit or miss when it comes to iOS gaming news. A surprising amount of people at GDC mentioned that they were also making the trek out to Boston, so this PAX East might be fairly busy.

If you'd like to meet up with me while I'm out there to show off your iOS projects, book an appointment with me via Tungle. I've heard good things about using this service from friends of mine at GDC, so we'll see how it all pans out. If you're having issues with that, feel free to send me an IM via AOL Instant Messenger. My screen name is ioburn [Status: ]. If you don't have an AIM account, signing up is easy and only takes a second. Alternatively, AIM is even connected to Facebook and Google Talk, if you would rather use that. Of course you can always email at tips@toucharcade.com just make sure to include "PAX East 2011" in the subject somewhere for the sake of inbox sanity.

Look forward to seeing everyone there! Also, feel free to get in touch with me if you're local (or reasonably local) to Boston regardless of whether or not you're attending PAX East. I'm more than willing to meet outside of the convention to see cool, new, and/or exciting iOS games.

Well, GDC week is behind us, and what a week it was! Our full staff convened in San Francisco early in the week and, between the lot of us, saw some truly inspiring upcoming titles and spent time with a huge number of absolutely great people -- developers and non-developers, alike. And while, by now, we've all made our way back to our own corners of the United States, there are still plenty of GDC stories in the pipeline!

One bit of GDC recap goodness that I wanted to share with readers is a short video I captured at the Independent Games Festival (IGF) area on the GDC show floor on Friday. A piece of professional cinematography it is not, with plenty of elbow-nudges and excuse-me's, but it does provide a glimpse of some of the indie games honored by the IGF, for both iOS and other platforms.

Music by Mick Rippon

TouchArcade has, so far, covered the Game Developer Conference for three years running, and every year's event has been an amazing experience and the most significant show of the year for iOS gaming. And, we can't wait for next year.

When talking about tired genres, people tend to first turn to tower defense and match 3, then to falling brick games (Tetris), followed by anything with the words "stick" and "doodle". RoboSockets [99¢], being somewhere in the gray area between match 3 and falling brick (but staying far away from the stick/doodle realm) would generally not be my cup of tea, but after a few levels I found myself playing. And playing… still playing.

The goal of RoboSockets, setting the story aside for a bit, is to connect robots to one another in groups of five or more. Each robot that falls has 0-4 hands, with each hand pointing in a different cardinal direction. By placing the robots next to each other, assuming they have hands that are linking, they latch on to each other to create robot chains. Once you've linked 5+ robots together, they poof away in a cloud of dust, simultaneously adding to your robit-link fulfillment that you need to pass the level.

It all seems easy in a Tetris sense, but the pieces that fall in RoboSockets fall as-is. No rotation, no flipping; all you can do with the robots is move them right, left, and quickly down. Like any good block drop game made after 1985, RoboSockets also arms you with an arsenal of side abilities (such as the wonderful ability to clear off the random bot with no arms) and does a good job of dropping random objects onto the playing field. The mix of randomized objects is pretty good too, tossing you such objects as a column busting mega drill and, my personal favorite, a little bot that pushes the blocks next to it to the side (and off the screen).

What really separates RoboSockets from the majority of the block drop/ match 3 (5?) pool is that it really does a good job of pushing out a nice presentation. There is a simple story of a planet of robots trying to repair their deactivated land, but the pervasive robot theme (complete with hydraulic crushers that smash away the pause/loading screens) really works. The graphics are also fairly nice, though not fantastically amazing, with fun looking robots and detailed backgrounds and animations in every level. I would've liked to have seen some high quality (or any) cutscenes to flush out the story further, but the simple level explanations drive the game along just fine.

While not for everyone, RoboSockets is definitely one of the more interesting falling block games that I've seen in a while. Its strong mix of innovative gameplay and robot presentation really work for the genre… a genre that is typically synonymous with being quite drab. If you are a fan of the genre, or are just looking for a quick game to pass the time during your morning commute, I definitely recommend snagging RoboSockets.

Back at Macworld in January, I met up with Lee Dotson of Zarksoft to check out their first iOS game Empire of the Eclipse. Zarksoft is comprised of 3 core members with a wealth of experience in the gaming industry, and Empire of the Eclipse is an ambitious undertaking for their first project. It’s a massively multiplayer online strategy game that’s really unlike anything available on the App Store thus far. At the time Lee wasn’t quite ready to show off Empire of the Eclipse on video, and due to the sheer scope and complexity of the game it would be difficult to really get a sense of it with just words and screenshots alone.

Last Friday at GDC, I met up with Zarksoft again to see how the development of Empire of the Eclipse has come along in the weeks since Macworld. The game is showing a lot of promise, and although it’s not really the type of game that appeals to a wide audience it should serve a niche group of gamers quite well with what it has to offer. Each game takes place in an entire galaxy, the size of which is determined by the amount of players which can be 1000+ per game. That galaxy is the broken down into sectors, and even further into solar systems comprised of multiple planets.

During play you’ll be able to harvest resources and build several types of ships to amass an armada that is able to take control of solar systems, sectors, and eventually the galaxy. Of course there are many other players all trying to do the same thing, and tensions are sure to rise as you begin to encroach on each others’ territories. There’s a very deep combat and skill system in the game, and support for real time chat and an email-style player messaging system should you want to negotiate a collaboration with other players (at least temporarily) to facilitate your galaxy domination.

What I think really impresses me about Empire of the Eclipse is that for such a complex game Zarksoft has crafted a really friendly UI. Almost anything can be accessed from a top menu bar, and there’s several different ways to access and view the information pertaining to your game at any time. What could easily be a mess of menu screens and cumbersome solar system navigation has been streamlined and made intuitive, and a nice tutorial will ease players into the many facets of Empire of the Eclipse. You can see a bit of this in the brief introduction video that I shot at GDC, which really only scratches the surface of the game:

One interesting aspect to Empire of the Eclipse is that each game is finite and should take approximately 2 months to complete, rather than being an ongoing persistent game. You’ll be able to have multiple games going at once, each with a clearcut winner at the end. The gameplay is also geared towards mobile play, so you can pop in and play for a few minutes at a time without having to constantly babysit what’s going on. Also, unlike many MMO games on iOS that take a freemium approach and require a steep monetary commitment to be able to make any sort of meaningful progress, Empire of the Eclipse will launch for free as a complete game and utilize Apple’s recently introduced subscription service. It will cost $1.99 per month to play and can be cancelled at any time.

There’s definitely a lot of great ideas in Empire of the Eclipse, and it will be interesting to see how they all work out when the full version launches. Zarksoft is in the beta testing stage and is hoping to have the game out by the end of March, and we’ll take another look at the game when it launches.

Let’s talk about Rope Racket. It’s a physics-based puzzle game with adorable birds and long, brown lengths of rope. Instant hit, right? It might be, but not because of its inclusion of two of the hottest trends in iOS. Fact is, it’s a plain-old entertaining and unique game.

You’ll get a better sense of what Rope Racket is all about in the video below, but I’ll express what I can here. The goal is to wrap a wobbly bit of rope around a set number of rotating wheels. Then, you can free a bird with said rope at the end of a level.

Of course, there are hooks and interesting pieces of design. Rope is limited, however, the way you approach each wheel “puzzle” is not scripted. There are different solutions. But some of your more unconventional approaches might bring you too close to the Rope Racket’s diverse set of obstructions: vampire bats that relentlessly follow your bird around, cannons that fire flaming stones, and even darkness.

I want to note one mechanic that grabbed me. When you wrap the rope around a special wheel, the wheel then moves with the rope. In the short demo I watched at GDC in San Francisco, I saw Untame’s Itay Keren block those flaming cannons with the wheels. This is remarkable, to me at least, because you’re using the world to interact with the world.

We’ll be keeping our eyes on this one as it comes down the pipeline. It’s slated for a release on the iPad and iPhone 4 at some point in the next month.

Outdoorsy types should get ready as Mastiff Games is set to launch a port of their Wii and PC target shooting game Reload for the iPhone very soon. I had a chance to check out the iPhone version of Reload firsthand at GDC, and despite there being a ton of different gallery-type shooters available on the App Store I found Reload to be pretty compelling.

What I like about Reload is that it offers a lot of variety. There will be a number of different weapons to choose from, including authentic licensed models from the likes of Remington, and the gameplay will change depending on which weapon you use. A machine gun has you moving from room to room in an on-rails fashion and taking out bad guy targets that spring up while avoiding innocent people, police training style. A sniper rifle level puts you in a stationary position as you scan a landscape from afar looking for targets, and then zoom in to take them out. Another example is the shotgun which presents a fun skeet shooting level where you’re scored based on speed and accuracy.

These different gameplay types will be experienced in a single player career mode that has you playing through each type of weapon, and levels can be replayed once unlocked. There will also be a local hot seat multiplayer where you and up to 3 other buddies can take turns passing around a single device trying for top scores. While Reload doesn’t really reinvent the arcade-style shooting game, it seems to offer a decent amount of variety and fun for some on-the-go gunplay. The visuals look nice, it controls well, and it has a nice air of authenticity to it too. Keep your eyes out for Reload which Mastiff is hoping to have out sometime before the end of March.

One item on my follow-up todo list for GDC 2011 was to find out what happened to Steph Thirion's Faraway game we previewed back at GDC 2010. Thirion was the developer responsible for Eliss, a favorite of ours.

Well, we caught up with Thirion who was showing off Faraway at GDC 2011. Thirion reports that game is still in the works but had been delayed by other projects that took him off task for a number of months, so work on Faraway has been on hold. He can't commit to a release date yet, but he's working on it again and hoping the release will be soon.

The gameplay mechanics are pretty much the same as in our 2010 preview.

In Faraway, you control a comet by activating a gravitational pull by simply pressing a single button. Each time, it activates a gravitational pull to the nearest star. Using well timed presses, you can slingshot your comet into the right direction. The goal is to create as many complex constellations in the time allotted. Powerups include speed-ups as well as time-extenders. Creating large and looped constellations add to your high score (which will be recording on a global leaderboard). Once time runs out, you are treated with a panning view of the constellations you've created.

Thirion has been tweaking some of the progression so that both skilled and unskilled players can have an enjoyable experience playing the game.

We've got some updated screenshots for the game and have captured a bit of footage of the game being played on a Mac from the IGF display on the GDC floor. We will let you know as soon as it's been submitted to Apple.

Here at GDC we had a chance to sit down with retro savvy Dan Bliss from BinarySquare and preview his upcoming iPad / iPhone (Universal) game Flick Rocket. With this one, I think Dan has outdone himself on delivering the retro aesthetic goodness; the game's visuals pretty much jump off the screen and smack you in the face.

Flick Rocket is something of a mash-up of Missile Command, Space Invaders, Centipede, and Asteroids -- and that's quite a combination. As in Missile Command, you control a defense turret with the goal of defending a city from attack. But this time around, your missiles are much more obviously missiles, rendered out in glowing pixellated goodness. They are dispatched with a swipe mechanic that sends them off at any trajectory you choose. So, who are you shooting at? That's where things get interesting.

The first type of enemy you must defend against is a horde of Space Invaders-style alien baddies that slowly march across the screen while dropping bombs upon Tokyo. The second assault comes in the form of a pixellated space centipede that meanders about the screen in an effort to flatten Paris. The third and final type of onslaught comes in the form of a brutal hale of asteroids that, unchecked, may spell the end of Los Angeles.

There are a number of power-ups that appear when certain enemies are destroyed, including a driller shot which lets your rockets cut through a swath of enemies and bounce off the walls; a bounce shot which causes your rocket to bounce about the advancing enemies, taking out several before exploding; a blaster shot that unleashes multiple warheads from your rocket upon detonation, and a confusion power-up that causes your rockets to fly all willy nilly. And, while firing rockets is a core mechanic, don't do so with too great an abandon, as there is a rocket damage multiplier that rewards you for judicious use of your weapons.

Flick Rocket features online leaderboard and achievement tracking, a Campaign and a quick-play Arcade mode, and requires a bit of strategy to rank well. It's a clever title with a great look that I'm anxious to spend more than those few minutes in the Marriott lobby with.