The one thing that I really love about our “bonus” podcasts is the fact that we only talk to people who fire from the hip: no boilerplate, no scripting, and no dodging. Game Revolution had the same kind of dialogue with an industry figure at Develop. In its conversation with Fish Labs CEO Michael Schade, you get the sense that he’s an unfiltered and passionate type of dude. He has a lot to offer as a result, especially when it comes to pricing models on the App Store, and as you’d assume by looking up Galaxy on Fire [$9.99 / Lite] on iTunes, he’s not a fan of the “race to the bottom.”

It’s not really fair to toss a headline up there and just move on, but the interview does revolve around “premium” price tags. Schade wants a premium $10 market on the App Store because he thinks developers of high-end games deserve it and consumers actually want it. (more...)

This morning while making my morning coffee and browsing through my email, I came across the most amazing announcement I've seen come out of Sega since the Dreamcast. (Yes, I realize Sega has made other, potentially better announcements since then, but still.) Sonic CD is coming to the App Store. If this doesn't have you squealing with glee, you must not have been alive during the Sega CD glory days, as Sonic CD is by far the absolute best Sonic game. It comes from the era of gaming before everyone felt the need to shoehorn needless 3D into games that are perfectly suited to be sidescrollers, and it was packed with the various benefits the Sega CD could offer: Full motion video, a fantastic soundtrack, and tons of content. There's even a radical time traveling mechanic where you can travel between the past and future on the same level.

Now, before we (justifiably) start grumbling about the quality of Sega's various emulated ports, there may be a glimmer of hope out there that Sonic CD might be everything we could ask for and more in an iOS Sonic game. Long-time readers might be pickin' up what I'm puttin' down. If you're new to the scene, let me introduce you to this video from over two years ago:

To make a long story short, in the summer of 2009, pioneering iOS developer Christian Whitehead announced his "iPhone Retro Engine" and "Retro Engine Development Kit." Sonic CD was the proof of concept Christian used to show just how incredibly well his technology works. We quickly followed up with an interview with Whitehead who got into some details, and made mention that he did in fact pitch this whole project to Sega.

Not long after that, all traces of the Retro Engine and Sonic CD running in it vanished from the internet. All of the communication after the fact was strictly off the record, but one could easily assume that when someone approaches Sega with a working proof of concept to not only port their games to tons of platforms, but do it quickly, easily, and with great performance, they're going to jump all over it.

If you're not quite ready to equip your tinfoil hat and go with me on this, consider this: Everything from Sega's PR blast this morning perfectly describes Sonic CD as we saw it running on the iPhone two years ago. It's hitting multiple platforms, widescreen graphics, "special iOS features," achievements, and more. If this were anything but Christian Whitehead's Sonic CD, my gut is telling me that it'd be running in some wacky variation of the Sega CD's original 320x224 resolution wrapped in a crazy emulator and not enhanced in the slightest… Because, really, that's how Sega rolls.

We likely won't have to wait too long to find out either, as it should be playable this weekend at PAX. Hopefully they've got the iPhone version there, and I'd put my money on it looking almost exactly like the above video.

Update: It turns out my gut is calibrated particularly well today, as Sonic Retro has confirmed that Christian Whitehead (via his online alias "The Taxman") is involved with this port and it is in fact using the Retro Engine. Sega's even provided a teaser trailer:

Seriously, can't wait.

Update 2: We were contacted Christian, who again confirmed his involvement in this release but mentions that only the Xbox Live Arcade version will be playable at PAX. Bummer! We'll be keeping our eyes out for the iOS version, that's for sure.

The first thing that struck me about Contre Jour [$0.99 / UHD] was how beautiful it was. Everything about this game is lush and gorgeous -- the art, the music, I could just bury myself in it. The second thing that struck me was that everything seemed a little familiar. Was the art too World of Goo? Or maybe too Limbo? Was this mechanic borrowed from Cut the Rope? Or was that one from Bumpy Road? Or, heaven forbid, Angry Birds?

Familiar elements litter Contre Jour, and I've already seen some people write it off for that reason. Let me be frank: this would be a mistake. This isn't some cheap knock-off that's stolen something from your game of choice. If anything, Contre Jour is an elegy to games past. Developer Mokus has taken the best aspects of any number of physics games and platformers and recreated them into a single imaginative whole.

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Sprinkle [99¢] by Mediocre and Fabrication Games, is a water-squirting platform puzzler. The Swedish developers were pretty brave to take on this project as their debut release, as it's always challenging to represent water in a game, but they've really managed to pull it off. The water flows, splashes, pools up, makes waves, moves objects and surges, just as you'd expect it to. The water physics in this game look wonderful and are definitely the main attraction.

At the start of each level, a cute little red fire-truck arrives at the scene of a fire. You can adjust the height of the trucks crane by dragging it up or down, and you can also tilt the angle of the water cannon by swiping. Once the nozzle is aimed in the right direction, simply tap or hold the red button to squirt water. And the water does actually squirt. You can see the main stream of the flow with little bits shooting off, just like when you turned the hose on your family members as a kid. And it still feels good to squirt that H20!

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Don't ask me why, but there's something about a videogame with a ridiculous premise that always appeals to me. In this case, it's the story of a fat cat named Tombo who lives in a tall tower and gets food air shipped in on a weekly basis to fill his growing belly. For me, this brings up a lot of common sense questions. How does he pay for the food? Who has such a delivery service that they send orders in by air balloon? Do they deliver in my area?

Anyway, this goofy premise is the story of Fatcat Rush [$0.99], an on-rails 3D sidescroller that allows you to go on an eating rampage. It seems one of your food deliveries has made a wrong turn and exploded all over the tower you live in, so you can either sit up at the top like the proud fatass you are and starve, or you can go on an adventure to recapture your food. Not much of a choice here, guys.

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Sometimes with a multiplayer game, simplicity is the best way to go. It makes it so friends and family can pick up a game and play with little explanation and in turn, you can all jump into having fun with little setup. Sandstorm Interactive's iPad-only title, S.U.B. Steampunk Underwater Battles [$1.99] does just that.

For most, all you'll need to know is that you're in control of a submarine and your goal is to kill your friends, who are also in control of submarines. Each of the four different submarines has a different weapons loadout and require different strategies to be successful. You get a good variety of control options to fit your needs, but considering you only control the left and right turns, a tap to shoot and a few buttons for special attacks, most of the options should be just fine for everyone. Which brings us to rule number one of enjoying S.U.B.: find three friends with iPhones.

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Like Tower Defense, one of the genres that saw a resurgence with the advent of iOS gaming is the ‘Sniper’ genre. Typically relegated to the flash games scene, the touch screen, accelerometer and gyroscopic controls of iOS devices seemed like a natural fit for Sniper games. This lead to an explosion of a wide variety of titles that all sought to put you behind the scope of a sniper rifle.

Hired Gun 3D [$0.99], the newest game from Triniti Interactive, is the latest Sniper game to hit the market. Described as a sequel to Triniti’s previous stick-figured sniper title, Hired Gun 3D lookes to up the ante with a revamped graphics engine as well as some improvements to the general gameplay. While it does end up as a marked improvement on its predecessor in an assortment of different ways, Hired Gun 3D fails to differentiate itself from the rest of the Sniper crowd.

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We’ve been keeping tabs on Firemint’s newest upcoming title since it was announced back in February of this year. Things were much different back then: their new game was still known as Agent Squeak, Firemint wasn’t owned by EA yet, and Steve Jobs was still the CEO of Apple (ok, that one just happened, but still). Fast forward to now, and after a nearly 2 year development time, the title that is now known as SPY mouse [99¢] is now available in the US App Store.

We’ll be putting SPY mouse thoroughly through the ringer and bringing you a review soon, but if you like scoring free games while picking up a cup of your favorite overpriced coffee then I want to let you in on a little promotion that’s going down to celebrate the launch of the game.

Beloved coffee chain and free WiFi sanctuary Starbucks has been running a new promotion called the Pick of the Week, where the cafe highlights a new book, TV show, or application and gives them away for free. Starting next Tuesday August 30th, SPY mouse will mark the first game to participate in this program. Basically, you’ll just need to stop into any Starbucks in the US and score a Pick of the Week card which will allow you to redeem SPY mouse for free through iTunes. Pretty simple, right?

There is a catch, though. These Pick of the Week cards are in limited supply, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. Previously, Starbucks offered up the premium version of the music recognition app Shazam Encore [$5.99] as part of this promotion, and word on the street was that they were pretty hard to come by. Seeing as games are the most popular type of app in the App Store, and SPY mouse is brand spanking new, it might be kind of difficult to get your caffeine-riddled hands on one of those cards.

Don’t distress, though. If heading to your local Starbucks sounds like too much of a task, or you’re worried about them running out of cards, there is a simple solution. You can spend one of your hard-earned dollars and just buy the game the old-fashioned way. It is available right now, after all, and the Starbucks promotion doesn’t start until next Tuesday. No matter the path you take to obtain a copy of SPY mouse, keep your eyes peeled for our full review to hit soon and as always stop into our forums to hear discussion and impressions of the game.

News is just coming out of Cupertino that Steve Jobs has resigned as Apple's CEO per a letter to Apple's board of directors. Steve requests to stay with the company as a chairman and appoints Tim Cook as his successor. The request still needs to be approved by the board, which is all but guaranteed.

Steve's letter is short and to the point:

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

After-hours trading of Apple stock has resulted in a 5% drop, and it's not unreasonable to think that the stock may continue to slide tomorrow as investors react to the news. It seems easy to assume that Steve's departure as CEO is a direct result of his health as he has battled cancer since 2009, and we wish him the best.

On the bright side, Tim Cook is more than capable to serve as CEO, although he lacks the obvious star-power that Steve Jobs had. Also, as a chairman, Jobs can still have an influence over the products and direction of the company while being freed of the day to day responsibilities of CEO. Something else to keep in mind is that Cook has more or less been at the helm of Apple since 2009, and on and off since 2004 as Steve has fought cancer. Once all the reactionary dust settles, this should be a very smooth transition.

Update: According to the Wall Street Journal, as expected, Steve Jobs will remain active in the company:

People familiar with the situation have said that Mr. Jobs continues to be active at Apple and is closely involved in the company's product strategy. Apple watchers don't expect that to change even after Mr. Cook takes over.

I'm not sure what made developers band together and decide, "Hey, the last Thursday in August is when we're all going to release our games," but it has happened. There's a ton coming out tonight, including some big name games, some interesting looking indie titles and a lot in between. I know first hand how hard it can be to wait until 11:00 PM Eastern to roll around for those of us in North America for these games to finally be released… So how about this, since the rest of the world gets their games first, let's all do something the rest of the world can't do… Like watching horrible 80's movies such as The Wizard via Netflix streaming, or consume excessive amounts of high fructose corn syrup, or do both at the same time.

So queue up your terrible 80's flick of choice and check out this list:

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IGN recently got their hands on Gameloft's upcoming modern military shooter Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation and aside from a new gameplay trailer, also have tons of details on the game itself. First off, you really need to watch this:

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A big, fat content-rich update is coming to Crescent Moon’s Deadlock this Thursday and it’s accompanying a price raise on the (once) free-to-play game. Starting tomorrow, it’ll cost a buck-a-roo, but it’ll also boast the following: two new maps, a total of seven new guns, a latency meter for custom matches, host region information, and a host of bug fixes. This will mark the first time the game has cost anything since its debut earlier this summer.

We’ve covered most of this update in a previous post. The two new maps are the imaginatively titled bangers “Jungle” and “Desert Compound.” And the new guns are the 44 Magnum, the Sawed-Off Shotgun, the Stery Aug A3, the HK-417, the MK-14, and a personal favorite of mine, the MG3.

We’re told that new players of the game will receive “four unlock points” to put towards what they want after purchasing the title, which is an OK offering based on the model switch mid-stride. Obviously, if Deadlock barely even piqued your interest, now would be the best time to download since it’s still $0.

If you have an older iPhone or iPod Touch, or hey, just a little cramped on space because you have an entire folder crammed with fart apps, you probably don’t want to update Chaos Rings [$12.99 / HD] or its kinda-sequel, Chaos Rings Omega [$11.99 / HD]. For whatever reason, Square Enix has added Japanese voices to both games, and in the process have (at least) doubled the file sizes of both.

The newly updated version of Chaos Rings has gone from 273MB to 698MB, while the follow-up skyrocketed to 778MB from 379MB on the iPhone. The iPad versions see similar file increases. Refreshingly, this information is freely available in the respective applications’ descriptions. It’s nice when a company is up front about moves like this, but also kind of sad since we didn't expect to hear stuff like this from them in the first place.

If you’re worried about space or whatever, there are a couple of things you can do. First, you could just not download the updates since they don’t add anything of significant value to the game part of either. Or, if you want to give these a spin but want to revert later, you could save the old .IPA files of the originals for safe-keeping. Your choice, but we thought you’d like to know before clicking “update.”

Eliss [$4.99] creator Steph Thirion’s next game, Faraway, now has a release window: it’s slated to hit later this fall on unspecified iOS devices, though I’d imagine the first run of the game will undoubtedly hit the iPhone and iPod Touch. A new teaser website is now available, too!

Thirion’s Faraway is a game about building constellations, but it’s mechanics are a little bit more abstract than you think. In the game, you’ll indirectly control a comet that gets yanked to and fro via gravitational pulls. The object is to find star clusters and then trace them to create a constellation. Levels are timed, and you’ll earn more time by doing this.

If you’re wondering why this release window is such a big deal, it’s because we’ve been idly waiting for the game since 2010 without any idea of when it’d hit. Thirion told us at this past GDC that he wasn’t able to put the kind of time he wanted into the title since the last time we saw him at GDC 2010, so this news is unexpected and, of course, very welcome. We can’t wait to see it again, for sure.