We sat down with IUGO's Sarah Thomson (an active forum member here at Touch Arcade) and Hong-Yee Wong in the lobby of the San Francisco Marriott where we were shown both of their upcoming games, Star Hogs and A.D.D.

Star Hogs

The best way I can describe Star Hogs is Worms on crack, really premium high quality crack. They have taken the tried and true Worms formula, heavily modified with a system where you can level up (to a maximum of 32), buy new ships and weapons, play across three difficulty levels and best of all: Complete online multiplayer.

Multiplayer, which reportedly works great regardless of whether or not you're using WiFi or playing over EDGE/3G due to the turn-based nature of the game, can be played with a maximum of four players. The game is presented well and seems to have a great soundtrack.

Each turn is limited by a certain amount of "energy" which can be used for firing or moving. Additional energy or money for upgrades can be earned through finding "ore" scattered in the play field. Firing is performed using a familiar tap-aiming while power is determined by how long you hold the fire button. About 20 different weapons will be available on the initial release, including bombs, cluster bombs, lasers, and mines.

The gameplay video shows the game from launch:

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

A.D.D.

Meanwhile, A.D.D. IUGO's take on WarioWare, offering the same type of micro-game experience in little 10 second blocks.

Included initially are going to be 72 "channels", with three free updates to bring the total to 108. Gameplay involves simple tasks using the iPhone's various control systems set in various humorous scenarios. These mini games are presented in rapid succession and part of the challenge is figuring you what you need to do. The game does tip you off with what control mechanism needs to be used (tilt, shake, tap etc…).

Despite some of it's edgier content, they seem fairly confident that the first version of A.D.D. will be approved by Apple. Subsequent updates will push that edge a bit more.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Star Hogs is set for submission to the App Store next week, and A.D.D. is already working its way through the submission and approval process.

We first reported on Craneball Studios' beautifully drawn blimp game back in April. The game has finally arrived in the App Store for the low price of $0.99 [App Store].

You are a blimp pilot. A war veteran, who wants to live the rest of your life in quiet and peace. Working your day job on a trading planet, everything seems to be ok. Suddenly the planet is assaulted by an evil empire. Your blimp is upgraded with bombs and you are going to save the planet…

The game requires you to pilot around the various levels accomplishing specific missions and destroying enemy blimps. Controls are implemented with a mix of accelerometer for direction and virtual buttons for bombs and thurst. Blimp features 20 levels, particle effects, 5 different locations, and global high score with Facebook integration.

The game has been getting rave reviews amongst the early adopters in the forum with many pointing out the wonderful sound effects (headphones recommended). For the introductory price of $0.99, it's probably an easy pick up. The full price of the game is expected to be $2.99.

This developer video shows how the controls work:

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

App Store Link: Blimp – The Flying Adventures, $0.99

We just sat down with Simon Edis of Ezone.com, creator of Crazy Snowboard [App Store] and the soon to be released Galactic Gunner, which we previewed not too long ago:

Australian brothers Jamie and Simon Edis have taken an unconventional approach to the genre–Instead of having the player control the flying and shooting like Galaxy On Fire 3D [App Store], Galactic Gunner is a shooter on rails. As the title hints, you play as the gunner and shoot by tapping where you want to fire on screen.

The most intriguing part of meeting with Simon was hearing his plans for the future, and specifically how he is handling the impending Galactic Gunner launch. The Edis brothers aren't going to be idly sitting by waiting for the game to quietly appear on the App Store. Instead, they're designing an entire alternate reality game, where the Trepidoids slowly invade the Earth and its Internet. It all started with this brief cryptic video of a mysterious looking crop circle designed to lead followers of the alternate reality game to the Trepidoids twitter feed:

Following this video a second even more mysterious video was released, along with the launch of a web site for the Trepidoids.

I'm not entirely sure how this all fits together myself, but we have a thread on our forums where people are being recruited to join the Galactic Gunners to fight the Trepedoids and win promo codes in the process. As Simon briefly laid out his plans for the promotion of the game, I found myself completely amazed that so much effort and creativity was going in to its launch.

I'm not going to spoil anything, but they've got some really cool stuff planned for not only the release of Galactic Gunner but also the potential future of the series and spinoff games that all take place in the Galactic Gunner universe. Simon also showed interest in porting some of their more popular games from the Ezone.com web site, specifically mentioning the game Sling.

This morning at WWDC we met with John Owens of the Belfast-based iPhone development studio Wee Man Studios to discuss their upcoming futuristic 3D racer Galactic Racer.

Galactic Racer is a Wipeout-like racing game that pits the player against a variety of adversaries in a high-speed run down a series of 3D tracks littered with obstacles and barriers, in a bid to make it across the finish line.  The experience is actually more akin to flying down a tube than hovering in an anti-gravity groove, with ship control available in all four directions.  Loops and other particularly "3D" twists, as well as sections of transparent walls, add a sense of depth to the feel of the courses.

Along the way, a variety of weapons and power-ups can be picked up to help fend off the competition.  The game's power-up items are more akin to those of Mario Kart than the typical Wipeout-style racer, Owens tells us — one example being a wormhole that can transport the player to a point further down the track.

The initial release will feature Championship and Single Race modes, while future updates will bring multiplayer, online leaderboards, and other enhancements.  Though we were unable to play the current build of the game, we were shown a short video and various screenshots that show promising gameplay and an impressive texture quality.  Wee Man Studios will shortly be releasing a public trailer video to giver readers a taste of the gameplay.

No release date has been indicated for this title.

Some of Owens' previous game development involvements include Argonaut Games' iNinja and Cat Woman for other platforms.

We had the opportunity to meet with Bight Games at WWDC to discuss their upcoming games coming into the App Store on June 18th. Bight Games is a mobile gaming company that was founded in 2004. As seems to be the story of many mobile developers, Bight Games started doing primarily contract work. While they tried to publish their own original IP to mobile devices, the realities of traditional mobile distribution made it near impossible.

The iPhone, of course, has changed many of these rules, giving developers an opportunity to much more easily bring their own titles to market. Bight Games has two of these original iPhone games coming out on June 18th.

Big Top 10

Perhaps most efficiently described as "Wurdle with numbers", Big Top 10 is a puzzle game that will debut at only $0.99. Similar to Wurdle [App Store], the game revolves around sliding your finger across the board to make the proper combination of tiles. Instead of letters and words, however, Big Top 10 requires you to add a sequence of numbers up to 10. The longer the combination, the higher your score.

The game begins by giving you only 1 minute to make as many combinations as possible. Time is extended, however, as you make bigger sequences or pick up specific time bonuses. The numbers found on the board start off small but as you progress, the difficulty increases with higher valued numbers. If you find yourself stuck, you simply shake the iPhone for a new set of numbers.

Special items including bombs, clocks and multipliers aid in your task while negative numbers make it possible to make super long combos.

It's certainly a rather simple concept for a game, but sometimes those are the best. Here's a developer video:

Puzzlings

Another original iPhone game coming from Bight Games is called Puzzlings which is described as a console-quality puzzle adventure game. At its core, the game is a variant on match-3 but adds achievements in the form of unlockable clothing for your Puzzling avatar. These unlockables serve as both an incentive system to progress further as well as a sort of high score to show off to your friends.

Unlike most Match 3 games, Puzzlings is a bit more flexible in its swapping mechanism. Besides swapping two adjacent tiles, you can reverse the entire line by dragging across all the pieces. Additionally, pieces can be rotated by drawing a square around them. A combination of these moves can result in some careful planning for the optimal combo. Game difficult increases with the introduction of large blocks that can require some quick work. These changes do seem to make it much more interesting than the traditional formula.

Overall, the game offers a fit and polish that makes it feel like great title and should provide puzzle gamers something a little different to enjoy.

Kill All Bugs

Finally, one title we didn't have much hands-on time with is a mobile port called Kill All Bugs. It's a Tower Defense game claims to offer some new an interesting twists to the genre, but we'll have to take a closer look when it comes out. We've included this gameplay video for you to see for yourself:

We'll see the first of these games on June 18th, and Bight Games expects to continue introducing a number of games throughout the year.

Chris, Clive, Joseph, and several other extremely helpful ngmofos spent quite a bit of time this evening at the ngmoco event answering my endless array of questions about their in-development FPS game tentatively named LiveFire.

In the demo I saw today, four players sat around a set of iPod Touches all playing online via the hotel's WiFi. Since all the games in LiveFire are played online through ngmoco's matchmaking servers, Chris was directing people when to start their game to guarantee everyone got matched. After a lively countdown the players were thrown in to a heavily modified Quake 3 engine to play one of the most impressive online multiplayer experiences I've seen for the iDevice platform which according to ngmoco works equally well when played over either 3G or WiFi.

The controls for LiveFire are so intuitive I had already figured out how everything worked before they even started explaining it to me. They call it a "touch anywhere" control scheme, where the right half of the screen regardless of where you're touching controls your aiming and the left half controls your movement. Since they're working with a limited set of input methods, firing is handled automatically. If you get someone in your crosshairs, you automatically start shooting.

The gameplay is very similar to the old Quake II Lithium mod. There are six weapons, a whole set of power ups, and even a grappling hook. Having played more hours of Quake II Lithium than I'd care to admit, this really grew on me quickly. The maps are small and perfectly tailored for playing with four people. There was never much time where I was ever without someone to shoot at, and respawn timers are quick when you die.

The genius in LiveFire is the online ranking and matchmaking system. ngmoco has an algorithm which they wouldn't disclose too much of which basically tracks your performance to compute your overall ranking using how well you've done against whatever ranking the opponents you're playing against are and some other ngmoco magic. Also, there will be XBOX Live! Halo-style player groups, so you can play with your friends and an online friends list which will be a part of their "Plus" online system which they were also reluctant to talk about until it's all ready.

As you rank up, you will have access to different colored armor, so people will instantly be aware that you're a skilled player when you join the game. Overall, the entire ranking system I think will lead to a highly competitive community of gamers at the top, while allowing a comfortable level of play for casual gamers at the bottom.

Players will be able to choose from several armor types, and depending on which you choose you will have slightly different abilities. For instance, the heavy armor obviously gives you better defenses and the flight armor gives you the ability to jump farther. These armor types are cleverly tied in to the story of the game, in which you play a live human test subject for Arsenal Megacorp. It is an extremely amusing premise for a game, and I highly recommend reading the memo from the CEO on the LiveFire site.

I know in the past due to the downloadable content demonstration, players have been apprehensive about LiveFire due to the stigma of being nickle and dimed in being forced to buy weapons or other key components to gameplay. When I asked Joseph, the co-founder and COO of ngmoco about this he assured me that nothing that in any way would upset game balance is going to be sold as an addon. You will not be able to get any kind of advantage over other players by buying anything. He wouldn't say for sure what they were planning, but it sounds like cosmetic addons like skins and other personalization options above what is included in the game may be coming.

I asked several of the other ngmoco people at the event about their plans with DLC and every one of them assured me that if they do it, they're going to do it right, and provide a good value for gamers. Overall I walked away with a really good vibe from the event, and an intense anticipation for all the games exhibited.

Ngmoco held a press event tonight at WWDC detailing their upcoming titles due this summer. The games on display included the just released Star Defense as well as unreleased titles including Rolando 2, Touch Pets and the first-person shooter formerly known as LiveFire. This was first time any of the press has had hands-on time with Rolando 2 or the new and improved LiveFire and we'll cover those separately.

While we'd seen Ngmoco's Touch Pets before, today's build had progressed notably towards completion and the core gameplay remains the same. The game taps into the virtual pet market allowing you to own and care for your own virtual dog.

Simply petting your dog can be a very tactile experience on the iPhone by actually rubbing the screen with your finger. As you care for your pet, his or her caretaking, training and socializing scores rise, giving you a very happy canine. Neglect the dog, and well, you'll have to put some quality time in to make up for it.

The game includes 9 different locations that you can play in, as well as various clothing items, toys and accessories for your pet. Special shirts, hats, colors and even advanced toys such as boomerangs eventually become available for use. One feature that I hadn't seen before was the use of touch gestures to instruct your dog to do tricks. Swiping in a circle, for example, instructs your dog to roll over. And, as you advance, additional tricks are unlocked.

This basic care video provides a look at the game:

Touch Pets is due sometime this summer.

Meanwhile, we had a chance to speak to Neil Young of Ngmoco to hear his reactions to the upcoming iPhone 3G S. What we hadn't been aware of was the fact that the demos during today's keynote were actually run on the iPhone 3G S. And the biggest reaction from the Ngmoco founder was that the new device is fast. Both in execution and launch time, Young found that Star Defense loaded in entirety in 6 seconds on the new device, notably faster than on previous generation devices. He also observed that another developer's game was running so quickly that they had to frame limit them.

We still don't have specifics on what processor the new iPhone 3G S has, but it seems clear that the 2nd Generation iPod Touch is no longer on the top of the heap.

ngmoco's Star Defense [App Store] is finally here for $5.99! I competed in the Twitter Challenge a while ago and I've had my hands on the final copy for a few days now. So far, Star Defense has been an enjoyable spin on the tower defense genre. Expect a full review soon, but for now, here's part of the press release ngmoco sent out:

In Star Defense, players battle hordes of alien S’rath invaders in their quest to save human outposts across the galaxy. Using innovative Multi-Touch controls, players twist, spin, and zoom-in on breathtaking 3D planets and examine the terrain to plan their defenses.

Armed with a powerful arsenal of five classes of towers, for a grand total of 15 different weapons, players strategically place turrets that unleash everything from burning hot plasma to high-voltage decimation. The S’rath regularly fortify their troops with new unit types, new formations and new armor. Survival depends on the player’s ability to respond to their maneuvers in real time.

Innovative integration with social networks allows players to expand their campaigns and compete with friends over Twitter, Facebook, or email. They can also check out scores posted by other Star Defense players and take on all challengers by searching for #StarDefense on Twitter.

With seven unique planets, two different game modes, more than 50 Medals and Commendations to be earned on the field, and three different difficulty settings available at launch, Star Defense offers endless replayability for newcomers and war-hardened veterans alike.

ngmoco will provide regular updates to the game with expansion packs, bringing new weapons, planets, invaders and new modes of gameplay to the Star Defense universe.

As I mentioned in the keynote post, we have a ngmoco press conference to attend at 4:00 PM PST. I'm not sure what is going to be discussed, but hopefully we'll find out a little more about their plans with the future of Star Defense.

Update: ngmoco posted on our forums clarifying the content of the game and future updates:

For $5.99, you are getting the full SD experience. That's an entire seven-planet galaxy, three difficulty modes, and a challenge mode. We'll also be regularly updating the game with free content.

Once 3.0 launches, we'll be offering much larger expansion packs for sale.

App Store Link: Star Defense, $5.99

The keynote is about to begin! For up to the second coverage check out Mac Rumors Live, otherwise this post will be updated periodically with things that pertain to iPhone gaming.

So far we've seen new laptops, a demonstration of Snow Leopard complete with its $29 upgrade price point, and now Scott Forstall is taking the stage to discuss the iPhone.

Scott is currently going over the features of 3.0 which include everything we've seen before, Bluetooth multiplayer, in-game downloadable content purchases, and the ability to talk to other devices via the dock connector or Bluetooth.

Mark Hickey from Gameloft is unveiling a new game, Asphalt 5, which he claims will be the best racing game on iPhone. Lets you play music from your library while you drive, advanced lighting and graphics — fully pushing the hardware, Peer to Peer multiplayer over Bluetooth, worldwide multiplayer over wifi in-game voicechat, content packs for sale (1 racktrack and 3 new cars for 99 cents).

Neil Young from ngomoco:) unveiled Star Defense, launching today for $5.99. Also briefly mentioned is the "Plus Network" to play online, and additional 3.0 features when 3.0 goes live. (We are attending a ngmoco:) press conference later this afternoon where I expect we will hear more about this.)

iPhone 3.0 available for free on June 17th, and iPod Touch users can purchase the upgrade for $9.95.

The iPhone 3G S is here! (Well, coming soon.) The biggest benefit that has been announced so far for gamers is the inclusion of OpenGL|ES 2.0, and faster hardware. Also included is a 3 megapixel auto-focusing camera, digital compass, and voice commands. Since these are all accessible by developers using various API's, who knows what kind of crazy geolocation photo games/apps we'll see in the future.

The new iPhone 3G S will be released on June 19th for $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB). Also, the 8GB 3G iPhone will stick around and be sold for $99! All prices listed are with a two year contract. According to the fine print- "For non-qualified customers, including existing AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB)"

It remains to be seen what if any concessions Apple and/or AT&T will make for existing iPhone 3G customers looking to upgrade.

As we have mentioned, Touch Arcade will be on-location in San Francisco for the full week of Apple's World Wide Developer Conference 2009, providing keynote and iPhone gaming coverage.  Additionally, TouchArcade (Arnold Kim, Blake Patterson) and MacHeist (Phill Ryu, John Casasanta) will be co-hosting what we hope is the highpoint event of the week, the iPhone Launch Party 2009.

The iPhone Launch Party, which takes place on Wednesday, June 10th from 8 PM to midnight, will serve as the official launch party of Firemint's much-anticipated racing title, Real Racing.  A number of other notable titles will be demonstrated for the first time at the event as well, including Freeverse's Warpack Grunts and Toy Kite's iSamurai games, as well as new apps from Delicious Monster, tap tap tap and possibly more.

A large number of notable personalities will be in attendance as well, including:

• John Geleynse, Eric Hope, and Matt Drance of Apple, Inc.
• Robert Murray of Firemint
• Ian Lynch Smith of Freeverse
• Simon Oliver of HandCircus
• Wil Shipley of Delicious Monster
• Danielle Cassley and Jason Citron of Aurora Feint
• Brian Greenstone of Pangea Software
• Leander Kahney of Cult of Mac
  
• Brian Lam of Gizmodo
• Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckyanova of Imangi Studios

The event will take place at the Cartoon Art Museum at 655 Mission Street in San Francisco and should be an amazing time for all.  And not just because of the free champagne….

If you're interested in attending, visit the official party site to sign up and look for a confirmation email, but space is limited.