On behalf of geeks everywhere, in 2012…

1) We want The Hobbit to live up to The Lord of the Rings.

Peter Jackson’s back, most of the original cast is back (the ones that should be, to serve the story) along with loads of new characters, Howard Shore is writing the score again, Weta is handling the effects. Warner Bros. could not hope for all of the pieces to fall into place more perfectly. And title character Martin Freeman is the perfect choice. If the trailer is any indication, it looks like Jackson & Co. are about to hit a home run.

But here’s the worry. The Hobbit is a very different kind of story than The Lord of the Rings, so to make a compelling film, the team at Wingnut Films have had to fill in a lot of blanks and flesh out characters and plot points that are barely a blip in the book. In fact, they’re filling in so much that they’ve stretched what could easily be one film into two. Or, depending on which reports you read, the second film may be an entirely new story, drawn from Tolkien’s appendices and lesser-known works, and constructed to bridge the gap between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring. Which basically sounds like a prequel to the trilogy, showing us a lot of the backstory that was only mentioned in the original films.

I have faith in Peter Jackson to knock this out of the park. I just hope the second film doesn’t wind up being an unnecessary exercise in self-indulgence.

2) Enough with the crappy iPad knock-offs.

Apple took the gadget market by storm with the original iPad, causing the industry to dub 2011 “the Year of the Tablet.” Meaning, 2011 was supposed to be the year that every electronics maker came out with its own challenger to the tablet throne. The reality turned out to be anything but competitive. Apple solidified its hold on the market with the triumphant iPad 2, and almost a year later, only one device stands a chance of taking a bite out of Apple have surfaced.

Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of contenders. Android tablets were a dime a dozen in 2011, and just like Android phones, a new one seemed to pop up every other week and then be forgotten soon after. HP attempted to launch a tablet based on its own WebOS, and then quickly dumped the platform altogether. Samsung can’t seem to make anything that doesn’t look like a total Apple ripoff. Why is it so hard for electronics manufacturers to grasp Apple’s guiding principle that if you don’t have an original take on a product, get off the frickin’ stage.

Amazon finally created a real iPad challenger with its bestselling Kindle Fire tablet, a fine (and remarkably affordable at just $200) alternative for users who just want to consume popular books, movies, music, and games. iPad is still the superior product, but with the Kindle Fire, somebody finally brought another worthy option to the table.

3) No more musicals based on superheroes.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark may be packing in ye olde theatre now, but getting to this point was an unmitigated disaster. After endless delays, one cast member injury after another, the biggest budget of any production in Broadway history, a change in writers, a change in directors, and even a change in music, Spidey finally made his Broadway debut. And the reviews were abysmal — though much better than they were from the earliest previews.

The lesson to be learned here is clear: superheroes and Broadway just don’t mix.

4) We need a new YA Fiction box office hero.

Harry Potter made it to his grand finale. There’s only one more installment of Twilight still to come (thank God). What will movie theaters fill this gigantic void with? Right now, the best contender is The Hunger Games trilogy, Gary Ross’ adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ dystopia-meets-Logan’s Run bestsellers. One film is in the can and hitting theaters in late March, with the second (Catching Fire) already in pre-production.

The first trailer sold this fan completely on the brilliant cast (especially Jennifer Lawrence as series protagonist Katniss Everdeen — one of the best female roles to hit a Hollywood blockbuster in eons), and while Ross was an unexpected choice as director, everything I’ve seen so far hits all of the sweet spots from the novel. Hopes are running very high for this one.

Beyond that, there are no prospects to take the YA crown. Although we do (finally!) have Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game to look forward to — but that’s not until 2013.

5) We want Nintendo to release a complete video game console.

Nintendo’s fallen into a rut lately of releasing consoles to market before they’re ready. Wii came to market but a few years later we got the Wii Motion Plus controller, which made the whole thing work the way it should have to begin with. The 3DS was released earlier this year — and then Nintendo realized that the handheld device needed a second thumbstick, so they’re even now preparing the “3DS Extended Slide Pad” add-on.

Now before anyone starts arguing about add-ons for other consoles like Kinect and Move… It’s not the same. It’s one thing to add brand new functionality to an existing console, the way Kinect and Move added motion control to Xbox 360 and PS3. It’s another thing entirely to refine existing functions that should have been perfected before the blasted console was released in the first place!

Nintendo, please take the time to get Wii U right before you ship it.

6) Comic book publishers: Make some major line-wide events/miniseries that are worth reading — or don’t bother.

The annual “events” that Marvel and DC put out each year are an important part of their year-long publishing schedule, boosting sales and setting their editorial agenda for the year going forward. Time was, the big two created truly terrific events, like Civil War and Crisis on Infinite Earths. But 2011′s mega-series made “event fatigue” a meaningful reality. Marvel’s Fear Itself was a snooze and a disappointment. DC’s Flashpoint was a total misfire, though DC made up for it (and dominated the sales charts) with a reboot of the entire DC Universe.

2012 brings us Avengers vs. X-Men from Marvel, a 12-part, bi-weekly series that focuses on the fallout from the Phoenix Force returning to earth and trying to take on Hope Summers as its latest host, putting Marvel’s two biggest hero teams on opposing sides. DC (to my knowledge) has announced no major event for 2012, but one may yet be coming. Or, maybe they’ll just keep the momentum from the “New 52″ going by pumping out more solid sales figures.

We want just want some good stories in 2012. Is that too much to ask?

7) TV networks: Mine more indie comics for your next great series.

The lesson of The Walking Dead is that indie comics rock. And they make tremendous TV shows. AMC learned this over the last year with a critically-acclaimed first season and an even better second.

So what’s next? Fox came very close to putting Locke & Key on TV earlier this year. Marvel is making big plans for a TV adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis’ Alias, which is being retitled AKA Jessica Jones for sister company ABC (via Disney). Bendis’ indie hit Powers is also in production for FX.

Can there ever be another Walking Dead? Absolutely! There are tons of great indie comics out there, just waiting for their chance at the spotlight. Cable networks in particular should start looking at some of the stellar stuff out there.

8) For crying out loud, open Pottermore already!

No more books. No more movies. We need something to fill the Harry Potter-shaped hole in our lives. It was supposed to have opened in October of this year, but developer Sony says they need more time to prepare because they “underestimated the fan interest.” Are you kidding me? How is that possible?

Pottermore is a brilliant idea. Not as good as a new book by J.K. Rowling, I’m just sayin’. But a great one, nonetheless. It’s conceived as an entire community built around the Potterverse, featuring the long-awaited novels-as-ebooks and never-before-seen additional information about the characters, objects, and locations of the series. There will be games, artwork, users get sorted into houses, and lots more.

So why isn’t it here yet! Come on, Sony. Chop chop.

A couple of weeks ago I interviewed Justin Gary of Gary Games — better known as one of the Magic Pro-Tour players who founded the highly addicting deck building game, Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer. In this interview he hinted of an iOS version of the first expansion, Return of the Fallen due soon. And “soon” really meant before the holidays. For USD $2.99 you can upgrade your version of Ascension and buy RotF as an in-app purchase for USD $2.99.

BUY ASCENSION: RETURN OF THE FALLEN (USD $2.99)

Return of the Fallen introduces a new expansion deck which can be incorporated into the main game or played separately, albeit for 2 players only since there are fewer cards in this version. RotF is an exact replica of its deck building equivalent, sans the setup. For those unfamiliar, you can read the core mechanic in our initial preview. The new set adds the “Fate” concept where cards in the center row will behave according to the way the Fate instructions dictate. In this version you also have more abilities to play with, such as Arha Sensei, an Enlightened Hero that allows you to banish starter cards for Mystics of Heavy Infantry directly into your hand.

To buy the expansion all you need to do is upgrade your version of Ascension to its latest version, which adds the in-app purchase option. Apart from the expansion, the latest version adds support for online and offline play record keeping, player profiles (previously was lacking and a definite improvement!) and the ability to play the game using any config of Ascension, as a solo set or with mixed cards.

The new expansion also adds a new soundtrack and effects (some of the Creature kill FX are disturbing!), a new gallery for the expansion set cards, and a brand new refreshing title screen. Ascension has not however, added a third level of difficulty for the AI, something that iOS players will notice as being un-checkable in the options.

Ascension won’t make it to the Top List of iOS apps in the App Store but I well assure you that this game is epic. The additional USD $2.99 you’re going to spend + the initial USD $4.99 for the core set (that’s if you haven’t bought it yet) are so worth your money!

Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies launch screen

Activision is bringing Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies to iPhone, iPod, and iPad tomorrow. And by all indications, it’s going to be a blast.

Kotaku brings the full intel, but here’s an abbreviated version. Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies is a brand new, highly polished app based on the Zombies mode from Call of Duty: Black Ops. It was adapted by Ideaworks Game Studio, who built it specifically for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. There are three difficulty settings, a slider for graphics performance (newer devices will support the full effect), and what sounds like a very slick presentation that uses comic book style menus. You can play solo or multiplayer with up to four players, and in an especially cool touch, it even supports voice chat. There’s also a full port of the popular Dead Ops Arcade top-down shooter from the console version of Black Ops, while the primary game utilizes the original game’s “Kino der Toten” map.

The game is expected to retail for $6.99 in the iTunes App Store, and Activision is promising to update it in the future with DLC and additional gaming maps — all for free.

There’s a new game out for iOS and it’s called Brawl. The game made it to my radar for two reasons — first because it was a free release and secondly, it was a card-based boxing game. I’m a huge fan of deck building games like Ascension, Dominion and 7 Wonders so albeit this one makes use of much simpler rules (yep it’s really simple), I find the genre of fast-paced card action rather interesting.

The game itself isn’t very deep. Two boxers fight their way to victory and punches are thrown through cards. The winner is determined by whoever landed the most punches. A game consists of two player cards (boxers) and each player draws from a shuffled deck of punches and blocks. You can throw punches to the head and torso, represented by locations on the top and bottom part of the player cards. You can stack blows until a player draws and places a block card which means you won’t be able to land any more punches in that area.

Punches and blocks come in different colors. You can only stack punches of the same color and block with the corresponding color of punches.

Depth is achieved when you can add a third stack (red cards) which lets you throw additional punches and blocks. The game ends when you can no longer land any more punches and the total number of points (i.e. punches landed) determine the winner.

Variety takes place with the choice of boxers. There are three boxers initially available with three more unlocked via in-app purchases (surprise!). The boxers are characterized by the number of certain cards in the decks. For instance, Hale comes with more hit cards in all colors but very few blocks. Chris on the other hand comes with a balance of hits and blocks.

The game may take a while to master but after the tutorial and first few play through, a game can last no more than 1 minute. You can challenge the AI or play online.

Brawl is free on iOS and can be downloaded for both the iPad and iPhone. [DOWNLOAD NOW]

Add them up on Facebook too.

Assassin's Creed Revelations screenshot

First of all, of course, there’s the flagship console series which has gone annual now with major new releases. Revelations, the fourth entry in the series, puts you in the shoes of Ezio Auditore one last time, concluding his story that began in Assassin’s Creed II with a “full circle” plot that takes him back to the stomping grounds of his ancestor, Altaïr.

Assassin's Creed Multiplayer Rearmed

A pair of iOS games are planned for the coming weeks: Assassin’s Creed: Multiplayer Rearmed, and the just-announced Assassin’s Creed Recollections. Rearmed is a top-down multiplayer fighting game fueled by in-app purchases (the game itself is a free download). It’s currently available for iPhone, but an iPad version is coming shortly. Not yet released is Recollections, which is described as a real-time board game for iPad that, based on the screenshots, appears to involve collecting cards that represent various characters. It’s a multiplayer game as well, and is expected to drop around the same time as Revelations.

Assassin's Creed Recollection

There’s Assassin’s Creed Embers, an animated short film that tells the last chapter of Ezio Auditore’s life (presumably from either before or after the events in Revelations). There are various ways you’ll be able to get to see this short, chief among them by pre-ordering the Signature Edition of Revelations from Gamestop — a purchase that will also get you an additional singleplayer mission, additional multiplayer content, weapon capacity upgrades, the game’s soundtrack by Jesper Kyd, and more.

There’s Path to Revelations, a scavenger hunting Facebook game that’s primarily intended to get you excited about the new game. Another Facebook feature lets you create a custom video that details your own fictional Assassin heritage.

Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia

There’s the Assassin’s Creed Encyclopedia, cataloging the vast AC universe, which will also be released sometime in November. The full-color, 256-page book sells for $35, and should help clarify many of the dangling questions you have about past games (without giving anything away about the future, of course) and all other corners of the universe.

I’m sure there’s more than this. There are comic books and novels, game guides, and some wicked cool swag, for example. But you get the idea. There’s never been a better time to be an Assassin’s Creed fan, and I’m excited to be one!

Many weeks ago we reviewed Bang! The Bullet. This app never made it to the top list of Apple apps for download but among a huge niche of board game geeks, Bang! is definite favorite.

Recently, Palzoun & SpinVector released a much needed update that not only incudes the Dodge City Expansion set, it also put in the much needed online multiplayer that players from around the world were clamoring for. Previously, Bang! only had pass on play for some semblance of multiplayer but this turned out to be rather tedious and impractical.

To sweeten the deal even further, the app now sells for only USD $3.99, a full dollar cheaper than when it went on sale earlier this year.

For those unfamiliar, Bang! is a spaghetti western game where each of you take the role of either a Renegade, Outlaw, Deputy or the Sheriff. Depending on your role you each have specific missions to accomplish: outlaws must kill the Sheriff, Deputies must protect the Sheriff, while the Renegade wins by being the last man standing. All identities, save the Sheriff are hidden from one another and you try to discover everyone’s roles by the different card actions you can do. Dodge City introduces green cards to the play deck. Green cards must be placed down as equipment cards but only have a one time use in the succeeding turn. That means that if you have green cards that allow you to shoot people, you can use these apart from your regular Bang! cards.

Online multiplayer is included in this update but it isn’t done through the Game Center — rather you need to create a Bang! account from an external website and sign in. Other than that small annoyance, the core multiplayer is fun.

Bang! also includes achievements to unlock during play. They’re really nothing new, but add to the “oh so I did that and got an achievement” discovery of the game. Sadly, no new characters are in the expansion — you will need to unlock them separately.

All in all, Bang! HD sweetens the deal by adding a complete expansion pack, achievements and online multiplayer and subtracts one dollar from the app. Those are more than enough reasons to get one of the best board games ever made.

Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer is by far one of my favorite card games. It’s right up there with 7 Wonders and Bang! Board Game Geek has awarded Ascension: CotG 3.5 stars out of 5 and the good news is that they full game is now available on iOS for a mere USD $4.99. The physical game costs USD $27.99.

Ascension: CotG is a deck building game for 2-4 players. The game was designed by a handful of Magic: The Gathering Pros and they wanted to build a fast-paced card game that didn’t rely on who had the better deck beforehand. Instead, players start off in equal footing and build the deck as they play. Winning entails computing the sum of Rune points acquired from creature kills and points from the types of cards you built your deck with during the game It’s good news to those that don’t want to spend a ton of money on booster packs and special cards as the core game is pretty much a standalone set good for 2-4 players already.

On to the iOS version. I can pretty much sum up the experience of CotG as quite similar to playing the actual card game. The UI is very well thought through with each card having a zoom in function anytime during a game session is ongoing. As the screen of your iOS device is limited, the board allows you to touch areas of the screen to pull out your summoned Constructs, view the Void and discard deck (you can hold and drag to see everything scroll by!) as well as see summaries of other player decks such as the number of constructs in play, number of Runes acquired and so on.

The game features both offline and online play. You can hold several offline games simultaneously as well as queue up in gaming lobbies for multiple games to see which one you can get into first. Because CotG is fast-paced by nature, wait times are never annoying.

Bottomline
Ascension: CotG is a definite MUST HAVE for the iOS. If you’ve never heard of the game till this review, you STILL should pick it up and I guarantee you that this will be one of the most played games on your iPad or iPhone.

[Download Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer]

Meet George. George is made of LEGO bricks, and lives an interesting life (which you can follow on Facebook) for a little toy guy. He’s also the central character of an intriguing new game from LEGO called Life of George, which marries physical brick building with a digital game on Apple iOS devices.

When you buy LEGO Life of George (it will retail for $29.99), you get a special gridded play mat and a kit of 144 LEGO bricks. Pair this package with a free iOS app, and you’ve got one of the most unique uses of augmented reality yet. Here’s how it works.

LEGO Life of George

The iOS app shows you a LEGO creation that can be built with the bricks included in your kit. Then it starts a countdown timer, and you have until it reaches zero to build what you see on the screen. Once you’re finished, place your creation on the play mat and use your iPhone or iPad’s built-in camera to take a picture. The app works with the grid on the mat thanks to a patent-pending “brick recognition software” to see if you succeeded. You get points based on how accurate your creation is and how quickly you assembled it. Two players can pass the iDevice back and forth to take turns, and the player with the best score wins.

There are 12 levels to play through comprised of 10 LEGO models each, with two game modes (novice and expert) to challenge players. The game is built around George’s adventures, and the LEGO creations players are challenged to build are based on items seen in George’s photo album.

The game also comes with a creation mode where you can design and build your own LEGO models, and then capture it to add it to the app’s virtual scrapbook.

LEGO Life of George will be available to buy exclusively in LEGO Retail Stores and at shop.lego.com beginning Saturday, October 1st.

LEGO Life of George

LEGO Life of George

LEGO Life of George

Fun to play and easy to learn, don’t let Hero’s Way make you too confident with your party management skills!

Price: Free
Platform: iOS
Download Link: [Download Now]

A defense game with a twist — Hero’s Way is a side scrolling action game that allows you to indirectly control three types of heroes specializing in different forms of attack. Choosing from a combination of the strong burly warrior, the mid-range spell caster and the long range archer, you can mix and match combinations so that each adventure is different. Thus far it may seem that the best party combinations would be to have two warriors for damage and meat shields and one long ranged archer that can attack flying creatures. Heck, we even tried re-rolling three warriors and the party management seemed to play even better.

All your troops attack automatically, which means that the only way to control them would be to pick them up and position them in various places in the map, helping them evade attacks and positioning them in between enemies for maximum damage. Enemy behaviors help you take advantage of the drag and drop automated battle system of the game — from choosing where to place your heroes when the werewolf charges from left to right, or choosing where to fling your party as they dodge slow moving arrows.

Each time you die, you can choose to immediately resurrect your hero by paying a penalty fee of 100 gold. Gold is extremely important if you want to get anywhere as the chests you collect need at least 200 gold to unlock. The amount of gold needed to unlock a chest increases as you progress. Most of the time it doesn’t seem practical to open chests as the bonus items rarely outweigh the ones you can buy at the shop. In fact this **problem** becomes the greatest challenge in Hero’s Way — not having enough money to unlock all the chests you want, which is why the devs have included an in-app purchase system for micro-transactions. And that’s your business model right there. Gold coins are needed for bringing fallen heroes back to battle, upgrading different aspects of each character type, and so on.

The game is oddly simple but overly entertaining for its class and it’s definitely one of the must have downloads for your iPhone / iPad.

Fans of the Evil Dead franchise may have heard of a remake of the 1981 cult classic. It’s the one franchise that made Bruce Campbell famous playing the chainsaw armed Ash and Sam Raimi as director (unfortunately he went on to direct other things like the flop that was Spider Man). So it has come to this: one of the defining pillars of geekdom is being remade after 30 years. Think about it, geeks: Army of Darkness is really just as old as the NASA Space Shuttle Program.

So, while we wait for the remake of Ash’s time warp into the medieval era, it might not be a coincidence that the Evil Dead franchise has subcontracted game developers to build two iOS games for both the iPad and iPhone. As to whether the game was initiated by .. err .. MGM or the devs, I have no idea.

Army of Darkness Defense

I’ve already reviewed this in a previous post. It’s one of those games that you WON”T end up deleting after letting it tease you for 5 minutes. This is one of my iPad staples.

When I first reviewed the app, I had just acquired archer support. Now, I’m well into my 40′s and have unlocked the hero, Arthur. Army of Darkness Defense is pretty straightforward — you run back and forth killing Deadites and you can get a level done in less than 5 minutes. That’s pretty much how we roll.

Download here (STILL FREE)

Now if you’re looking for a little bit more RPG, you might want to consider Evil Dead, the mother franchise of Army of Darkness.

The Evil Dead HD

Updated recently, Evil Dead is a top down action shooter that’s got more story in it that AoD. You basically re-enact the movie starring Bruce Campbell from a not-so-quite bird’s eye view. The premise is pretty simple: in each level, you have to guide Ash through pathways to reach a certain objective while picking up weapons and mowing down enemies.

It’s a dungeon crawler, ladies and gents, with controls that are a bit off and well … the game really doesn’t feel as polished as AoD. Remember playing an old retro favorite called Alone in the Dark? Well that’s how the 3D polygons look like. It’s a tad disappointing as aiming my boom stick is pretty screwed up and I can plow through my ammo without actually hitting anything.

Download here (STILL FREE)

All in all, if you’re a huge fan of the Evil Dead series, both these games are worth getting — simply because they’re FREE for a limited time only. AoD trumps Evil Dead but Deadites are Deadites and if mowing them down with your chainsaw is something you fancy, then by all means grab both!

You can’t possibly question it. Army of Darkness was one of my favorite cult classics. So when we discovered that Army of Darkness Defense was available on FREE TO DOWNLOAD for a limited time (as of this writing it still is!), there was no question about it: It was my turn to defend the Necronomicon.

You star as Bruce Campbell’s most memorable B film character — the time traveling Ash — department store salesman brought back to a medieval age to help the humans defend their castle against the evil Deadite constructs. The Army of Darkness franchise is very much alive making its first crossover in Marvel Comics. This time, it’s Backflip Studio’s turn to churn out a game.

Army of Darkness Defense is a side scrolling defense game. The objective is simple: defend the Necronomicon (a powerful book that can help bring back Ash to the present time) from the Deadites that push their way forward into the castle gates. You play Ash and automatically fire your boom stick when near an enemy. At melee range you use your fists (upgradable to the chainsaw) to push back enemies. You also have the ability to summon help from the castle’s guards through the blacksmith and the power to harness magical and support abilities such as the Wrong Book and the Deathcoaster.

The in game references in Army of Darkness are spot on. Backflip Studios were huge fans, to be sure. This is the scene of the Wrong Book.

As you progress through wave after wave (50 in total), you gain the ability to upgrade and unlock more units. The strategy is deeply involving albeit repetitive after about halfway into the game but considering that the game is free with heartfelt production value, you will forgive some of the repetitiveness.

Backflip Studios did an amazing job with the soundtrack and voice overs, putting in all of the famous quotes (“This is my BOOMSTICK!”) from Ash and the Deadites.

Bottomline
Army of Darkness Defense is 100% worth it. Not just because the game is well-made but simply because it’s also free to download from the iTunes Store. You can’t get a better deal than this!

Download Now (opens iTunes Link)

The virtual window has long been a staple of science fiction. According to movies, TV, and novels, in the future we will forego glass portals to the outside world in favor of flatscreen displays that show us any vista we choose. Does your bedroom window offer you a view of your neighbor’s brick wall? No problem — with a virtual window, you can look “out” at anything you want, like maybe the Pyramids of Egypt or Niagara Falls.

Clever designer John Leung has figured out a way to make the virtual window a reality, and without breaking the bank. He postulates that if you network four iPad 2s, you’ll have a decent-sized display with the illusion of criss-crossing frames. He further suggests that the iPad 2‘s front-facing camera and crazy fast processing power can take things to the next level, tracking your position and adjusting the view accordingly.

Just like looking out a real window as you walk past it, the view through Leung’s iPad Window would shift as you change your orientation to it. You could even control the window with your iPhone.

Here’s a video that shows the concept in action.

Even though it’s just a concept for now, it looks pretty nifty, don’t you think?

Lest you have any lingering doubt that Apple’s iOS is a gaming platform to be reckoned with, today’s events hammered the idea home.

The iPad 2, just unveiled today by His Steveness, features a graphics processing that’s nine times the speed of the original iPad. That’s some monstrous horsepower, particularly for a device that was already more powerful than all other handheld gaming devices. And don’t forget, the iPad has a bigger screen than any other handheld console, so the fact that it’s now going to be able to power high-def games at 9x the original’s speed, on all that screen real estate, is incredibly impressive.

The iPad 2 also has video cameras facing front and back, FaceTime video chat, and a significantly thinner, lighter frame. Just like the iPhone 4, the new iPad has a gyroscope, and there’s a new version of iOS coming with it — version 4.3. It comes in two colors — black and white.

Curiously, despite all that extra processing power, Apple didn’t up the iPad’s storage capacity at all. The iPad 2 comes in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models, just like its predecessor. You’d think gamers in particular would crave more space to store downloaded games.

Not a single game was mentioned in the Apple keynote this morning, but did you happen to notice where the Apple keynote took place? It was held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and would you look at that? The Yerba Buena Center is right across the street from the Moscone Convention Center, where the annual Game Developer’s Conference is taking place all this week.

But it gets better: Apple’s iPad 2 keynote this morning took place at the exact same time as Nintendo‘s GDC keynote about its new handheld gaming device, the 3DS. So much for subtlety, Apple!

And what was Nintendo’s big keynote news? That a new Super Mario Galaxy game is coming to the 3DS (good stuff), and that streaming Netflix movies will be available on the 3DS (meh). The company also took some potshots at game “apps” and their “quantity over quality” approach to sales.

Nintendo’s new handheld launches on March 27th.

Apple’s iPad 2, meanwhile, beats them to the punch by hitting stores two weeks earlier, on March 11th.

Apple has declared war on the handheld gaming marketplace. Don’t let anybody tell you differently.

I know what you’re thinking. This must be some official piece of Toy Story 3 artwork, from Pixar and Disney, right?

Wrong.

Even harder to believe is that it was drawn entirely by hand on an iPad, using an $8 app called Brushes. Granted, it was done by artist extraordinaire Kyle Lambert, who specializes in artwork made using an iPad. But it’s just too good.

I wouldn’t believe it myself if not for this video, showing his Lambert’s process (at high speed) from on-screen sketch to finished product.

Amazing, right? (And I bet it’s Steve Jobs’ favorite video ever. Talk about corporate synergy.) Head over this way to see more of Lambert’s work.

Minecraft‘s publisher, a Swedish company called Mojang, says that they’re working on a version of the game for Apple’s iOS platform, which will officially bring Minecraft to iPhone and iPad.

Unofficial iOS versions have been created by clever fans, but none of them offer an experience as complete as the PC/browser version. Mojang told Gamasutra that one member of their team, Aron Neiminen, is currently working exclusively on porting the game to iOS, with an iTunes release targeted for later this year. This couldn’t have been a hard decision for the fledgling compay; a touchscreen operating system seems like a natural fit for the indie game sensation.

Mojang says that the iOS version of Minecraft won’t get every single update that the original version gets, but it will get those features that make the most sense for iPhones and iPads. Being able to Mine on the go will no doubt add legions of new fans for the game — especially if Mojang prices it competitively.

Do you love your iOS device(s)?  Have you longed for the ability to control a robot tank with your device?  If you answered yes to the aforementioned questions, then your dreams will soon become true.

For iOS device owners Desk Pets has created the TankBot, small, robotic, tank which can be controlled using any iOS device can be yours for only $20.

To control the miniature tank robot, simply connect the accompanying dongle into one’s iOS device headphone jack and that’s it!  TankBot will be instantly under the control of you and your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

The features of Tankbot include:

• Use of Apple’s accelerometer technology allowing one to control the device with a tilt of one’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
• TankBot’s autonomous mode uses infrared sensors to navigate mazes, avoid obstacles, and react with military precision
• A free roaming mode with tank sounds
• A retractable USB charger built into body of the product, 30 minutes of charge = 15 minutes of play
• A flashing heartbeat eyes pulse when robot is at idle
• Each color (orange, blue, black, and green) operates on own frequency, allowing for multiplayer racing and battling

Desk Pets’ TankBot will make its first appearance in public at New York City’s Toy Fair which runs February 13-16.  Unfortunately for those wanting one of the devices, TankBots will not be available for purchase until June.

When the TankBot is made available, is the device something you will purchase for yourself or as gift for another?

The top free app in the iTunes App Store does not belong to “Fruit Ninja Lite,” “Cut the Rope,” or even an offering from “Angry Birds.”  No, the top spot is held by a game released December 29, 2010, Bubble Ball.

What’s the big deal with Bubble Ball’s ascendancy to number one?  It’s not so much that the game is extremely enjoyable, it is.  No, the important thing to note about Bubble Ball is that it was created by an eighth grade student,14-year-old Robert Nay, from Spanish Fork, Utah, and his mother Kari.

How popular is the app?  Bubble Ball has  been downloaded 1.5 million times on iOS devices, and also has an Android version.

Nay created the app using the Corona SDK from Ansca Mobile, which allows for creation of visually-appealing apps for Android and iOS devices.  The free version of Corona offers users the ability to create apps with advanced features such as effects involving physics, with the $349 version of the SDK letting one publish the app to the Apple App Store.

The 14-year-old Nay learned Lua, Corona’s programming language, allowing him to create a game in a more simple manner than what he could have accomplished using Objective-C, the language used by many iPhone games.

Bubble Ball’s programming and graphic design was completed by Nay, which Nay’s mother assisting him with designing game levels.

Game play involves trying to get a ball to roll from one part of the screen to another by manipulating objects such as a stick or a triangle.  Quite simplistic and very fun.

Have you played, or know others who play, Bubble Ball?  What, if anything, surprises you about Bubble Ball claiming the top spot in the iTunes App Store?

Angry Birds is a tremendously fun game.  Those with an iPhone, iPad, Android device, or Mac, are no doubt aware of its addictive nature.  Thanks to Mattel, the wildly popular game seeks to make the jump from electronic devices to a board game, allowing one to play the game with physical birds, pigs and other pieces that make up Angry Birds scenery.

The iOS versions of Angry Birds have either topped or been near the top of the App Store’s “Paid Apps” charts for what seems like eons now.  Currently, the iPhone version holds the top spot, the iPad version is in second place, and in the newly launched Mac App Store, Angry Birds comes in at number one.

The numbers don’t lie.  The game is extremely enjoyable and extremely addictive.

Now comes word that Rovio, creators of Angry Birds, has partnered with Mattel to create a $15 game, arriving in May 2011, which lets fans play Angry Birds in real life.

To play the game, one selects a card and constructs the structure pictured on the card.  Opponents use the catapult from the game to shoot plastic birds at your structure with points awarded for knocking your structure down.

The game, as the video below indicates, looks as fun as the electronic version.  Moreover, it is a more social way of playing Angry Birds.  Now friends and family can all take part in the joy that is Angry Birds in a pleasing bird-firing, block-busting, manner.

Are you an Angry Birds player and fan?  What device(s) do you play the game on and will you purchase the Mattel game when it launches?

Remember that awesome Xbox Live Arcade game from last summer called Shadow Complex? It was a fantastic shooter that all but redefined the concept of side-scrolling. I was fortunate enough to be given an early preview of the game at Comic-Con last year, and then the good folks at Chair Entertainment, who built the game, even comped me with a review code to download the game. Sadly, the blog I was writing for went under shortly thereafter, and I never got to write my review of Shadow Complex. But it would have been glowing, I tell you. It was one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I had all year long.

Chair Entertainment, via their distributor, Epic Games (the folks behind Unreal and Gears of War), has announced that its next game is moving to an entirely new platform: iOS. Dubbed Infinity Blade, Apple’s first Unreal-powered iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch is a first-person shooter/role-playing game hybrid. Apple fans got their first glimpse of the game back at the iOS 4 keynote address, where Steve Jobs & Co. unveiled a little look at Unreal running on the multitouch mobile platform. And I think pretty much everyone was taken aback by how great the engine looked, how smoothly it flowed, and how easy it was to manipulate and control.

Chair’s first details about Infinity Blade state that it’s essentially a sword-fighting game, where you are genuinely in control of your sword and how it is maneuvered by the main character. You’ll be able to lunge, parry, block, and all those other fancy sword-fighting moves, all with simple swipe controls. Like Shadow Complex, there will be tons of exploration available in the game’s castles-and-dungeons fantasy realm, where helpful items like potions and gear can be found. And as you can see from these screenshots, the game looks absolutely incredible. I wouldn’t have thought it possible to run an FPS on iOS with that many polygons and high-res textures.

Infinity Blade will also be supported with lots of post-release content that Chair is planning on releasing on a regular basis, entirely for free. The game is expected to be available to purchase (at a yet-to-be-determined price) this holiday season.

Follow @FGgamer on Twitter for the latest gaming news.

Some months ago some guru decided it was time to bombard the world with a new piece of hardware and make our bank account a little lighter. Much lighter. We had to do it, especially Mactards fanboys that we be… but I didn’t.
I was tempted and almost raving about the new device and without having held it in my hands I wrote a glorified review 7 Reasons Why Bloggers Should Buy An iPad.

But I didn’t.

Now times have changed and I’m ready to splurge the cash. Not because I want another dust catcher on my coffee table or a portable device which does not fit in any pair of khakis I own, but because I *need one*.
Yes, you read that right, I am among the few ones who do *need* an iPad. Not because of any impairment or because I have this burning desire to splash money but because we are soon going to release an iPad application for an upcoming project and might even plan a Splashpress Media application. The doubts persist though and I fail to decide and order my share of magicness.

I Need Your Help

So for once I am going to rely on the voice of the masses and ask you to convince me to send more money to Stevo. First though there’s some things you might want to know, mainly about how I use mobility.

I often am on the road and almost always carry my 13″ MacBook with me. It’s the perfect size for me and justifies to carry a daypack with me. Also when at home, I am always online and no matter where, my MB seems to accompany like a little me dog.
The main thing what sold me on my MacBook was its size and the high quality screen. It’s just perfect

Now, I can see advantages in having an iPad. Of course there are the apps we want to release and testing an app without touch does not bring the complete experience. There’s the lighter device, and probably most brilliant remote control for the Mac Mini HTPC. Lastly there’s the option to use the iPad as a second ‘computer’ and as PIM next to the MacBook. To waste time on social networks and Twitter but mainly to check email and the calendar/schedule.

I’m not sure though this justifies the rather heavy expense of €600, which is what the 16GB iPad costs in my neck of the woods. But that would of course not be the only expense: there’s the almost obligatory case, the the best iPad case, probably a keyboard and dock and last but not least the cost to get a US IP so I can watch Hulu Plus on the ‘Pad, albeit not in Web 720p quality. Luckily there’s thousands of quality free iPad apps available.

Please help me and let me know how you would decide: pro or contra the iPad. iPad or a rocking amplifier with subwoofer glueing me to the wall when watching Iron Man 2?

One of my greatest childhood frustrations was the Etch a Sketch. No matter how hard I tried, I never was able to create a cool design or picture with the thing, and it drove me nuts. Eventually, I hucked it across the room in frustration and stormed off. Inevitably, a week or so later I’d go and pick it up and try again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

But this is legitimately cool. It’s an official Etch A Sketch iPad Case, and better yet, it’s cheap. $39, which is cheaper than most iPad cases out there today, and it also doubles as a hiding box for your iPad, because really, who’s going to jack your Etch A Sketch?

I am completely mesmerized by this. Steve Jobs take note: this might be the most ingenious use of an iPad yet.

A group of filmmakers made this nifty little film to explore three-dimensional typography. They use a proprietary program to show shapes on the iPad’s screen, and then drag those screens through a space that’s being filmed using long exposure. The result is what appears to be 3D words and objects that float and move through air. It’s so cool, it makes me wish I had their iPad app and a long-exposure camera so I could make a film of my own!

The film is part of an science/art project called Making Future Magic. Note that there’s a brief introduction to the film at the start of this video, so give it about a minute and a half before the actual film starts.

If the iPad had existed in the 80s, maybe this is how Survivor would have recorded its hit song “Eye of the Tiger.” This techno trio recorded the classic song using only the iPad apps Real Drums, Pro Keys, Baby Scratch, and Guitar Mania.

Watch the video and observe the awesome.

I have a very strict morning routine. 6:00 am hits the clock and I pivot out of the bed to my right, put my feet on the floor, and grab my iPhone with my right hand. Once I disconnect it from the wall, I go through my ritual: e-mail, Facebook, Twitter. Then I get up, feed the dogs, and I go on about my day.

Since I got my iPhone 4, I’ve noticed that Twitter loads slower from my iPhone. I’m not sure if it’s the official Twitter app or the iPhone itself, but it’s irritating. When it comes time to load up a pic or two, it seems to take forever, which makes me frustrated. Not a good way to start your day.

In college, we had to dissect a baby pig. The smell was so strong that to this day the scent of cold ham turns my stomach.

Too bad we didn’t have this. From the Media Lab of Emantras comes Virtual Frog, an iPad app that allows you to dissect a frog virtually but very realistically. It’s all of the anatomy lesson with none of the gross touching or smelling.

Emantras recommends using Virtual Frog as a practice run before you do an actual dissection, or as a replacement for the real thing. The app comes with virtual pins, scalpel, marker, and forceps, to make your virtual dissection as real as possible. The big draw here is the 3D frog anatomy, which you can manipulate in real time after extraction. Swipe the iPad screen to turn an organ and examine every last detail of the thing.

Virtual Frog will cost you $5 in the App Store. (I have an image in my head of a marketing campaign for this similar to chicken chain Chick-fil-A’s cows and their “Eat Mor Chikin” signs. Hmm, what would the frogs say, though? Something about “keep your scalpel to yourself” or “cut my skin and I’ll give you warts”? Got any good ones?)

Be sure to watch the video below to see it in action.