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All the way back in the middle of December of last year we first got our hands on EA's Mirror's Edge [$4.99] for the iPhone, but it came without any solid release date. Mirror's Edge then disappeared until the iPad launch when Mirror's Edge for iPad [$9.99] popped up once again. Back then, we figured the iPhone release was immanent, but once again, it never came. Tonight is finally the night, and after spending quite a bit of time with the game today, it seems remarkably similar to the iPad version, downsized to the iPhone. In fact, it's so similar to our preview from last year that everything I said back then is still relevant.

The world of Mirror's Edge is set in the future, where a totalitarian regime is in power and an underground resistance powered by runners move information around on foot to avoid to watchful eye of the government which have implemented intense levels of surveillance across all communication mediums. You play as Faith, one of these runners.

The game is controlled using very simple swiping gestures that all feel very natural. Swiping right or left makes you run in that direction, swiping up makes you jump, and swiping down makes you slide. When you run across opposition, you can also use similar gestures to take them out with a variety of moves such as sweeping their legs out from under them or jump kicking them. There are many other interactions with different obstacles you come across, like jumping off spring boards, sliding down zip lines, and wall-running across billboards.

All of these things can be seen in the following gameplay video:

If you are like me and enjoyed the idea behind the console version of Mirror's Edge, but didn't really like the first person viewpoint and all the issues that caused in a platforming environment, you will love the iPhone version of the game. All of the visibility problems are gone thanks to the 3rd person view, and the game as a whole has been transformed in to a fun reaction game instead of an often frustrating and sometimes motion-sickness inducing first person experience.

New additions to Mirror's Edge since last year include new leaderboards that track your time through every level along with a whole heap of achievements to soak up and artwork to unlock. The whole game is optimized for the Retina Display of the iPhone 4, and looks really great in motion. This doesn't mean it won't run well on older devices, as forum members are reporting that Mirror's Edge even runs just fine on the first generation iPod touch.

Mirror's Edge is an effortless recommendation, and while I'm not sure waiting all this time has made the game any better, I'm glad it's finally here. Sure, there have been tons of running games in the past year but Mirror's Edge still is able to stand on its own, even after all this time. Playing through the game is a really cool experience, the controls work well, and just like the iPad game EA did a fantastic job of nailing the look and feel of the Mirror's Edge universe.

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We are mere hours away from Apple's latest media event held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, CA. Few people know for certain what will be discussed today, but the rumor mill is on fire with what could be a potentially redesigned iPod Nano or iPod Shuffle as well as the somewhat inevitable iPod touch refresh. Photos of leaked front panels of what could be the new iPod touch have been floating around the Internet for quite some time now, and it appears that this year could potentially be the year that the iPod touch finally gets a camera– Maybe even a front facing camera to place FaceTime calls. Other rumors have been circulating including potential enhancements to the Apple TV and even revamping the pricing structure for some content on iTunes such as 99¢ rentals for episodes of TV shows.

Yesterday they announced that they will be streaming this event live:

Apple will broadcast its September 1 event online using Apple's industry-leading HTTP Live Streaming, which is based on open standards. Viewing requires either a Mac running Safari on Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard, an iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 3.0 or higher, or an iPad. The live broadcast will begin at 10:00 a.m. PDT on September 1, 2010 at www.apple.com.

If you don't have a Mac, iPhone, or iPod touch to watch the event on, there is a guide on MacRumors to watch the stream using VLC on a PC. Of course like all Apple keynotes we will be providing live coverage of things from the keynote that pertain to gaming, and we will be on site after the event to hopefully get some hands-on time with whatever new products are available.

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Developer MadFinger Games has just announced a followup to the popular hack 'n slash title Samurai: Way of the Warrior. We reviewed the game when it was released in September of last year and found it to be an incredibly stylish (and incredibly difficult) action game with intuitive swipe controls. With plenty of awards and high review marks from around the web, as well as three quarter of a million copies downloaded, a sequel to Samurai seems like a no-brainer.

Yesterday MadFinger started a thread in our upcoming games forum to dish out some new info and screens from the upcoming sequel, titled Samurai II: Vengeance. Here is the info straight from the developer, along with some work-in-progress screens from the iPad version (click for full size):

Samurai II: Vengeance boasts twice the gameplay of the first release and features larger levels

many new combo attacks and violent deaths

Samurai II also supports a virtual joystick for fans uncomfortable with the gesture control scheme.

Realistic violent battle sequences, more enemies equipped with new weapons including Samurai Musketeer or Archer, and epic battles with unique Bosses.

Improved gameplay and new features: solve puzzles, avoid dangerous traps, use discovered objects, and more.

Daisuke Shimada returns on a mission to avenge Kasumi's death. Follow his story through unique comic storytelling!

Samurai II also enhances its gameplay through new survival modes.

Samurai II is developed on the award-winning Unity 3D 3.0 engine supporting the latest technology.

Original soundtrack.

Samurai II: Vengeance is slated to be released this September for 2^nd and 3^rd generation iPod touch, iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 4, and iPad. If this is the first you've heard of the Samurai series, you can check out the original Samurai: Way of the Warrior for your iPhone or iPad in anticipation of this upcoming sequel.

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GodziLAB, of iBlast Moki fame, have taken an entirely new direction with their newest App Store venture, sizing up the portable online scene for a monster slam dunk. Star Dunk [App Store] is a frantically paced, competitive basketball shoot-out, where your task is to score more points than your adversaries in a free throw competition. Graphics are reminiscent of Geometry Wars; a stellar backdrop complete with a light show of shader effects for power-ups and ball handling– all running at a silky smooth 60 FPS on 3rd Gen iOS devices and up.

When playing Star Dunk, you first choose whether you wish to play online or offline. Either way you are immediately launched into a timed match where your objective is to carefully aim the ball's trajectory by swiping upwards with your finger. After each shot, the location of your next shot is reset to somewhere new. The key to obtaining bonus' and power-ups are through the backboard. When all four panels on the backboard are hit, they'll randomly select a bonus that applies for a limited time. Bonus' include score multipliers, larger rings and multi-balls.

To obtain the really big multipliers however, you'll need to hit a swish– nothing but net, and that's not easy. Consecutive 'extra clean shots' really ramp up your score, and are key to victory. Star Dunk also features a number of balls to unlock, all with different properties such as speed, bounciness and size. Some of the rarer unlocks have additional properties that add to the score multiplier in certain instances, and can be used to propel your score even higher. These help personalize the gameplay a bit, and add to the game's longevity as some of the more powerful balls take a considerable amount of effort (and sheer luck) to unlock their related achievement.

One other notable feature that we really liked about Star Dunk was how it handles its online match-making. If you choose to play online from the start screen you are thrown into a practice match, and a counter begins to the next online contest. The contest then begins seamlessly, synchronously matching each player against each other in a contest against the clock. Individual scores are then displayed in a ladder once the time is up. There are no lobbies to worry about and no visible connection screens. It was the smoothest integration of online gameplay we have seen, even over 3G. The downside to this seamlessness is that we were unable to directly play against friends, though the game's description alludes to the possibility.

There are other small touches that show the efforts Godzilab have gone to, to make Star Dunk stand out as an online game. Though you can't see your player's actions during a match-up, the Earth in the background will occasionally rotate to find just where your opponent is, neatly displaying their current score and position along side it. An arrow indicator on the top right of the screen also shows how you're faring in the contest; whether you are raising in rank, declining or stagnant compared to your competition.

These touches help make Star Dunk something more than just the simple basket shooter. The competitive nature of the game gives extra incentive to unlock the gamut of Plus+ achievements and their rewards, and the global ranking system constantly updates you on your progress compared to the rest of the world. What we would have liked to see is a way to compete against friends directly (and if it is possible, a more apparent way to do so) and a more detailed explanation of scoring that the current tutorial doesn't offer. In any case, Star Dunk is an entertaining take on a popular sport that should have the competitive types champing at the bit for a long time to come.

Note: The developers have reported that there is a bug resulting in crashes on OS 3.0 and 3.1. An update is already in submission to Apple to address these issues.

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As we reported yesterday, TAITO has been readying an update to their excellent retro rebirth shooter Space Invaders Infinity Gene. If this prospect had you excited to breathe some new life into one of the finest shooters available for the iPhone, then you should be pleased to know that the 3.0 update has already gone live on the App Store. It adds some new content for free with the more enticing stuff being available as downloadable content.

The update includes a couple of new features for all previous owners of the game. A new ship called the Option ship will unlock in the usual manner of filling up your evolution bar through play. The other new feature is the ability to rotate the device sideways and play Infinity Gene like a side-scrolling shooter. Your ship is shown from a side view in this orientation and the enemies are rotated 90º so they look appropriate to the ground. The device can be rotated to this view easily at any time while playing, although it only rotates in one direction and not every level allows for this feature. It doesn't necessarily impact the gameplay too much, but it's a fun novelty.

Far more interesting is the addition of 3 new ships available as DLC that are based on previous arcade shooters. There's the Darius inspired ship Silver Hawk, a Night Striker ship named Inter Gray, and a Metal Black ship named Black Fly. Each one has unique attacks and abilities, and fits in well with the other ships that were previously in the game. Along with each DLC ship pack you'll get two brand new stages that are also inspired from each of their respective arcade classics, with new boss fights and retro music rather than the normal techno heavy soundtrack. As an added bonus, by purchasing just one of the DLC packs you'll receive an additional new ship called the Boomerang, and if you purchase all three packs you'll get yet another new ship called the R-Gray2, which seems to be modeled after the ship from R-Type.

All together this new update adds some really cool content, but at $1.99 per DLC pack I'm not too sure how many people will be interested. Personally I always thought Space Invaders Infinity Gene was underpriced at $5 to begin with, since it really is such a stellar experience, and so have no problem throwing even more money at TAITO for their efforts. Others simply won't feel the same, and I understand that. At the very least this 3.0 update does offer some new stuff to players completely for free, and you can always choose to stagger the purchasing of the DLC over time, so either way we definitely recommend downloading this latest update.

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Today is the day that all the wonderful things we heard about during the WWDC keynote regarding the future of the iPhone OS, now officially dubbed iOS 4, are available to everyone. This update is completely free, and only requires you to plug your device in to the computer you usually sync with then waiting for it to download and install in iTunes. There are over 100 new features in iOS 4 according to Apple, but so far my favorite two are folders and multitasking.

With folders, you can now have up to 2160 apps on your device, and multitasking now allows for apps like Pandora Radio [Free] to continue playing in the background. For a listing of the other features, take a peek at the Apple iOS 4 Software Update page.

One unfortunate thing to come out of this update is that first generation iPhone and iPod touch users are being left in the dust. If you have an older device, you will be stuck in 3.0 land, and only the third generation iPod touch, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4 are capable of multitasking.

Before updating your device make sure you not only do one full sync to back it up, but you also check and make sure there aren't any issues reported with your favorite games running on iOS4. For instance, ngmoco just tweeted warning players of Eliminate [Free] and Touch Pets Dogs [Free] of potential performance issues while playing the game on iOS 4.

I've yet to encounter any serious issues in the games I regularly play, and many games and apps have had recent updates that have added iOS 4 compatibility. This is just something you should potentially be aware of before mashing that check for updates button in iTunes.

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In the wake of the free to play movement on the App Store, Ubisoft has recently released an iPad client for their free browser game, Might & Magic Heroes Kingdoms. Currently only available in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, Might & Magic Heroes Kingdoms puts players to the task of managing their kingdom, bossing around their heroes, and do the typical MMO-style resource gathering and management by capturing mines.

After your kingdom is booming, you'll be able to wage battles which Ubisoft is describing as "epic" with other players by creating or joining alliances to conquer new territory in attempt to control the entire in-game world of Ashan.

If you're an iPad owner in Germany, France, or the UK, give the free iPad client a spin and see what you think. Since it is free to download, if you're outside of those three countries and you really want to get a jump on the game before it hits the US App Store, it shouldn't be too hard to create an international account to snag the game.

United Kingdom App Store Link: Might & Magic Heroes Kingdoms, Free

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Back in the early '90s when I was in college, with some sorrow, I replaced my lovely Amiga 2000 with a Mac LC in order to crank out higher quality print documents for my classwork. And, in that capacity, it excelled. Sadly, as the weakest color Macintosh one could buy, it was not much of a game machine — not that there were that many Mac games out there to play, anyhow. One game, however, was huge fun and played rather well even on the meager LC. It eased my pain at having to part with the veritable gaming powerhouse that was the Amiga. The game I speak of is Spectre, and it actually made that little LC feel like a proper game machine.

Spectre is a 3D, filled-vector tank battle game something akin to Battlezone. The simple objective was to drive your tank around various obstacle-filled battlefields collecting flags and dodging the fire of AI enemy vehicles. The game also supported local multiplayer over the Mac's integrated AppleTalk networking hardware. It was followed by Spectre VR, an overall enhanced, network-centric title. Both versions were highly rated at the time and were awesome to play on the Mac's relatively high resolution, color display.

As a lover of that 1991 title — pretty much the only game I played on that Mac — you can imagine my thrill when Spectre 3D [link] made its debut in the App Store. And the iPhone release is not just a port of Spectre; the game includes iPhone versions of both Spectre and Spectre VR, including four different multiplayer games. It's pretty much an old Spectre jockey's dream come true.

Let's start with the single player scenarios. Both Spectre and Spectre VR are pretty much straight conversions of the Mac originals, although on the iPhone they play glass-smooth thanks to the device's processor and graphics hardware, both of which are far more powerful than that found on even the very highest end Mac systems of the day. (There's even anaglyph 3D — red / blue glasses –support.) You move from battlefield to battlefield, collecting flags and power-ups and blasting enemies using one of three different view modes: first person, over-the-shoulder, and 2D top-down. Direction and weapons are controlled via touch; steering is accomplished via either an analog virtual stick (default) or a digital control square in the lower-left corner of the screen while weapons and jump are controller by virtual buttons at the lower-right. The controls, analog in particular, are responsive and work quite well. It's simple but a lot of fun, especially for those who remember the days of 68020 and 68030 Macs.

Things really get interesting in the multiplayer modes, however. As I mentioned, there are four multiplayer games: Arena, Capture the Flag, Flag Rally, and Base Raid. Up to four players can compete locally via Bluetooth and up to 16 players can get in on the fun over the Internet or local WiFi. The game has just hit the App Store and, as such, there are not that many players online — no surprise. But I was happy to see that most of the game servers available feature AI bots that offer up a rather solid online game experience. The action gets downright frantic. It's Spectre as I never saw it back in '91 — pretty "white knuckle," really.

As I said earlier, Spectre 3D is an absolute instant buy for anyone who enjoyed the title back in the day. And, while it doesn't steal the crown from Vector Tanks Extreme for the ultimate iPhone Battlezone experience, Spectre 3D has multiplayer support going for it, and is a good deal of fun. I hope to see kill you online sometime soon.

App Store Link: Spectre 3D, $4.99

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We all know that iPhone platform devices are capable mobile gaming devices. There are some real gems in the App Store that take particular advantage of the iPhone's unique capabilities, with more on the way. Apple knows it too — they've long been advertising the iPod touch specifically as a game machine. An Apple patent application that was made public on April 1 may indicate that Apple wants to take iPhone gaming to an even higher level.

First filed back in 2008, the patent in question, US20100081505, is entitled ACCESSORY FOR PLAYING GAMES WITH A PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE. The abstract follows.

Circuits, methods, and apparatus that provide user interfaces for playing games on portable electronic devices. One example provides a game accessory having input controls for playing video, audio, and other types of games. The game accessory can have input controls, such as buttons, joysticks, and D-pads. Another example provides a game accessory having a thumb pad or keyboard. Other possible features include microphones, cameras and camera lenses, speakers, a second screen, rumble, and motion detection. The game accessory may have a recess sized to fit the portable electronic device. Inserts or removable adapters can be used to fit portable electronic devices having different sizes. The portable electronic device can be held in the accessory using sliding covers, clips, or other engaging members. In other examples, the accessory can communicate with another accessory for head-to-head game play. The accessory may include circuitry for power, identification, and authorization.

The patent basically details enclosures or sleds of various configuration into which a mobile device can be inserted, enabling use of the device with several different types of attached or wirelessly-connected peripherals. In the most basic form, simple enclosures (both landscape- and portrait-oriented) featuring integrated D-pad and button sets are detailed. From there, things get much more elaborate, including integrated keypads, cameras, accelerometers, rumble-packs — even a second display.

In other embodiments of the present invention, it may be desirable to include a second screen on the accessory. In such a situation, where the screen of the portable electronic device is a touchscreen, the touchscreen may be used to receive commands and instructions from a user and to provide first graphics, while the second screen provides second graphics.

The iPhone, with its accelerometers, multitouch display, and powerful processing hardware is certainly a platform where non-traditional games can thrive — and have. But there's no disputing the fact that certain types of games — old-school shooters, for instance — suffer from the lack of physical controls. iPhone OS 3.0 enabled the use of such external devices. Will it be Apple that brings these gaming accessories to market for dedicated iPhone gamers?

Visit Patently Apple for a easy-to-grasp layout of the patent with additional images.

Reading the description of the devices in the patent may, for some readers, bring to mind the iControlPad device, long in development, which we first covered back in May 2008. News of Apple's patent has come as surprise to the iControlPad team, causing great concern. Team member Craig Rothwell has been tweeting about the situation (@craigix) and is in the process of approaching Apple on the matter.

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Today the iPad App Store opened up, revealing a great many iPad launch titles to those itching to see what they'll be loading onto their iPads when they arrive on Saturday. The amount of iPad app news this has generated today has us feeling as if we're standing in the middle of a tornado, admittedly. And so, without a great deal of rhyme or reason, I've chosen a few iPad games, now in the App Store, to highlight, the only real criterion being that they're titles we've not recently covered and are ones that I'm personally anxious to get my hands on.

So, without further ado…

Minigore HD from Mountain Sheep — $4.99

The iPad adaptation of Minigore sounds better than ever with 14 playable characters, "guest stars" from Hook Champ, Zombieville USA, Sway, and Envrio-Bear 2010, and redone graphics to take full advantage of the iPad's screen acreage.

Warpgate HD from Freeverse — $7.99

Freeverse's real-time strategy title Warpgate is here for the iPad, but not yet for the iPhone. Who would've guessed? (The iPhone version should be making its debut any day now.) All that we've seen indicates that this is a RTS title not to be missed.

Sam & Max Episode 1: The Penal Zone from Telltale Games — $9.99

Inspired by Steve Purcell's comic series Sam & Max, Lucas Arts in 1993 released the SCUMM-based adventure Sam & Max Hit the Road to much critical acclaim. Sequels followed and the odd, starring duo gathered something of a cult following. Those in the cult will be happy to see the just-released iPad title from Telltale Games, Sam & Max Episode 1: The Penal Zone.

Cogs HD from Chillingo — $4.99

In January we took a look at steampunk puzzler Cogs and very much liked what we saw. Cogs HD is now in the App Store and rendered on the iPad's 10-inch screen,

Mirror's Edge for iPad — $12.99

We recently posted about Mirror's Edge for the iPad, but at the time, it was to be a $14.99 title. While still premium, it seems to have made its debut at $12.99 — just a shade less dear.

Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies from Activision — $14.99

This bundle of zombie smackdown is the most expensive game on our list, but it does look like fun. Bigger screen = more menacing zombies.

Fieldrunners for iPad from Subatomic Studios — $7.99

Fieldrunners. Everyone's favorite tower defense game. Well, my favorite, anyway. And it's here in full-screen iPad glory.

Touchgrind HD from Illusion Labs — $7.99

Touchgrind is a highly unique iPhone skateboarding game. Skateboarding for your fingers, really. But the one limitation? Screen size. The iPad version should have no such limitation.

Ocean Blue from Com2uS — $9.99

Ocean Blue falls under the Entertainment category — it's not really a game. But it looks pretty fun. It has the distinction of being "the first realistic diving experience on the iPad." We're anxious to check it out.

Scrabble for iPad from Electronic Arts — $9.99

Scrabble. On a big multitouch screen. Not cool enough? How about this:

Scrabble Tile Rack for iPhone / iPod touch — Free

Use your iPad as the Scrabble board and connect wirelessly from your iPhone or iPod touch to use it as a private tile rack while you are playing Scrabble.

Harbor Master HD from Imangi Studios — Free

Imangi has produced an HD version of their chaos management game and is giving it away for Free.

There are plenty more announcements, screenshots and info about upcoming iPad games in our dedicated forum.

It's hard to track everything that's happening in the App Store right now. This is going to be a rather insane weekend for everyone connected with the iPad. Don't worry, our usual iPhone and iPod Touch game coverage will also resume but over the next week there's going to be a lot of news and attention on the iPad.

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