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Late last year Gamevil's action adventure RPG Hybrid: Eternal Whisper [$2.99 / Free] hit the App Store, offering an extensive skill upgrading system along attacks that change depending on how your character is gripping their sword. The original Hybrid was well received on our forums, with many fans of the Zenonia series enjoying the shift to an even more action-oriented gameplay model.

Hybrid 2: Saga of Nostalgia is in the final stages of beta testing which has been conducted in part on our forums and if all goes as planned, Gamevil plans on submitting the game to Apple towards the end of the month. In the meantime, they've released the following teaser trailer which includes a bit of gameplay towards the end:

We'll post more when we get our hands on the game, but if you enjoyed the first, look forward to Hybrid 2 arriving sometime this September.

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Back at WWDC we met with Fish Labs to see the sequel to Galaxy On Fire 3D [$2.99 / Free] running on the iPad. Before getting any deeper than this, it's important to know the roots of the Galaxy on Fire series so you can fully appreciate just how far the game has come. Both Galaxy on Fire and its sequel originated from J2ME games that weighed in at under 1 megabyte each in their original form. Galaxy on Fire 3D saw an incredible leap from the J2ME game, and its sequel makes even bigger advancements. Before looking at what the game has become today, take a good look at the original screenshot to the right, in all its J2ME glory.

Galaxy on Fire 2 is a space conquest game, with a massive galaxy map to explore, multiple factions to align yourself to, a dynamic economy, and tons of other neat features that all add up to an impressive amount of depth. The original Galaxy on Fire was something special, but the sequel seems to be exceeding the original in every way imaginable.

Generally speaking when we do a preview post like this, we'll just cherry pick two or three of the coolest screenshots that developers send us, but that isn't really possible with Galaxy on Fire 2. That just really wasn't possible with the batch that Fish Labs sent us, especially with them all being rendered at iPhone 4 Retina Display resolution:

Galaxy on Fire 2 is in beta testing right now, and Fish Labs expects to release both the iPhone and iPad versions of the game simultaneously in October. For more information check out their extensive developer blog or the thread in our forums. There is also some iPad gameplay footage in our last preview at WWDC, but that was so long ago it's hard to say how representative that even is of the game right now.

I can't wait.

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Big Pixel Studios, the guys behind both Piyo Blocks [$1.99 / Free] and Piyo Blocks 2 HD [$2.99 / Free] for the iPad, have a new game scheduled for release later this month. Meow Meow Happy Fight is a dual stick shooter for the iPhone with a delightfully ridiculous premise: Apparently, a cat from the future, 2336 to be precise, decides he is too happy. Naturally, the logical thing to do in that case is travel back in time to modern day Tokyo… to bring happiness and destruction.

I'm not entirely sure how this turns in to a basis for a dual stick shooter, and I can't wait to find out. Either way, Meow Meow Happy Fight looks like it has a great array of 12 power ups and 15 unlockable characters which even include silly things like a "cat ball", a cup of noodles, and something that looks like a vending machine. Meow Meow Happy Fight has tons of collectables, complete OpenFeint integration, and a similar bright pixel art style as the Piyu Blocks games. Check out the following gameplay trailer:

The thread on our forums has the developers participating in a discussion with other forum members excited for its release, and even though I'm admittedly a little tired of dual stick shooters, I can't wait to give this one a try. According to Big Pixel Studios, beta testing is completed and while it hasn't been submitted to Apple for approval yet, they're hoping to have everything ready to rock by the 3rd or 4th week of July.

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The much anticipated first persona shooter Archetype has finally launched in the U.S. We first spotted the game having beta launched in the Czech App Store a few weeks ago as it prepared for its international launch. Archetype is an online 5-on-5 team deathmatch game that works over Wi-Fi, 3G and EDGE.

Anyone who has ever complained about the "freemium" model of Eliminate now has a chance to put-up or shut-up. The developer says in their game description "No gimmicks, no tricks: iPWNAGE IS JUST $2.99."

We've given the game a quick spin for a couple of games over Wi-Fi. The game runs very well on the two devices we were able to test initially: the iPhone 4 and a 2nd Generation iPod Touch. Controls are very smooth and as you have come to expect from an iPhone FPS: left to move, right to aim/shoot. The game comes with 5 different maps with 6 weapons (Battle and Precision Rifles, rapid-fire AutoMag, shotgun, missile launcher, and brutal melee axe) as well as 2 different types of grenades.

Controller options include invert aim axes, auto-fire on/off, aim sensitivity, vibration on/off, display joysticks on/off, and display radar on/off. The game natively supports the iPhone 4's retina display.

The game comes with 3 different modes: Team Deathmatch, Challenge, and Training. The bulk of the game seems to be focused around the online Team Deathmatch. The developers have 5 different regions covered with servers: U.S. East, U.S. West, Europe, Asia, and S. America. You can easily toggle between them though presumably it originally places you with the group you are closest too.

Since it has just launched within the hour, the number of players available hasn't picked up yet. I've been involved in a few matches with 2 on 2, so I haven't seen the full 5 on 5 action quite yet. Early impressions have been very positive, but we'll post a full review after we are able to spend some time with it. The whole package seems very professionally put together. As with any online multiplayer game, however, the trick is going to be able to build up a sustainable player pool and to see how the servers can hold up.

More impressions are trickling into our forums.

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This afternoon I chatted with Brian Howard, founder of InMotion Software, who explained that the next iteration of the I Dig It series was submitted to the App Store today. After downloading a preview build of the game and installing it on my iPad, I can say with utmost confidence that iPad-owning fans of the I Dig It games are going to be in for a treat.

If this is the first you've heard of these games, here's what you've been missing: Around the time of WWDC last year, the original I Dig It [99¢] hit the App Store, and if it wasn't for a surprising amount of people talking about the game at the event, it likely would have never even appeared on our radar at all. In the game, you pilot a retrofitted farm tractor turned subterranean digger in attempts to raise $100,000 to save the family farm. Luckily, the ground under said farm is absolutely chock full of valuable things to dig up, and gameplay amounts to drilling tunnels, collecting diggin's, and selling your spoils to purchase various upgrades for your digger.

I Dig It was a huge success, topping the iTunes sales charts in a number of countries including the United States, so a sequel was only natural. I Dig It Expeditions [$2.99 / Free came next, expanding on the original gameplay of I Dig It as you take your digger on the road and search for archeological treasures in exotic locations such as the Antarctic tundra, the South American Amazon, and even under the ocean.

We loved both games in our reviews (I Dig It, I Dig It Expeditions) and lite version of Expeditions is on my short list of games I automatically recommend to anyone with a new iPhone asking me what games to try. So what's new with the iPad HD edition? Well, first off like many iPad adaptations of iPhone games, you can see substantially more of the game's environment. Also, your digger's radar has been moved from a completely separate screen to a mini-map that is always in the top left corner. These two things alone really improve the game, as being able to see more of your elaborate tunnel system and not needing to page back and forth between the radar makes for a much better overall experience.

The content of I Dig It HD is similar to Expeditions, although not exactly; so even if you've made it all the way through Expeditions, the HD version should still be worth playing. Also, there are new iPad-only challenges not found in the other games. However, the absolute coolest addition to I Dig It HD is the included level editor which fully utilizes the iPad document handling system to allow you to create, share, and import custom levels made by other people.

According to InMotion Software, the editor is what they're calling a beta, and is a little rough around the edges. Regardless, it still works well enough. Much like the document handling of the iWork suite, you can import/export custom levels via iTunes or by either emailing or clicking a link to a .idigit file. Even in its current state, it seems like there is quite a bit of potential if the level sharing community takes off– Something InMotion Software is waiting on to determine how much more development effort to invest in the level sharing and creation system.

As mentioned previously, I Dig It HD has already been submitted to the App Store, and barring any unforeseen rejections or other issues, should be available very soon. As far as how many of these enhancements will make their way to the iPhone, according to Brian Howard, the ability to import community created levels is a "real possibility" but due to differences in screen size they don't see a level editor on the iPhone.

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Earlier this month we posted that Konami announced Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 will be coming to the App Store. Konami has updated their blog on the controls, camera angels and some screenshots that will be featured in PES 2010 for the iPhone.

The first screenshots for Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 for the iPhone and iPod Touch have been revealed and show off the replay feature and in-game layout.

The controls in any game can make or break the user experience, which is why the Konami team is spending a lot of time on the control layout for PES 2010. Of course they have the classic controls with a virtual joystick and virtual buttons on screen, but they have also come up with a new unique iPhone control method called "one-touch". The "one-touch" AI assisted control mode takes advantage of the iPhones capabilities and keeps things simple. No buttons or joysticks on the screen, just the accelerometer and the screen as one giant input zone.

The unique one-touch mode with accelerometer and multi-touch comes with great AI assistance so to ensure the best possible gameplay experience. This is a new way of approaching controls for a football game.

Konami has also been posting in our forums, and answering users' questions about the upcoming game. Of interest, they have said that the licensing of player and team names "will be comparable to the PSP", and that "there are about 100 animations for player and goalkeepers in the game".

With a new intriguing control method, great visuals, and player licensing, Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 is shaping up to be promising soccer game for the iPhone. There is no release date set for the game yet, but last week they were about to enter the beta testing, so hopefully we will get to play PES 2010 sometime this summer.

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Earlier this year we posted about both the Fighting Fantasy and Gamebook Adventures series of interactive adventure books. Since then, Tin Man Games, developers of Gamebook Adventures 1: An Assassin in Orlandes [$4.99], has released a surprising about of news regarding the future of the series.

Like other interactive fiction, Gamebook Adventures is filled with challenges where you will need to do in-game dice rolls to determine the outcome of various events in the book. This adds a really fun element of randomization to the story, and really give you incentive to read through them multiple times to see how the plot would have changed if you would have rolled a certain way.

The two upcoming Gamebook Adventures games are as follows:

Gamebook Adventures 2: The Siege of the Necromancer: "Set in the coastal town of Myr, you have returned home after a long Summer in the mines of Durath Tor to find your hometown besieged by strange creatures. A dark presence has taken over the town and you are the only one who can rid the stronghold of Erid Buul, the mysterious new Lord and his ghastly cohorts."

Gamebook Adventures 3: Slaves of Rema: "Cruelly taken from your homeland of Orlandes, you find yourself in a far off land at the mercy of a gladiatorial arena. Somehow trying to find a way to escape overseas, can you also unravel a potentially dangerous mystery that puts two nations on the brink of war?"

Also, posted on the Tin Man Games blog are some details on their upcoming iPad versions of the games. As someone who really likes the interactive fiction on the App Store, but doesn't really like reading for long periods of time on the iPhone, I can't wait for this. They provided the following comparison shot of the game running on the two devices:

Fans of interactive fiction have a lot to look forward to, and I can hardly wait for the iPad version of these games. Gamebook Adventures 2: The Siege of the Necromancer started beta testing earlier this month, and the third installment, as well as the iPad games are all still in development.

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We first heard of Blizzard's plans to improve the functionality of the Mobile Armory [Free] app to include access to the auction house back in February. MMO Champion has all the details today on the recently released Remote Auction House functionality of the existing Mobile Armory app which currently only works for a small number of World of Warcraft servers as part of a beta test of the service.

To use the Mobile Armory you will need a World of Warcraft or Battle.net account, with most of the features requiring an active World of Warcraft subscription. If you're lucky enough to play on the hand full of servers currently supported, using the existing Mobile Armory app you will not only be able to buy items on the in-game auction house, but also sell any item from your character's bags, bank, or mailbox as well as manage all the gold generated from said auctions.

Currently, this functionality is free but limited to 25 total transactions a day, a number which will be increased at launch, according to Blizzard. At the conclusion of the beta test, the auction house features of the Mobile Armory will split in to free and paid functions. Without paying for anything, you will be able to browse and view the auction house along with getting real-time notifications when your auctions sell, expire, or you are outbid or win an auction. For $2.99 on top of your existing WoW subscription you'll be able to do all the buying and selling mentioned previously.

Towards the bottom of the new Remote Auction House site is a chart that details the feature differences of the two subscription tiers.

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