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James Cameron's Avatar Lite ($6.99)

From our review:

While each of the individual gameplay elements isn't particularly groundbreaking, Avatar's major achievement is the sense of immersion and scale that Gameloft has managed to create in an iPhone game. Movie tie-in or not, this seems to be one of the most ambitious iPhone games to date.

Superfall LITE ($1.99)

We quite enjoyed Superfall in our review:

Overall, SuperFall is a great combination of casual ragdoll gaming with an extensive achievement/upgrade system that may lure in both casual gamers and hardcore completionists.

Rayman 2 Free ($6.99)

In our review, we had issue with the controls of Rayman 2 but some people seemed to take to them better than others. So here's your chance to try it yourself.

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Last night Gameloft released their latest game Fishing Kings. We had previewed the game during GDC in March. Fishing Kings uses some proven gameplay mechanics like those found in Flick Fishing, but adds some nice new features and top notch graphics.

When you start the game you are shown an overhead map displaying North and South America. From here there's five different locations you can choose to fish in, with four of them unlocked from the start. The locations include the Bahamas, Lake Erie, New Zealand's longest river the Waikato, Nahuel Huapi lake in Argentina, and finally the Amazon River, which is the one locked location. Each of these fishing areas breaks down into three smaller sub-areas. There's a nice mixture of places to fish, some of which are quite exotic.

Also displayed on the world map are four buttons that include the necessary tools you'd expect from a fishing game. "Tackle" lets you change lures, rods, lines and reels. All of this equipment can be upgraded with the money you earn to assist in reeling in the tougher fish later in the game. "Diary" keeps track of a few different career stats, as well as Gameloft Live achievements and leaderboards. The "Guide" option displays a picture of all the fish you've encountered along with their preferred lure, and finally a "PDA" option let's you know about tournaments and other missions.

The actual fishing mechanics are very similar to Flick Fishing, except everything is in landscape mode. You'll flick your device forward to cast your line, jerk it upwards to set the hook in the fish's mouth, and finally spin a small touch reel to draw the line in.

Where Fishing Kings differentiates itself is in requiring you to tilt your device with the hooked fish's movements so as not to cause too much tension and snap the line. This really adds to the realism and fun of catching fish as you grip your device tightly and swing your arms to and fro trying desperately to not let that sucker break your line. At the same time this makes it much more difficult to catch fish than in Flick Fishing, but far more satisfying. You get the hang of it with practice, and the various upgrades you can buy help make the process easier.

So far Fishing Kings seems to be solid take on iPhone fishing. The fishing works as expected, and is decidedly more fun and interactive than other available titles. As with most Gameloft games, the graphics are quite good and the underwater camera element adds a nice touch. There's also plenty of upgradeable gear and fishing venues to work your way through, as well as tournaments to enter and achievements to unlock. Finally, other early impressions in our forums have also been quite positive.

App Store Link: Fishing Kings, $2.99

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As we enter the final hours of the iPad pre-launch fiesta, more and more videos of iPad games are coming online. We likely won't have video of games on actual devices until tomorrow, but for the time being, watching these games being played in the simulator with a set of hands gives an idea of how much different they will likely feel on the iPad:

Games featured in the trailer, which are all currently available on the App Store:

• Asphalt 5 HD, $6.99
• Dungeon Hunter HD, $6.99
• Let's Golf HD, $6.99
• Modern Combat: Sandstorm HD, $6.99
• N.O.V.A. – Near Orbital Vanguard Alliance HD, $9.99
• NFL 2010 HD, $6.99
• Real Soccer 2010 HD, $6.99
• Uno HD, $6.99

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In the wake of a sea of iPad announcements, Activision has finally released Tony Hawk' Pro Skater 2 for the iPhone. Tony Hawk himself announced the coming of the game earlier this month.

The new iPhone version carries both traditional control configurations as well as iPhone-specific accelerometer controls. Features include:

• Ride as Tony Hawk, one of the greatest skateboarding icons of all time.
• Skate as one of 12 other featured pros.
• Master signature pro moves and hundreds of tricks including nose/tailslides, nose/bluntslides, lip tricks, nollies, manuals and more.
• Earn virtual cash to purchase dozens of additional in-game moves and alternate boards.
• Over 13 epic environments to skate.

We haven't had time to spend any time with the game ourselves, so will report back later today. The first forum impression from debtOFskittles is quite positive:

so I've played through the first skate park, and I'm finding the controls very responsive, and the framerate is buttery smooth (on my 2g itouch)… graphics are, shall i say, familiar, as in nothing special (i wish they'd reworked the colors a bit, like gameloft did in Rayman) but it's obviously the gameplay that's the most important here, and it's really good. I personally think the buttons look ugly. I'd say that the onscreen buttons is a much better control method than the accelerometer, since I encountered some weird kinks in that… the game wasn't made for that kind of input. But anyhow, the game's all here, and I like it!

More impressions should filter into the discussion thread.

App Store Link: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, $9.99

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As the early iPad section of the App Store fills out, we discovered that at least some of Gameloft's current iPad launch lineup.

The iPad games which appear to be launching along side the device are:

• Asphalt 5 HD
• Dungeon Hunter HD
• Modern Combat: Sandstorm HD
• NOVA HD
• NFL 2010 HD
• Let's Golf HD
• Real Soccer 2010 HD

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I'm still kind of stunned it's already Friday, after GDC madness last week and playing catch up this week I'm not even sure where all the time went. Regardless, we missed our sales and freebies post this week, so I've dug up an extra helping of freebies in attempt to make amends this week. As always, the standard iTunes price change disclaimer is in effect. These prices are all current as of Friday afternoon, but due to the nature of the App Store are subject to change at any time. If you've got your eye on one or more of these games, you're probably better off grabbing them ASAP.

Earth Vs Moon, 99¢ → FREE

Quite possibly one of the best missile command spinoffs on the App Store, we loved Earth Vs Moon in our review, and since then it has only gotten better with updates. This one has been free for a few days now, and likely will return to normal price any time now, so grab it while you still can… And if you miss the free promotion, it's still totally worth a buck if you haven't heard of it before.

Other notable freebies include:

• Crazy Turkey Blast, 99¢ → FREE
• DJ Jones, 99¢ → FREE
• Kaloki Adventure, $1.99 → FREE
• My Brute, $3.99 → FREE
• TowerMadness, $2.99 → FREE

As far as game sales are concerned, a few Gameloft games were recently dropped to 99¢. I've had a good time playing through all of these, so if you don't own them yet, I can think of worse ways to spend $5:

• Blades of Fury, $4.99 → 99¢
• Dungeon Hunter, $4.99 → 99¢
• Earthworm Jim, $4.99 → 99¢
• Real Soccer 2010, $4.99 → 99¢
• Skater Nation, $4.99 → 99¢

And of course, there are a ton of other games with recent price drops:

• 2012 Zombies vs Aliens, $1.99 → 99¢
• Across Age, $6.99 → $5.99
• Alien Glyphs, $3.99 → $2.99
• Azkend, $4.99 → $2.99
• Battle for Wesnoth, $4.99 → $2.99
• Boom Brigade, $3.99 → $1.99
• Doodle Bomb, $1.99 → 99¢
• Dragon Portals, $4.99 → $2.99
• Electric Box, $1.99 → 99¢
• Fighting Fantasy: Deathtrap Dungeon, $2.99 → $1.99
• Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, $2.99 → $1.99
• Geared, $2.99 → 99¢
• Hottie Hookups, $1.99 → 99¢
• Occurro!, $1.99 → 99¢
• ReBounce, $1.99 → 99¢
• Tall Bike Joust, $2.99 → 99¢
• Thumpies, $2.99 → 99¢
• TRANSFORMERS G1: AWAKENING, $4.99 → $2.99

There are many other games with recent price changes, and you can see a listing of popular games and all games on sale over on AppShopper. Stay tuned for more freebies and sales next week, same bat time, same bat channel.

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Last week, TouchArcade attended the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2010 in San Francisco, CA. It was an intense and incredibly fun week of developer meetings, parties and events.

We got sneak peeks at a number of games which we've already reported on and a number of unannounced titles that we'll be hearing more about in the near future. Even though GDC officially ended last Saturday, we're still recovering from the trip and catching up on the backlog of games and news that has come out since. We also expect a few more GDC-related posts to trickle out over the next few days.

The iPhone game that seems to have gotten the most buzz at GDC 2010 wasn't even a finished game. Sword and Sworcery definitely wins the prize as the biggest surprise of the trip. In this week's podcast we discuss the reason why the game — even in its unfinished form — seemed to have captured people's imaginations so much.

And our reactions weren't out of the place, as the game has seen a similar reaction amongst other gaming sites as well.

In our GDC Wrapup Podcast we also discuss other interesting games including Sketch Nation, Faraway, Assault Squadron as well as games from Gameloft, Namco and the promise of iPad gaming.

In my mind, the biggest value of these large conferences to developers is the after-hours events and meet ups with other iPhone developers. As much as TouchArcade is a news and review site, it is also a massive community that successfully brings both developers and players together. It's great to meet up in person with TouchArcade forum regulars who happen to also be developers, even if just to say "hi".

Check out our GDC 2010 Wrapup podcast where Blake, Eli and I discuss the most interesting games that we saw.

Podcast music provided by Overclocked Remix.

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes or Direct Download (M4A, 42MB)

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The final game that Gameloft showed us at GDC was Fishing Kings, a fishing simulator that they're hoping to target the hardcore fisherman iPhone owning market segment with. Freeverse's Flick Fishing has been insanely successful, and Fishing Kings utilizes a similar control method in addition to some new cool features in attempt to add another layer of depth to fishing on the iPhone.

The most substantial addition is an underwater camera that allows you to see all the fish near your lure, as well as what your lure is doing. What lure you choose also apparently has an effect on how effective your fishing is with more fun things to fill your tackle available to unlock later in the game.

15 different fishing spots are included spread across 5 unique locations, each with the proper fish for the water you're fishing in to make up 30 fish in all to catch. Al of these things are secondary to the voice acting included in the game. While you're reeling in a fish, the in-game announcer is constantly cheering you on. It's beyond ridiculous, and only made worse due to the typical Gameloft voice acting quality.

Fishing Kings is expected to be available late March.

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I've always been a huge fan of the Resident Evil series, and having likely spent weeks of combined playtime in my life playing and re-playing the games of the Resident Evil universe. It's more than a little weird to me that Gameloft has somehow managed to make a better Resident Evil game than even Capcom, the original creators of the series, has on the iPhone.

If Gameloft's highly "inspired" games make your eyes roll, you should turn back now because when I first saw Zombie Infection today there was little I could do to stop myself from groaning at the first level we were shown– A nearly identical African cityscape to the one found in Resident Evil 5, with an equally similar premise to the game complete with a second character you come across named Shawna who serves as your female sidekick.

Zombie Infection comes loaded with 10 levels, some lifted directly out of Resident Evil games, and others in locations that could either be described as "ridiculous", "awesome", or possibly even "ridiculously awesome". One such locale we were shown was a zoo, filled with zombie zoo animals. After just barely making it out alive after fighting a zombified lion, my play session was brought to an end by some gigantic crocodile that sprung up from the water.

Like other similar Gameloft games, controls work exactly how you would expect. A virtual joystick handles all your movement, while context sensitive buttons appear that do things like open doors, shoot, holster your gun, unleash melee attacks, etc. Speaking of melee attacks, there's also a number of "finisher" moves that you can pull on nearby zombies. For instance, if a zombie is knocked to the ground you can run over to them and a button will activate allowing you to stomp their head. Also, like Resident Evil games, you cannot move and shoot at the same time.

I wasn't able to get a solid answer on the graphics engine powering Zombie Infection, but the polygon count of the character models, scenery, and all the texturing was extremely detailed. On top of that, it was running at an excellent framerate, making the whole package that much more impressive.

Aside from the standard campaign mode, there's also going to be a survival mode Gameloft is calling "Arena Mode" where players fight off endless swarms of zombies. Other details are scarce at the moment, and much like Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell we only had enough time with the game to blow through a few levels. Needless to say, I'll be giving Zombie Infection a thorough play through as soon as its released sometime later this month.

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The first game that Gameloft showed us at GDC this year was the latest in a long line of Splinter Cell games, a series that also has several books associated with it along with a movie that may or may not still be in the works. In the games, you play as Sam Fisher who is an extremely experienced member of an elite team within the NSA called the "Third Echelon". Splinter Cell games are episodic in nature, and this is the sixth installment in Sam's adventure.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction for the iPhone closely follows the console game with the same title. In fact, they are so alike, they even share cut scenes and voice work. (And because of this the voice acting is much higher quality than typical Gameloft games.) There is also a surprising amount of chatter between the bad guys you come across, and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction is one of the few iPhone games that frequently drops the F bomb. It will be interesting to see how much of that remains in the final version of the game.

There are 10 included levels that Gameloft estimates will take players anywhere between 4 to 5 hours to burn through, and of the few levels we were able to see in the demonstration the locales vary wildly from night time stealth missions to missions in middle eastern cities complete with sand blowing everywhere. Overall the game looks amazing, and according to Gameloft is running on the next evolution of the NOVA engine.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction controls well, using a virtual joystick for movement, an array of context sensitive buttons that appear when needed as well as the same buttons that act like dials seen in many other Gameloft games that can be swiped to select different weapons and gadgets. There's a cover system, different instant kill melee attacks, and a "tag and execute" aiming mode that can potentially allow players to slay entire rooms full of bad guys.

For the few minutes I was able to play of the game, it's hard to form much of an opinion on it. Initial impressions are positive, but we'll need to put the game through its paces once it's finally released. Gameloft isn't discussing release dates with Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction yet, but the console versions of the game are due to be released on April 13th, so it's unlikely that we will see the iPhone game before then.

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