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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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Back in June at Apple's WWDC 2010 in San Francisco, we had a chance to sit down with Natalia Luckyanova of Imangi Studios, the folks who most recently brought us Harbor Master HD [free], to take a look at their upcoming dual-stick shooter Max Adventure, which we first previewed earlier in the year.

Max Adventure paints a friendly end-of-the-world scenario where all the adults have been abducted by aliens. That leaves you, young Max, as the only one who can save the other children and the world, in general.

We recently checked in with developer Keith Shepherd to find out how the game is coming along. As it turns out, a lot of progress has been made on the title since we saw it back in June. The game engine is now basically complete and the focus is currently on levels and content. Imangi is shooting for around 20 levels in Story Mode, with a handful of Survival maps available at launch. According to Keith, they're halfway there, with a mix of mission types currently in place:

• Rescue missions, where you go around saving kids trapped in the neighborhoods
• Escort missions, where you have a lead a particularly scared friend to safety while battling off enemies
• Area clearing missions, where you have to get rid of all the enemies in the area
• Bonus levels, where you get to run around and collect as much treasure as you can in a limited time
• Survival missions, where you have to fend off waves of enemies
• Boss battles

To give gamers an idea of what goes into putting a Max Adventure level together, Imangi recently released a time-lapse video that condenses four hours of level building footage into just three minutes. The video shows progress from a blank slate to a rough, playable draft, all within their own, custom-built, Mac OS X-based level editor. The accompanying score is taken from original, in-game music that Natalia is presently working on.

[ See our WWDC Max Adventure interview / hands-on footage. ]

Keith stresses that four hours to build a level may seem short, but it doesn't factor in the work put into the art assets by designer Kiril Tchangov, programming time, and play testing and tweaking time, which can take up to days for a single level.

And the latest addition to the game? Keith tells us that, recently added, is Max's ability to take over the flying pods of groups of aliens that attack on the wing, giving him the ability to take advantage of a pod's powerful weapons and to fly over low obstacles.

We'll post a close look at Max Adventure when it goes live in the App Store. Stay tuned.

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Can a game be a piece of art? So asks Geardome, who strives to deliver just that in their recently released physics-based, ball-roller style game Ozone [App Store].

Dive into the galaxy of Ozone and unveil the secrets of this unique audio-visual experience, a mix of art and technology, never before seen or heard on a mobile device.

The game puts you in control of an inflatable ball that can be moved about various maze-like levels by way of touch-directed bursts of air. The goal is to collect all of the yellow orbs strewn about each of the game's more than 50 pseudo-3D levels in order to exit each maze. But there's more in each level than just yellow orbs. You must negotiate a wide variety of obstacles and enemies in order to make your way through each level. There are, among other things, moving traps, doors to unlock, weapons to collect and use, spikes to avoid, and end-bosses to contend with. A steel ball power-up renders your ball impervious to damage and able to plow through certain walls for a short period. Some pathways require you to deflate your ball in order to fit through, and then it's fingers-crossed that an air pump is just around the corner, because when you're out of air, you're out of luck. And those bursts of air that move you hither and yon — they're not freebies; each burst lowers your air level just a bit.

It's a lot to juggle.

But luckily, time is something you have plenty of in this game. Ozone is not a race against the clock, but is a slow-paced, intricate affair that requires a high level of precision to master. In that way, it's really not akin to Dark Nebula, a comparison some in our forums have made, in seeing posted screenshots. It reminds me more of Bubble Ghost, actually. It's a game for the patient, and an experience that is both frustrating (in a good way) and relaxing at the same time. A very well-matched, ambient soundtrack sets the mood and helps deliver what feels like a rather "zen" experience.

The developers have also created a custom level editor that can be used to create your own levels, available for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows. The game's upcoming first update will enable the ability to play custom levels, and downloadable content is also on the way. Ozone HD, a version that takes advantage of the iPad's features, will soon be released, the developer indicates.

The reaction to the game in our forums has been extremely positive. Your Personal Robot shared his thoughts.

…I am playing this gem and WOW am I impressed.
This really is a little indie masterpiece. The graphics, the sound…simply amazing…

This game just feels very deep, very thought out, every detail just seems right in place. Hard to describe it. It's a complete console game with a fantastic look and feel. And it's definitely NOT too expensive. This is a title with so much quality, many – or most – of the App Store games are far from reaching.

Ozone is a very well done and highly enjoyable game that should have great appeal to those who enjoy problem solving and being rewarded for precision. It's certainly one of the more engrossing titles I've spent time with in recent months.

App Store Link: Ozone, $4.99

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