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So here’s something cool you may not have noticed about the new iPad: If you’re playing an iPhone game (or using an iPhone app) that has Retina Display assets for the iPhone, it will use the higher resolution set of assets. On previous models of the iPad, this functionality required the jailbreak utility Retina Pad. It actually makes a massive difference.

It’s a little hard to do that accurate of a comparison without just looking at both devices side by side, but I’ve doubled the resolution of the iPad 2 screenshots on the left to be the same size as the new iPad on the right. It may seem exaggerated, but the difference is even more noticeable when you’ve got a game like Flight Control running on two iPads side by side.

If you remember, back when the iPad was first released to make up for the complete lack of iPad-specific apps, Apple added the pixel doubling functionality to allow iPhone-specific apps to run full screen. The results were always a pixelated mess, and while it worked, it was a pretty terrible overall user experience. Now, with (almost) every iPhone app coming bundled with Retina Display assets, this new fullscreen functionality actually results in surprisingly decent looking upscaling.

Of course, iPad apps and games that are actually designed for the Retina Display of the new iPad look tons better, but now you don’t need to essentially write off any non-universal app as being a huge pixel party.

UPDATE: Here are some shots of Real Racing 2, an iPhone-only game with Retina Display assets as well as Real Racing 2 HD which is optimized for the Retina Display of the new iPad:

iPad 2 running Real Racing 2 pixel doubled:

New iPad running Real Racing 2 utilizing iPhone Retina Display assets:

Real Racing 2 HD running on iPad 2:

Real Racing 2 HD running on new iPad:

There are differences in lighting between the screenshots since each version of the game seems to render the scene at a different in-game time of day. Also, the iPhone versions running full screen on the iPad have a slightly different UI so I tried to line things up as close as I could. Regardless, the jump in quality is just astounding, and it seems like the image quality between iPhone Retina Display-ready games and non-Retina Display iPad games is pretty similar.

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Arguably the biggest addition to this year’s version of the iPad (or at least, the most immediately noticeable one) is the inclusion of a Retina Display screen that ups the resolution to a monstrous 2048 x 1536. As anybody who has upgraded from an older device to an iPhone 4 or an iPhone 4S, you know that the Retina Display screen is a stunning upgrade in person and makes all other mobile device screens look inferior in comparison. Such is the case with the new iPad’s fancy screen, it really needs to be seen to be believed.

For anybody upgrading to a new iPad today, or if this is your first foray into the world of the iPad, then chances are you’re interested in having the games that can show off the new screen as you gloat to your friends. Here we’ve compiled a list of games that have been updated for the iPad Retina Display:

• Infinity Blade II, $6.99
• Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy, $4.99
• Galaxy on Fire 2 HD, $9.99
• Mass Effect Infiltrator, $6.99
• Flight Control Rocket, 99¢
• Real Racing 2 HD, $2.99
• Foosball HD, $2.99
• Touchgrind BMX, $4.99
• Labyrinth 2 HD, $7.99 / Lite Version
• Joining Hands, $2.99
• Woodroid HD+, Free
• Letris Power, Free
• Monsters Ate My Condo, 99¢
• Save the Pencil HD, 99¢ / Lite Version
• Tractor Beam, 99¢
• FMX Riders, $2.99
• Lab Solitaire, 99¢
• Parlour Solitaire, Free

There is a thread in our forums that’s constantly being updated keeping track of compatible games or ones that will be compatible soon. If you’re a developer with an iPad Retina Display update coming out, make sure to post it in that thread or post in the comments below and we’ll try to keep that thread as well as this article updated as new games hit. Also, Apple is currently featuring a selection of games and apps in the App Store that are new iPad ready.

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One of Apple’s more “magical” features in the past year is AirPlay, which allows you to stream the screen from  your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 wirelessly to an Apple TV and right onto your HDTV. Soon, the new OS X Mountain Lion will allow you to do the same thing with your Mac, beaming whatever is on its screen to your TV wirelessly. In terms of gaming, AirPlay offers an additional avenue for playing iOS games – wirelessly on the living room TV – and some titles like Real Racing 2 HD have taken it a step further and offer a custom interface or additional features for playing the game that way.

While Apple has made it incredibly easy to beam the latest iOS devices to a television, and soon will be able to beam a Mac to a television, it’s strange that there’s not also the ability to stream an iOS device right onto a Mac. Someone else must have thought that was strange too, as there is now a new Mac app called Reflection that allows you to do just that. Streaming to a Mac using the Reflection app is just as simple as streaming to a television with an Apple TV. Just run the program on your Mac, and choose the AirPlay option on your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 and just like that it’s on your computer screen.

This sort of functionality has all types of useful applications, but the first thing on my mind was how well games would play using Reflection. For the most part it works pretty good, and it will largely depend on which game you’re playing whether you have a good experience or not. This is mostly due to the slight lag that is present when using Reflection, where your actions on your iOS device translate to your Mac just a tad off from real time. This tad can make a big difference in games that require precise and timely touches, and I shudder to think of playing something like Beat Sneak Bandit with that slight delay.

For lots of games that lag won’t matter though, and it is pretty cool playing iOS games on my MacBook Pro. Another thing I noticed is that the frame rate in Reflection isn’t as smooth as what’s on the actual device, but it isn’t terribly noticeable. Reflection also comes with the options to view the game in an iPhone or iPad frame, much like the simulator in the iOS SDK, or play in frameless or full screen modes. Reflection reacts accordingly when changing your device’s orientation, and you can lock it in either portrait or landscape if need be.

Reflection is a neat piece of technology, I can see it being incredibly useful to some. But for gaming it feels more like a novelty due to the sluggishness of the performance, but it’s still pretty neat and I think that performance will improve over time. If you own a Mac, you can grab a trial version of Reflection for free to test it out. It gives you just 10 minutes of time per day to mess around with it, but that’s enough to see how it works and decide if it’s something worth buying. If you do, the full version of Reflection will set you back $14.99 for a single license.

Product Website Link: Reflection App, $14.99 / Free Trial

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Some former developers from True Axis and Firemint have banded together to form a new studio called Ninth Ninja and are readying a release of the classic dual-stick shooter Mutant Storm for iPad. Mutant Storm was originally released by PomPom Games for the PC, Mac, and Xbox, and was amongst the first to spark off a rebirth of retro-style arcade games in the past 10 years or so. It was also remastered and re-released as Mutant Storm Reloaded on Xbox Live Arcade in 2005.

You may remember that another PomPom Games release called Space Tripper [$3.99] made its way to iOS last year thanks to the porting efforts of True Axis. It also shouldn’t be forgotten that the Space Tripper iOS project was filled with trials and tribulations before it finally ended up on the App Store after more than 3 years of development. The wait seemed to be worth it though, as Space Tripper’s gameplay held up strong on iOS and the performance was rock solid.

Andy Coates, the former one half of developer True Axis, was responsible for a majority of the Space Tripper iOS port. He’s putting all that previous hard work to good use by using the same engine for the Mutant Storm port, and again the game is running at a solid 60fps on the iPad 2 and is running respectably smooth on the original iPad as well. Check out the developer’s hands on video of Mutant Storm running on the iPad.

Development on Mutant Storm is said to be going a whole lot smoother than it did with Space Tripper, so chances are we won’t be waiting 3 years to get our hands on the game (hopefully I didn’t just jinx it). In fact, Andy says that the game is basically finished, and that all that remains is some work to do on the menus and online integration. Ninth Ninja is hoping to have Mutant Storm out in April or May of this year.

Ninth Ninja has also announced that they are currently working on a brand new iOS project in addition to Mutant Storm. Adrian Moore, who had previously worked on Firemint’s Spy Mouse, will be handling the design. Artwork will be Paul Mitchell’s job, and he most recently has worked on the Real Racing series, also from Firemint. And of course, Andy Coates will be handling the programming of this mystery title.

We expect to have lots more on Mutant Storm and the mystery game from Ninth Ninja, especially with GDC just a couple of weeks away, so keep your eyes on this space.

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Guys, Christmas is right around the corner. Real Racing creators Firemint delicately reminded us of that we’re zeroing in on the holiest of holidays with one well-positioned holiday-themed update to its awesome puzzle game, Spy Mouse [$.99 / HD].

Starting now with an update, World 1 in Spy Mouse and Spy Mouse HD have been turned into winter-y paradises, complete with snow, candy canes, and other decorations. The team has also turned the game’s icon on its head with a bit of Christmas cheer and even added a new challenge to Agent Squeak’s backpack.

Flight Control [$.99 / Lite] for the iPhone and iPod Touch have also been updated, though not with anything Christmas-related. These two versions now have a new level featuring a vicious thunderstorm with lightning that can damage your planes. The HD version [$4.99], on the other hand, now rocks a “Moon Base” map with asteroids and four new vehicles: land shuttles, satellites, rockets, and UFOs.

Interestingly, all three versions of Flight Control now have a “rewind” feature, which allows you to, er, rewind time in order to, say, avoid a collision. The catch? They need to be purchased.

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One of the many features that set Twitter ablaze with the announcement of iOS 5 back at WWDC was AirPlay mirroring. AirPlay had already been around for a while, and in its initial form allowed iOS devices to steam video to an Apple TV or audio to an Airport Express. Mirroring, as the name implies, mirrors the current display of your device on whatever video display you've got your Apple TV plugged into. Crafty developers have even figured out how to output a different image than the one that's being displayed on your iOS device, which is really cool in action.

Initially, AirPlay mirroring required an iPad 2 and when it was first unveiled it was never very clear if or when other iOS would have the same capabilities– Especially since Apple has made it abundantly clear that they still consider the Apple TV a "hobby" of theirs. Well, with the release of the iPhone 4S, which also comes packed with AirPlay mirroring support, it seems reasonable to assume that all future iOS devices will have the capability.

Unfortunately, without some killer software utilizing the functionality, it sort of seems like a gimmick– At least, so far. The selection of games that embrace the mirroring functionality in interesting ways are remarkably sparse. So far the best of the bunch seems to be Chopper 2 [99¢]:

As cool as AirPlay is, its main drawback for gaming seems to be a ever-so-slight but totally perceptible lag. Piloting the helicopter in the Chopper games seems to be almost intentionally floaty (it is a helicopter, after all). This seems to mask the lag very well, and using the iOS device screen for input is done well.

Comparatively, Real Racing 2 [$4.99 / HD] does much more with the actual iOS device screen, but the previously mentioned slight lag in controls makes just playing the game normally without the Apple TV seem much more fun. The multiplayer mode does feel like the future though:

Aside from the small bit of lag, it works really well, almost surprisingly so. I downloaded the game on my iPad 2, flipped on AirPlay mirroring, and hosted a local game. Seeing the same video output on my iPhone being routed through the iPad 2 and rendered on my TV wirelessly seemed like magic, especially as more iOS devices joined the race.

I'm so incredibly torn on this functionality right now. The potential it has is just incredible, especially in future devices and/or developer optimization of these games reduces the lag between the iOS device and the Apple TV. Once this delay goes from barely noticeable but always there to non-existent, I think it'll be totally easy to get onboard, and an Apple TV might even be required hardware for the dedicated iOS gamer to own. Right now though, I wouldn't encourage anyone to rush out and buy an Apple TV specifically to try out this new Real Racing 2 mode.

That being said, the Apple TV is a really cool device that is well worth the $100 if you've got an HDMI port on your TV and don't already have an Xbox 360, PS3, or even something like a Roku Streaming Player hooked up to it. If you've got an A5-powered iOS device, being able to do some neat things with an incredibly small (right now, anyway) library of games is just icing on the cake. Sure, you can duplicate all this mirroring functionality with the Apple Digital AV Adapter as well, but it's incredibly clunky hanging off the side of your device, and at $40, you might as well just spend another $60 and get all the added functionality of the Apple TV.

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Why hello brand new iPhone 4S owners. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Eli, I'm 6 feet tall, brown hair, blue eyes, and love long walks on the beach… Wait, wait, wait, wrong introduction. Err, anyway, let's assume you've just unboxed your iPhone 4S, peeled all the plastic off of it, and are currently waiting for it to do its first sync. You looked up "iPhone game reviews" trying to figure out what you should downloaded, and that landed you here.

[Note to current readers: This guide is written for people who just got their iPhone, or are stumbling across TouchArcade for the first time today trying to find games for their new device. If you're a close follower of this site, chances are high that you're already aware of the things I'll be discussing and the games I'll be linking, but you never know, you might learn something!]

TouchArcade is the largest iOS-specific gaming site on the internet. We've got a whole staff of writers dedicated to finding and reviewing the coolest games available on the App Store, and our forums are widely regarded by iOS developers as the place to be to discuss iOS gaming. Come back often, and I promise we'll always have new and exciting things to check out every time you do. We've even got an app in development which will make TouchArcade-powered game discovery even easier.

Every month we'll do a "Best iOS Games" roundup post that bundles up all the best games that we reviewed in a particular month. These articles are the best place to get started if you want a quick glance at all the best games that have come out, accessible via the Best iPhone Games category link in the far right column. (Or by clicking that link I just dropped.)

We've also done more substantial "best of" roundups at the end of each year, as well as when new devices are released, much like this post. Here's a list of those:

• So You Just Got a Verizon iPhone… Let's Get You Up To Speed!
• So You Just Got an iPhone 4 – An App Store Gaming Guide
• Best iPod Touch and iPhone Games: 2010 Buyer's Guide
• 2010: TouchArcade Staff Favorites – Eli
• 2010: TouchArcade Staff Favorites – Blake
• 2010: TouchArcade Staff Favorites – Brad
• 2010: TouchArcade Staff Favorites – Jared
• Best iPod Touch and iPhone Games: 2009 Buyer's Guide

Also, we record not one, but two iOS gaming specific podcasts that we do on a weekly basis. The first, which generally lands early in the week is our "Bonus" show where we'll interview leading iOS developers on their games, as well as their past and future as game developers. Every Friday evening we release The TouchArcade Show proper which is an hour-ish long recap of the games and news of the week. There's four ways you can get our podcast:

• iTunes Link: The TouchArcade Show
• Zune Marketplace: TouchArcade.com Podcasts
• RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
• Embedded Streaming Flash Player: TouchArcade "Podcast" Category

Also, if you're new to the App Store, you'll likely be delighted to find out about the incredible culture of sales, freebies, and other promotions of great games. While even new release "premium" games are never anywhere near as expensive as traditional portable console games, if you're careful with following and tracking sales, you can get an unbelievable amount of titles for either free or 99¢. I've written up a handy dandy guide on how to use our sister site AppShopper, as well as the AppShopper App [Free] to basically never need to pay full price for anything– As long as you're patient. With the release of the 4S, and developers scrambling for your dollars, the "Popular Games With Price Drops" section of the site is particularly active lately.

I think that's everything you really need to know to be on your way to being a savvy iOS gamer. And seriously, I can't stress enough how much you really should check out our forums. Our forum community is crazy enthusiastic about iPhone games, and you'll find threads posted for newly released titles before anyone else has posted about those games being available and threads for the best deals, often moments after dropped prices appear on iTunes. It's really pretty incredible.

So now that I've blasted your head full of knowledge, here's some iOS games that'd be a great fit for your brand spankin' new iPhone 4S, or really, any brand new iOS device. Keep in mind this obviously isn't a list of every game you should have, for that check out the previously mentioned Best iPhone Games listing, or stop by the "What Should i Get? thread on our forums where people can recommend exactly what you should check out if you post what kind of thing you're normally interested in.

Graphical Showpieces

Probably the best place to get started is on games that'll truly stretch the legs of the iPhone 4S's dual-core A5 processor. These games are packed with eye candy.

Infinity Blade, $5.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – ChAIR's amazing gesture-based swordfighter which utilizes the Unreal Engine was released last year, but it's still the best way to show off what your iOS device can do. Incredible graphics are paired with a great gesture-based sword fighting system, and constant updates have kept the game fresh. There's even a sequel coming on December 1st.

Dead Space™, $0.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – "Console quality" is a phrase that's thrown around a lot to describe portable games, and really, it's a fitting title for this iOS-exclusive version of Dead Space. Playing in a dark room with headphones makes for an incredibly creepy experience, as EA totally nailed the sound design that has made previous Dead Space titles so awesome.

Real Racing 2, $4.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – A marvelous sequel to Firemint's original Real Racing, which improves upon the first in every way imaginable. A career mode, licensed cars, and 16 player online multiplayer are just a few of the new features. If you've got an AppleTV, it'll even stream wirelessly to play on your TV, among other cool things.

Anomaly Warzone Earth, $1.99 / HD – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Who knew that turning tower defense in reverse would make for such an incredible game? If you're even vaguely interested in anything to do to tower defense, Anomaly: Warzone Earth needs to be on your iOS device. The mechanics are solid, the atmosphere is cool, the graphics are incredible and it'll leave you wanting for a sequel.

Dark Meadow, $5.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – A wonky combat system is the only thing that has stopped us from fully recommending The Dark Meadow. If you can deal with that, you'll be in for a treat as the atmosphere and story of the game are absolutely phenomenal. If you're a fan of creepy atmospheric games, you'll likely love this one.

SHADOWGUN, $4.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – This game is an entirely formulaic third person cover-based shooter that feels a bit more like a tech demo than it should, but it's still an incredible display of what the Unity engine is capable of. A multiplayer update with no ETA is on the horizon, which would be a welcome reprieve from an otherwise repetitive (but great looking) title.

iOS Classics

On the opposite spectrum from the graphical showpieces are the iOS classics, games which are so casual your grandma could play 'em that are still fun as heck even for stodgy "hardcore" types– And have sold millions of copies.

Angry Birds, $0.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Chances are you've already heard of Angry Birds, unless you've spent the last year of your life living on Mars in a cave with your eyes closed and your fingers in your ears. It's ridiculously popular, and for good reason: The game is incredibly fun, very simple to play, and updated often. I'd start with the original Angry Birds, but be sure to check out the other flavors, Angry Birds Seasons [99¢] and Angry Birds Rio [99¢].

Doodle Jump – BE WARNED: Insanely Addictive!, $0.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Before Angry Birds' rise to power, Doodle Jump was king of the App Store. This simple tilt-based jumping game became a party of early iPhone pop culture, getting mentioned in sitcoms, name-dropped on various talk shows, and even appearing on stage at a Lady Gaga concert. A recent multiplayer update made this game even better.

Canabalt, $2.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – While I'm not sure that Canabalt was responsible for bringing the endless runner to the App Store, it did it the best. A great soundtrack is paired with pixel art graphics and gameplay that basically begs for one more play through. If you want a similar game that's fleshed out a bit more with goals and unlockables, Halfbrick's Jetpack Joyride [99¢] is one of our recent favorites.

Fruit Ninja, $0.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – In this game, you pretend your finger is a ninja sword and you slice up fruit. The premise is simple, but the gameplay is basically perfect for these types of touch-based portable devices. Play sessions can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, and multiple game modes offer something for just about everyone.

Flight Control, $0.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Single-handedly responsible for popularizing the "chaos management" genre, Flight Control also made "line drawing" a popular control mechanic that's used in a ridiculous amount of iOS titles now. For some additional variety, you can also pick up Harbor Master [99¢] which provides similar gameplay, but with different levels and a nautical twist.

Free to Play

Love it or hate it, free to play games have taken the App Store by storm this year. These games are a little more fun than your average Farmville clone, mostly because they feel like more of a game and less of a money-vaccuuming compulsion loop:

Pocket Frogs, Free – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – In this game, player control a habitat of cute little frogs– Endlessly breeding for new varieties, mutations, and more. Aside from collecting 'em all, Pocket Frogs offers other in-game goals such as a daily challenge to breed a particular frog. Once you get a handle on how the breeding mechanic works, you can have a frog-breeding super-lab up and running in no time.

Tiny Tower, Free – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – From the same developer as Pocket Frogs, this time you're put to the task of acting as a building manager for a sky scraper filled with pixelized citizens (or "bitizens"). Gameplay focuses on building your tower, as well as managing the various businesses and residencies that exist inside your tower.

DragonVale, Free – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Mixing many of the elements from other popular free to play games, DragonVale is the latest from Backflip Studios who already have an impressive free catalog on iTunes. You create dragon habitats and breed your own colony of dragons, on the search for the legendary rainbow dragon, a rare breed of dragon that is driving players on our forum mad trying to find.

Tiny Farm by Com2uS, Free – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Similar to DragonVale and Pocket Frogs, Tiny Farm has a great breeding mechanic which seems to add a lot more depth to the game. There's a hunting system to get mega-rare animals, a super-cute art style, and there's even plans for crazy seasonal ghost animals coming up for Halloween.

Asynchronous Multiplayer

One of the best part about the iPhone is its always-on connectivity which has allowed for the miracle of push notifications. These games all rely heavily on the push notification infrastructure, sending you an alert when its your turn:

Disc Drivin’, $1.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – People around here are absolutely obsessed with this game. Imagine a racing game with shuffleboard-like mechanics, tons of power-ups, and push alert based multiplayer. That's Disc Drivin in a nutshell. There's also a ad-sponsored version available, Disc Drivin' Free [Free].

Words With Friends, $0.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Since we first covered Words With Friends, the game has grown to an absolutely -massive- scale. You now can play cross-platform with Android and Facebook players, and the developers have been acquired by Zynga in the process. If their take on Scrabble isn't your cup of tea, Hanging With Friends [99¢] offers up Hangman-style gameplay and what Chess With Friends [$1.99] provides should be fairly self explanatory. All the versions of these games also have free ad-based versions, but you're better off just buying them as the interstitials can be pretty annoying.

Puzzle Games

The App Store is home to a serious amount of puzzle games of all shapes and sizes. Here are a few of our favorites:

Dungeon Raid, $2.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – As mentioned in our review of the game, with the number of fish in the match three sea, it takes a lot to make one that's just as fun (if not more so) than the match three staples like Bejeweled 2 and other classics. Dungeon Raid accomplishes this by distilling the Puzzle Quest formula down to its basics, and providing match three gameplay that retains its simple nature while offering a shocking amount of depth via random equipment and character upgrades. Also, there's much more to matching than just high scoring, clearing each type of block has a purpose, and the order you clear them in can mean life or death. This game has stolen hours of my time, I can't recommend it enough.

Puzzle Quest 2, $4.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – If you want even more depth than Dungeon Raid has to offer, check out Puzzle Quest 2. It's a great sequel to the original in every way, and it even has a multiplayer battle mode. Multiple character classes add some serious replay value to the game, making this something you can sink days of your life into if it sucks you in.

Monsters Ate My Condo, $0.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Adult Swim and Pik Pok joined forces to bring us one of the craziest matching games we've ever seen on the App Store. The game requires matching similarly colored floors while appeasing nearby color-coded monsters, each with a more ridiculous super-power than the last. Also, you can score billions if you're good. Billions!

Helsing’s Fire, $0.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Helsing's Fire sends you on a quest to destroy Dracula, placing you in 90 randomly generated, dungeon-like levels across three different worlds. The challenge is to eliminate said beasties by moving your torch about the screen, which casts brilliant beams of light and dark shadows about the play area. It's one of the most unique puzzle games we've played, and several updates has made it even better than when we first checked it out.

Drop7 by Zynga, $2.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – This game came out all the way back in 2009, which is ancient in App Store terms, but I've found myself playing it again and Drop7 is as fun as ever. It's a numerical puzzle game where you've got to drop numeric discs into rows and columns, and when that row adds up to that disc, it disappears. There's all kinds of different tricks and nuances you start to notice as you play, making Drop7 almost perfectly fit the "easy to play, difficult to master" mega-cliche game description.

Other Great Games

I'm not really sure what to categorize these as, but they're some of my absolute favorite games the App Store has to offer:

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, $4.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – If you only ever install one game on your iOS device, let it be this one. Sword & Sworcery is an amazing experience from top to bottom. The best pixel art I've ever seen is combined with a custom-tailed soundtrack to create an iOS title that's as much of an experience as it is a game. The "full" version is universal, but if you don't care about that, you can save a couple bucks by picking up Sword & Sworcery EP Micro [$2.99]

King of Dragon Pass, $9.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – No lie, I've spent more time playing this game than all the other games that we reviewed in September combined. If my exhaustive review wasn't clear enough, here's all you need to know: If you like simulation games, you needed King of Dragon Pass on your iPhone yesterday. I've still got my fingers crossed for an iPad version, but I'm more than happy managing my clan whenever I've got a few seconds to spare on my iPhone.

Space Miner™, $2.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Looking back on the game releases of 2010 trying to pick what we thought was the best lead to us continually coming back to Space Miner. We loved the classic Asteroids-style gameplay, the clever storytelling, and the degree of customization that kept us coming back for more through multiple play throughs. Depending on how you load your ship out, the game plays much differently. For instance, you can be a glass cannon prioritizing asteroid-pulverizing guns, or take a more slow and steady approach prioritizing shields and cargo space for huge hauls of ore.

Carcassonne, $9.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – There are many board games that have made their way to the App Store, but Carcassonne is by far the finest. Online asynchronous multiplayer, Retina Display graphics, universal compatibility, and classic gameplay. It doesn't get much better than this.

Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor, $0.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – We choose Tiger Style Games' Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor for our 2009 Game of the Year first and foremost because it's a great game, but also because it perfectly represented the promise of iPhone gaming. A clever method of story telling only provides the player with as much depth as they're willing to get out of it. You can chose to play as a spider, just completing objectives… Or let your human curiosity take control and try to unravel the mysteries of Bryce Manor.

Game Dev Story, $3.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – At first glance this appears to be an abysmal port of a J2ME game… Then you play it. A few hours later you will be looking for your charger to keep playing. In the game you run your own game studio, managing staff, making games, and even releasing your own console. Once Game Dev Story sucks you in, it's impossible to put down. I think this is their easiest game to get engrossed in, mostly because of the familiar subject manner. If you like this style of gameplay, check out Kairosoft's library of games on the App Store for tons more.

The hard part about putting together lists like this is that for each game I've included, I can think of at least ten (actually, way more than that) titles that are easily worthy of being on any must-have list for a new iOS device owner. So, instead of leaving the typical "Argh! Why is _______ on the list but _______ isn't?!" comments, I'd like to invite everyone to leave comments listing off their favorite games. Imagine a friend of yours just got an iPhone 4S, and asked you what do get. What would you tell them? More importantly, why do you recommend each of these games? A list is nothing without some context as to why they're so amazing!

So, congratulations new iPhone 4S owners. I'm glad you've discovered TouchArcade. Regular readers, I hope you learned at least something new. If nothing else, the launch of the iPhone 4S makes the pool of iOS devices even larger, which only benefits the iOS community as a whole.

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EA is hoping to grab some big-time love from new iPhone 4S owners this week. The publisher is throwing a sale in celebration of the new hot-ness’ impending official release, offering up a good portion of its more technically impressive titles on the super cheap. Starting now games like Dead Space or Shift 2 are now just $.99 instead of their usual premium prices. Good deals all-around, and hey, obviously you don’t need a 4S to enjoy them.

Here’s the big list:

• Madden NFL 12 – $4.99 → $2.99
• Dead Space – $6.99 → $.99
• The Sims 3 – $6.99 → $.99
• Battlefield Bad Company 2 – $2.99 → $.99
• Fight Night Champion – $4.99 → $.99
• RISK – $2.99 → $.99
• The Sims Medieval – $4.99 → $.99
• SHIFT 2 – $4.99 → $.99
• Need for Speed Hot Pursuit – $4.99 → $.99
• Need for Speed Undercover – $2.99 → $.99
• Real Racing – $2.99 → $.99
• Dragon's Lair II Time Warp – $2.99 → $.99
• Scrabble – $1.99 → $.99
• Tetris – $2.99 → $.99
• The Sims 3 Ambitions – $4.99 → $.99
• The Sims 3 World Adventures – $4.99 → $.99
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon -$2.99 → $.99

Whenever we do these sales we usually tell people to go download Dead Space since it's the best game on the list. This is true yet again, but I will add that Tetris is a mighty fine touch-based title. You won't be writing home about its graphics regardless of your hardware, but it's pretty fun.

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Steve Jobs unveiled iOS 5 back at WWDC this year. Since then, those of us with an iPhone 3GS or later device have been anxiously looking forward to the array of new features and functionality introduced in the update. At last week's Let's Talk iPhone keynote, Apple revealed that today was the lucky day for iOS 5, and if you've got a device that'll run it– Plug it into iTunes, make sure you sync, and mash that update button.

My favorite improvement so far has definitely got to be the entirely revised push alert notification system. That nasty blue popup that interrupts everything you're doing when you get a text message, your Tiny Tower is ready for something, or the zillion other things that used that type of been notification is a thing of the past. Now there's an incredibly elegant notification center where all these alerts are stored, and the actual popups themselves simply scroll in from the top instead of stealing focus.

If you've got an iPad 2 (or are getting an iPhone 4S in a few days), you'll be able to do display mirroring via AirPlay. Doing cool things with this is largely dependent on developers utilizing it in interesting ways, but so far Firemint is doing awesome things with Real Racing 2.

In addition, Game Center has seen a few tweaks. One I'm most excited for is turn-based support. If developers utilize it, Game Center can handle all of the matchmaking and turn data management between players. I've heard from developers that this functionality does not degrade gracefully to previous versions of iOS, but once iOS 5 adoption picks up we could see a rush of great turn-based games now that developers can offload their entire online infrastructure onto Game Center.

iCloud isn't something that should be underestimated. Out of the box it'll keep your device backed up to Apple's data centers and in the event of device failure, loss, theft, or whatever else you'll be able to re-download the entire contents of your phone regardless of the last time you synced. Also, once developers start embracing it, you'll be able to seamlessly sync save game data between devices. As someone who often plays games on both my iPhone and iPad, I can't wait for this to pick up steam.

iOS 5 is an incredible upgrade. I've been running the developer version since the gold master hit last week, and much like the upgrade from iOS 3 to iOS 4, my iPhone 4 feels like a totally new device. iOS 5 boasts a feature list of over 200 additions and improvements, so if you want to know everything that is new and different, check out this huge list over on MacRumors.

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A pre-existing game might be one of the best to show off your soon-to-be brand new iPhone 4S’ power, if Firemint’s Real Racing 2 is in your collection. Real Racing 2 [$4.99] and Real Racing 2 HD [$6.99] are set to receive a free and new update that’ll add an extra layer of graphical goodness on top of their pre-existing sizzle, all in the service of harnessing the A5 chip. New dynamic shadows and lighting, increased polygon counts, reflections, and exposure effects are all being added in the game’s latest update, which should hit pretty soon.

And that’s not all — iOS 5 is coming and so are a handful of features to Real Racing 2 that revolve around Airplay support. With the update, you’ll be able to wirelessly stream the game’s content to your TV. Also, if you’ve got friends with the game and an iPhone 4S or an iPad 2, you’ll be able to play with them in split-screen. “Party Play” mode will allow up to 4 players to compete on the same screen, provided the host has Apple’s new hotnesses.

Firemint isn’t known for missing a hardware launch, so we didn’t expect any less. Still, this seems like an absolutely spectacular deal for current and new owners of the game. Real Racing 2 was great to begin with, and now it’ll look even sharper than ever.

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