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You may remember last October when a little app called iDOS snuck its way into the App Store. Every once in a while the review team at Apple falls asleep at the wheel and approves an app that probably shouldn't be allowed in the App Store. iDOS was one of those apps. It was a version of the DOSbox emulator that let you run DOS on your iOS device and load up all sorts of crazy old PC software.

Ah yes, I remember the iDOS day well. It was so much fun watching our article on iDOS constantly getting updated with whatever new feat of magic was discovered by the eager members in our forums. Many classic PC games ran incredibly well in iDOS, with full keyboard and mouse support, and the coup de grace was actually installing Microsoft Windows 3.0 on an iPad and playing the classic version of Solitaire included with it.

Like all good things though, the iDOS phenomenon quickly came to an end, and the app was removed from the App Store almost as suddenly as it appeared. Being able to load and run entire outside programs from within the iDOS app is a big no no according to Apple, and the thousands of people who had downloaded iDOS quickly backed up the app to their hard drives for safekeeping.

Then last night, iDOS surprisingly showed its face again in the App Store. In order to get it through the approval process, developer FAST Intelligence closed up the iTunes file sharing rabbit hole that was the gateway to loading whatever DOS programs you wanted, but has added some other nice functionality to try and compensate.

There are now 6 legal shareware games preloaded in iDOS which can be downloaded for free from the new “iDOS Store” within the app. The games can then be launched easily by selecting them from your collection, and no knowledge of DOS commands is necessary to get them going. For those that want to though, there is still access to the full DOS prompt for launching games.

Other additions include a full virtual joystick/d-pad and buttons rather than just a virtual keyboard, the ability to play on the iPhone/iPod touch in portrait mode just like the iPad, and Bluetooth keyboard support for text-based games. The virtual gamepad is actually really good, and makes playing games like Wolfenstein 3D a whole lot more enjoyable.

While it is pretty disappointing that you won't be able to go nuts running programs using the new iDOS, it's actually a pretty solid little emulator and still fun to play around with. Word on the street is that jailbroken devices can still load whatever games they want into this new version using file managing programs, but that doesn't seem very exciting to me since iDOS has been available as DosPad in the jailbreak App Store Cydia for a long time now, and offers that same functionality.

These screenshots show the new portrait mode gamepad controls for the iPad (left) and the iPhone (right). Click either image to enlarge.

If you missed out on iDOS the first time, it's still worth checking out this new version despite its limitations, especially as it's now free to download. Be warned though – if you have the original version of iDOS in your iTunes library, this new version is actually an update that will replace that one, so it's suggested that you back up the original app before downloading version 2.0. There's a brand new thread in our forums for discussing this rereleased version of iDOS, and hopefully this time Apple will let it stick around for longer than one day.

App Store Link: iDOS, Free (Universal)

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Yesterday, we posted about an issue that had recently gained quite a bit of attention in the App Store world. On Monday, developer Robots Vs. Wizards started a topic in our forums announcing that they had received word from Apple that they would need to change the name of their game Doodle Monster, at the insistence of Doodle Jump creators LimaSky, as it could potentially infringe on a trademark held by them. Assuming that they were in the wrong, Robots Vs. Wizards was ready to change the name of their game so as not to see it pulled off the App Store.

Other developers started chiming into the thread, however, and stated that they had received similar warnings about their own “Doodle” games. Bryan Duke of Acceleroto detailed some additional information pertaining to his own personal situation dealing with the term “Doodle” and how it pertained to LimaSky.

Since Monday this story has quickly created quite a stir on the internet, with a groundswell of support for the independent App Store developers and a whole heaping load of ire towards LimaSky. This was a bit unfair, though not totally unprecedented for the internet, as LimaSky had yet to even comment with their side of the story, and in just a couple of days the lynch mob mentality was in full swing. Last night, Igor Pusenjak of LimaSky released an official statement about the whole debacle over at PocketGamer.biz.

First, and foremost, Pusenjak reports that he has instructed his lawyer to withdraw the complaint notices from Apple. He claims the reason behind the infringement notices were, in fact, defensive.

That notice was sent out largely to protect our Doodle Jump trademark from threats of being canceled by Bryan Duke's big-house law firm. One of their arguments for threatening to cancel our registered Doodle Jump trademark was that we did not prevent other games from using the word 'Doodle'.

Pusenjak further says that they didn't intend to have those games removed from the App Store, but to specifically address potential infringements rather than removal of the games, themselves.

And we have made this clear to every developer who has contacted us — you don't need to take your game down, but you need to change the infringing elements.

Pusenjak also points out that Bryan Duke was the first to file for the "Doodle" trademark, and that Lima Sky's own "Doodle" registration was to avoid having the trademark used against them. So, it seems some of the legal escalation that occurred was due to misunderstandings and/or mistrust between the two parties. Duke admitted to filing for the "Doodle" trademark first, but he claims it to have been defensive as well:

Just like my lawyer told me, there was no way anyone (except for possibly the very original "Doodle" game) could possibly get awarded the trademark for the word doodle. My lawyer told me the only way to have proof of that was to file for a trademark for the word doodle. To get that proof and the protection from potential opposition from Lima Sky, I did that.

Lima Sky's full statement can be read on PocketGamer.biz. While the merits of each side are still being discussed in our forums, it seems there has been a surprisingly swift and amicable conclusion to this ordeal.

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Friend of TouchArcade and IGN Wireless writer Levi Buchanan recently published an awesome interview with Gameloft CEO Michel Guillemot. Chances are that you’ve already seen a couple of the quotes floating around on the Internet, as they're irresistible to bloggers. Guillemot, surprisingly, doesn’t address topics of conversation with the usual stoneface, marketing-conjured replies we’ve become accustomed to when listening to corporate types.

Here are some notables from the convo and I think you'll get what I mean as you pour through:

• On the subject of Gameloft ripping off games on other platforms and then spitting out its own version on the App Store, Guillemot said, “The video game industry has always played around a limited number of themes. There is maybe one new idea a year.” He also re-iterated that Gameloft simply recreates games that handheld gamers simply would never see without the developer.

• On the subject of the recent rash 99 cent sales and specifically EA’s house-clearing one that drove tons of its apps to the top of the charts, Guillemot argued that the move was damaging. "There is a high uncertainty for the future anytime somebody can steal the market at Christmas," he said, adding that sales similar to EA’s hurts indies and activates that “race to the bottom” we hear so much about.

• And on the subject of distribution, Guillemot talked briefly about Gameloft’s plans to put their apps on TVs. "Playing on a TV without a box is weird today, not in ten years,” he said. Gameloft is in a unique position to actually put its games on whatever, and it's certainly clawing to do that.

Check out the full interview for your needed dose of context — it’s pretty important, especially in regards to the Gameloft copycatting issue that always seems to raise the collective gamer choler. You’re not angry right now, right? Please calm down!

[via IGN Wireless]

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We've been following this confusing development for a few days now which originally started on our forums where an increasing number of developers are receiving notice that they're violating Lima Sky's trademark on the word "Doodle" by having various titles on the App Store with "Doodle" in their names. Lima Sky is responsible for the wildly popular jumping game Doodle Jump [99¢], and its success also likely spurred the (now incredibly cliche) barrage of similarly styled doodle games. Bryan Duke of Acceleroto posted a fantastic synopsis from a developer's perspective of what has been happening.

In a nutshell, Lima Sky has just barely enough legal ammo to lean on Apple to get similar games removed. From there, Apple sends out a letter to the developer of the game in question, and they have five days to respond or else their game gets yanked off the App Store. 148 Apps recently confirmed Lima Sky's intentions by receiving a form response back from their legal team explaining that they are in fact claiming a trademark on the word "doodle" and are looking to have any games with "doodle" in the title changed (or removed, from the looks of it).

Where things get interesting is that while Doodle Jump is a ton of fun, calling it an "original" game couldn't be more of a stretch. Its gameplay is based on PapiJump [Free], and developers have been releasing video games with a hand-drawn styled "doodle" art for years before Doodle Jump. It wasn't the first game with "doodle" in its title either, as Adrian Cummings of Mobile Amusements pointed out on our forums, they originally released Doodle Bug in 1992, and plan on bringing it to the App Store.

We're as tired of "doodle" games as everyone else, but any way you slice it this is a very depressing move from Lima Sky. We had Igor of Lima Sky on our podcast, and frankly, his tale of how his company began with him and his brothers making video games for fun was incredibly heartwarming. Having them turn on fellow indie developers a year later exercising trademarks which seem shaky at best is incredibly disappointing.

For more information on all this legal drama, and to follow along with developers under the legal hammer of Lima Sky as they deal with it on their end, stop by the thread on our forums.

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The new game GeoSpin [99¢] from Lazrhog Games takes its name quite literally. It's a fast-paced puzzle game where you must spin a geometric 3D shape while matching each of the flat panels that comprise the shape from a row that borders the game screen. It's hard to explain on paper, but easy to instantly pick up when playing. Lazrhog has nailed the controls, leaving only your speed and dexterity to determine how well you can perform. Graphics are basic but colorful, and pop on the Retina Display at a rock solid frame rate. GeoSpin is a simple idea executed beautifully, and is one of the more original games as of late and quite a bit of fun to boot.

In GeoSpin there are 11 increasingly complex shapes to tackle. Time Attack mode presents these linearly across 3 difficulty levels – easy, medium, and hard. You are timed on how long it takes you to place each panel into the shape, with a minimum time requirement to unlock the next level and additional time goals for earning bronze, silver, and gold medals for each one. In all, Time Attack has 33 levels to earn medals on. It's a decent challenge to earn golds on easy, but on medium and hard only the most nimble-fingered players will be able to achieve the qualifying times, let alone earn medals.

It's a fun kind of challenge though, one that keeps you coming back over and over to try and earn a better time. The real hook in GeoSpin is its excellent OpenFeint integration. There are leaderboards for every shape in every difficulty category, and it even updates your leaderboard position in real-time on the level select screen so you always know where you stand. I've found myself frantically retrying levels just to inch ahead of someone on my friend list, strictly for bragging rights, and it's a very satisfying feeling when I finally do surpass someone or place high globally.

The other half of GeoSpin is the Score Attack mode. Here you'll tackle each shape one after the other with a set countdown timer for each one. Your score is cumulative and based on how much time is left after completing each shape. There are time bonuses you can earn too, like matching certain shapes or colors in a row. The bonus requirements are displayed before each level and add tremendously to your score, and are practically required in the later levels in order to earn enough time to complete some of the more complex shapes. If you fail to solve a shape in the given time, the game ends. Score Attack is like GeoSpin's survival mode, and is a really fun diversion from the regular game.

I like GeoSpin because it just feels like an iPhone game, very well-suited to the platform. Spinning the shape feels perfect by default (but you can adjust the sensitivity if you choose) and dragging the shapes from the outer row is simple and painless. The UI and controls stay out of your way so you can just enjoy playing, though my biggest complaint is that the game doesn't currently support fast-app switching which can be annoying. The OpenFeint integration ensures a lot of replay value chasing high scores, and even if you're not into that sort of thing it will take a long time to earn gold medals throughout the game.

It may not blow you away with high end visuals, and the core gameplay is pretty simple and won't appeal to everybody, but GeoSpin is a catchy and original game that is executed very well. I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying the title, and players in our forums have been enjoying it as well. If you're looking for something fun and unique, definitely give GeoSpin a try.

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While it may not be a name most people recognize, the original Death Rally is a top-down racer with a ton of history behind it. The game was originally released and published in 1996 by Apogee, developer of Duke Nukem 3D and publisher of various classic PC titles such as Wolfenstein 3D. Death Rally was the first game developed by Remedy, who later went on to create the Max Payne series, and more recently, Alan Wake. This isn't just a simple remake either, Remedy has enlisted the help of both Mountain Sheep, creators of Minigore [99¢ / iPad], and Cornfox & Brothers, a game studio filled with industry veterans.

Death Rally is a top-down racer filled with vehicle upgrades and combat. In fact, recently the original PC version of the game was re-released as a free download [Direct Link]. Check out what the remake is going to look like when it launched on the iPhone and iPad in March:

Pricing isn't being discussed yet aside from it being "similar to other high-end games," so we're thinking that means anywhere between $4.99 and $9.99. Either way, we can't wait to get our hands on the game, and March really can't come soon enough.

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Early last month we previewed Solar Minotaur Rescue Frenzy from noted psychedelic shooter author Jeff Minter. The game is basically a trippy combination of Asteroids and Space War! played on the screen of the iPhone or iPad and marks the first in a series of Llamasoft games that are part of the "Minotaur Project," an effort by the developer to release numerous titles featuring retro gameplay, progressing forward from the Atari VCS aesthetic to the VIC 20, Commodore 64, and beyond.

The game is now complete and, with a few additions and enhancements over the preview build examined earlier, is available for download in the App Store [link].

Minotaur Rescue, which is a Universal app that natively supports both the iPhone and the iPad, consists of an active starfield play area with a sun at the center. In its core gameplay mode, you control an ever-firing ship that can fly about this starfield (wrapping at the edges) and is affected by the intense gravitational pull of the aforementioned sun. And so, too, are the asteroids closing in from the edges. Your job is to blast apart these asteroids (as opposed to slamming into them), some of which contain minotaurs that must be rescued before they drift into the sun. If too many asteroids drift into the sun, it will turn into a black hole…which is bad. The closer to the sun a minotaur gets before you rescue him, the more points you gain for said rescue. And, the more minotaurs you rescue and the closer you are to the sun, the faster your auto-fire tosses out rounds. Just to keep you fully on your toes, the occasional enemy saucer passes through (and some are tiny), shooting at you and dropping mines.

A touch-anywhere control pad puts you in the pilot's seat, with perpetual auto-fire engaged, as mentioned previously.

In addition to the core gameplay mode, Minotaur Rescue features four other playmodes, as well. There's Survival mode, where you've got just one life in a bid to score as highly as possible before obliteration. There's also Deep Space Minotaur Madness which is like the core gameplay mode, but with only the Asteroids elements in place (plus minotaurs) — no sun and associated gravity. And, perhaps oddly, there's also the Tanks! and Jets! modes, which are like the simple playmodes of the pack-in Atari VCS cartridge Combat. But, of course, with a heavy dose of psychedelia and floating minotaurs to pick up along the way.

The game features solo play, as well as (for those who have friends) two person play on the same iPhone and up to four person play on the same iPad. OpenFeint and Game Center integration are both in place, here.

See Minotaur Jeff demonstrating the game on an iPad.

Minotaur Rescue makes use of Llamasoft's new Neon 2 game engine for iOS, an evolution of the original Neon "light synthesizer" engine, which powers the XBOX 360's music visualizer and Space Giraffe title. According to Minter, Neon 2 is much improved as compared to the original, featuring a cleaner framework and a lot more bang-for-the-buck in terms of shader usage.

As fan of Minter's work, and of retro titles in general, I've had a blast with Solar Minotaur Rescue Frenzy, but also feel that the simple yet challenging gameplay may appeal to a wider audience, as well.

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Rovio has put us in an interesting predicament with our end of the year coverage. It's impossible to not somehow mention Angry Birds [99¢ / Lite / HD], but strictly speaking, it is a game released in 2009. December 10th, 2009, to be exact. The game's appearance on the App Store was without much fanfare, as it was (and still is) published under Chillingo's Clickgamer brand. Established in late May of 2009, Clickgamer is Chillingo's secondary brand to offload casual titles and other games they wouldn't label as an "AAA title" like iDracula [99¢], and other top games of the time.

From the original press release:

“This moves allows Chillingo to focus the Chillingo brand on AAA titles, and at the same time allow us to leverage our marketing resources to promote clickgamer.com to support the publishing of high quality titles across various genres in the App Store” said Joe Wee, Director and co-founder of Chillingo.

Chillingo's decision to relegate Angry Birds to the Clickgamer brand seems to be a clear indication that they had few expectations of the game which has since become their flagship title, and likely played a major role as a bargaining chip when EA acquired Chillingo for $20m. Looking back at the original thread on our forums and our own review, Angry Birds was unanimously loved, but many mentioned there "only" being 63 levels and the lack of any kind of online leaderboards as things that detracted from the game.

Obviously, Rovio didn't give up on Angry Birds, they stuck to their guns and released a constant stream of updates through 2010. Angry Birds charted in one way or another since its release, but it wasn't until late February that it got a foothold on the top of the charts– A position it's more or less held on to since then. A HD iPad version later appeared, as did a new self-published seasonal game, Angry Birds Seasons [99¢ / HD] which has enjoyed similar success.

Graph courtesy of AppAnnie

Rovio has basically rewritten the definition of success both on the App Store and in the world of Android. Earlier this month they announced that they've reached 50 million downloads, and in a recent interview with Tech n' Marketing mentioned that over 80% of people keep the game installed. Some other amazing statistics are mentioned in the same interview. 200 million minutes of Angry Birds is played every day which compares favorably to basically every other form of visual entertainment including primetime television.

Next year Rovio has plans to bring Angry Birds to home consoles, and in a interview with the BBC, they even confirmed a sequel was in the works. While Rovio remains guarded with their exact plans for 2011, the fact remains: With a pool of millions of Angry Birds fans, anything they release will likely also rocket to the top of the charts.

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2XL Games have made a fantastic name for themselves on the App Store with a series of games based on extreme motor sports. These include 2XL Supercross [99¢ / Lite / HD], 2XL ATV Offroad [$4.99 / Lite], 2XL Trophylite Rally [99¢ / HD], and as of this coming January, Ricky Carmichael’s Motocross Matchup. As the title hints, Ricky Carmichael is the front man for this game, and boasts an impressive resume of various trophies, medals, and other awards from all kinds of different Motocross events.

According to 2XL, the upcoming game is going to feature five supercross tracks (odd, considering this is a motocross game), two outdoor tracks, a race shop, and "an exciting line-up of super-charged Suzuki bikes". We're still waiting for additional clarification on how it will work, but the game also includes a "match-up mode" which will allow players to compete head to head online for positioning on leaderboards. It isn't entirely clear if this is realtime, or merely racing other people's ghosts, but we hope to find out soon.

We thought 2XL Supercross was a really cool game, but a bit shallow in our review. If they take similar gameplay, and add some additional depth through more tracks, a bike upgrade system, or even this new match-up mode, they're going to have a great game on their hands (and in our hands).

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