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Kotaku is reporting that Crytek, the company behind the CryEngine technology and the Crysis series of visually high-end first-person shooters, is in advanced stages of a new social gaming network that they’re calling GFACE. Yes, GFACE. I’m as baffled as you about the name, “game+Facebook” maybe?

Anyway, what the service known as GFACE actually claims to do sounds pretty cool. It runs completely in the browser and lets you do all the sorts of social things you would expect from your Facebook, Google+ or Twitter – add friends, post about your interests, discover new people, and plenty more. You can also meet up with people online and enjoy media-type things together, sort of like how you can watch a movie with friends in an Xbox Live party.

And of course, you can partner up and play games together. But this is the surprising part – all the game’s are streamed from the cloud on GFACE’s end, similar to how the OnLive system works. There’s a drag and drop party creation system that Kotaku likens to Battlefield 3‘s Battlelog, and then everybody plugs into the game on GFACE’s servers from their individual locations.

The interesting bit is that the type of gameplay seems to scale depending on what device you’re using. Like the graphic above, someone can be playing a first-person shooter on their PC while other players are connected to the game via their mobile devices, but with secondary roles. The person on the iPad has a commander role from a top-down perspective and the person on the iPhone-lookalike is directing a support weapon.

It’s a pretty exciting prospect thinking about being able to play games with people online in this fashion, utilizing different devices and gameplay perspectives all in the same game. I need another social network like I need a hole in my head, but the other features of GFACE sound pretty interesting as well. That name, though. Yeesh.

You can see a video of GFACE in action at the original Kotaku article or the GFACE website. The UI is bananas, everything is so smooth and high-tech feeling. I’m actually eager to check it out. Right now GFACE is in closed beta, but whenever it finally launches it will be interesting to see if it’s able to make an impact in the fledgling streaming game market or the nearly-impossible-to-compete-in social network market.

[Via Kotaku]

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Sissel has a lot of problems, but the least of  them is that he’s dead. Well, not dead-dead, but dead. I’ll explain: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective [Free] is all about what Sissel has gained in the afterlife. Like a common ghoul, this guy can rattle mundane objects, activate levers and buttons, and possess stuff. He can also decidedly un-ghoulishly rewind time, which is a trick that comes in pretty handy; a lot of the people he knows tend to die, and he needs these people to help him with his biggest problem: memory loss.

Ghost Trick first saw a release on Nintendo DS around a year ago. This isn’t its debut on iOS, though. A couple of months after the DS release, Capcom dropped a Universal version of the game on the Japanese App Store. Now, the rest of the world is finally getting to see a version of this port tonight.

And it seems like it’s OK from a technical standpoint. In my modest amount of time with it, I haven’t seen any port-specific issues like stuttering or flickering. It controls pretty well, too, and caters to your finger just about as well as it did to the stylus.

There’s some stuff still bothering me. The assets aren’t as high of a resolution as I would like. Also, a good sixth of the screen is covered by a thick layer of UI that, it seems, is simply there to keep the pixel density high. It’s weird.

In case you missed out on Ghost Trick, it breaks down like this: Sissel is often charged with reversing people’s deaths and he has to use his powers to do so. Each death is like a puzzle, basically, that has you opening doors, spiritually oozing to adjacent objects, and otherwise setting up Rube Goldberg-ian scenarios that’ll change that person’s fate.

In most cases, you’re watching a death, infesting that person’s body in order to rewind time, and then actively trying to disrupt that sequence. The solutions to puzzles seem to be mired in weird video game logic, but the saving grace here is that there is a single and true solution to every puzzle. You just gotta find it, you know?

I’ve been having a blast so far, by the way. This is a pretty thoughtful, if not challenging game with some insane, but fun-to-discover solutions. And while the minutes of overly long exposition is starting to wear me out, I’m digging the characters and the humor. Just wait until you meet dog, man. Wait for it.

We’ll definitely continue on with Ghost Trick, and try to give you something much more definitive than this in the near future. This is a free release, though — the first two chapters, which take about 60 or 70 minutes to complete, are what you’ll get with a $0 download, so that should give you a good indication of what you’re getting into. Our gut says grab it. Here’s some more screens:

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Foursaken Media has made a name for themselves which such quality releases as Bug Heroes [Free], it’s spinoff Bug Heroes Quest [99¢], and the wacky arcade cooking game Mad Chef [99¢]. In fact, they have yet to make a game that I don’t like, and it looks like they aren’t interested in breaking that trend anytime soon as their newest upcoming game Sky Gnomes looks like yet another winner. Rather than go into too much detail about Sky Gnomes, check out the hands-on video below where the developer does an excellent job of explaining all the ins and outs of the gameplay:

Sky Gnomes looks like it’s going to be a ton of fun, and I’m really digging how you’ll be able to race against the ghosts of other players. Also, it’s a really attractive game to look at, something that doesn’t quite show through as well in the above video. Further down the line, Foursaken is also in the beginning stages of a sequel to their first iOS title N.Y. Zombies [99¢]. They’re aware of how overdone zombie games are in the App Store, but they also know that the original game has quite a following of fans, and they’re eager to put everything they’ve learned through their last several releases to work on the N.Y. Zombies sequel.

Sky Gnomes is just being wrapped up, so shouldn’t be too long of a wait, and beyond that keep your eyes out for the sequel to N.Y. Zombies to hit sometime in 2012.

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In April of 2009, the world was treated to Ow My Balls! [Free], the “Citizen Kane of iPhone gaming” according to our own Eli Hodapp. Ow My Balls! is a simple but powerful arcade game where you kick a hapless gentleman off of a rooftop and try to rack his, ahem, family jewels let’s say, against as many painful objects as possible before hitting the ground. Aiding you in this noble quest is the use of flatulence to keep you afloat and carry you towards some hard to reach objects in the environment (like unicorns), which will ultimately lead to higher scores.

So yeah, Ow My Balls! probably won’t be the next favorite past time of high society, but it’s an immensely fun and funny game for those who can appreciate its lowbrow humor. At last year’s Macworld I talked with Ow My Balls! developer Josh Michaels about a huge version 2.0 update to the game which went live the following month and expanded the game with Retina Display visuals and a whole roster of new characters, as well as dropping its price to free.

This year at Macworld 2012, I again met with Josh to check out the upcoming Ow My Balls! XL for iPad. The iPad version will include everything from its iPhone counterpart, as well as a number of new enhancements. There’s a brand new politician character to play, as well as other subtle nods to current events like the hippie Bobby Surreal “occupying” the starting rooftop in his tent. New swiping controls have also been added which are both simple to use and more effective, ensuring that even your grandmother could play this game (something I could sense was a concern on everybody’s mind).

Finally, there is some fresh new title screen music and some new character dialogue, both of which you can see in this hands-on video (FYI if you’re somewhere that’s not blaring fart sounds friendly, you might want to check your volume):

Unfortunately, despite reaching nearly 5 million users, Ow My Balls! wasn’t exactly a financial success. Josh’s other project, ironically, is the classy and beautiful Magic Window [99¢] app that brings amazing time-lapse scenery to your iOS device. It’s as gorgeous as Ow My Balls! is silly, and it’s currently the one putting the Cup O’ Noodles on the table. No, Ow My Balls! XL isn’t meant to make money, though it may offer some sort of in-app purchase as more of a donation type of thing. Instead, Josh draws satisfaction just from knowing he’s made people laugh with his work (and about an equal number of people angry, as the iTunes reviews have always been roughly equal parts 1 and 5 stars).

If everything goes according to plan, then Ow My Balls! XL should be launching on Valentines Day for free, and I can’t really think of a better gift for your loved one. Also, in the very near future the iPhone version will be getting updated with all the additional features found in the iPad version. Sadly, once that’s completed, that will likely be the last of game development for Josh as he focuses solely on Magic Window. Sometimes you gotta do what pays the bills, even if it means putting your farting, nuts-kicking game to rest.

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At last year’s Macworld, XMG Studio was showing off Cows vs Aliens [99¢], a game I thoroughly enjoyed when it came out and is still amongst my favorite games. This year, their big upcoming title will be a brand new licensed Ghostbusters game. It’s not really past the concept stage just yet, but the mock artwork and test animation videos I saw are looking pretty sweet.

Ghostbusters will have a heavy social component, as well as some augmented reality gameplay ideas. So, for example, you might wander into Starbucks and get alerted that there’s a ghost on the loose there, and you’ll need to find it using your device’s camera and wrestle it down into one of those fancy traps just like in the movies. Then, you can valiantly hold your device in the air and loudly declare “we came, we saw, we kicked its ass!!” as the entire cafe cheers you on. Or something like that, at least that’s how I’d imagine it going down.

Another upcoming project from XMG is a remake of their incredibly popular Drag Racer: Pro Tuner [Free] series. Drag Racer lets you get super involved with tricking out a vehicle with tons of customization options, from cosmetic stuff to performance improvements, and then you get to take your ride to the streets and compete against other players and their cars. The new version will feature completely redone visuals and a nice UI overhaul, which the team tells me is something they’ve wanted to do for a long time.

Finally, if there are any teenagers in your life, then they might get a kick out of the just released Totally Amp’d! [Free]. XMG has enlisted some actual established actors to create 10 episodes to play through, which let you do things like create your own music videos, record your own songs, and come up with your very own fashion designs for characters in the game. The production values are through the roof in Totally Amp’d!, and you can check out the first episode for free with the remaining episodes available as a $4.99 in-app purchase.

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Smappsoft is another company that I had the pleasure of meeting at last year’s Macworld, when they were readying the release of their clever matching game Look Again! [$1.99/Lite]. We liked Look Again! quite a bit in our review, and a child-friendly spinoff was released later in the year called Look Again Jr [99¢] which takes the core gameplay of the original but adds in all sorts of learning-centric things for young kids like spelling and counting. It’s actually really well done, with brightly colored visuals and some solid voice work, and is something I’d suggest checking out for any of the parents out their with little ones.

One thing you might not realize about Smappsoft though is that they have a fairly large presence in the world of professional poker. Their Chinese 13 Card Poker [$4.99] has an almost cult-like following in the competitive card playing world, and a day doesn’t go by where I don’t see some kind of professional poker star tweeting about playing the game or looking for new online opponents.

Smappsoft is sticking with the poker theme for their next game, and are looking to turn video poker on its ear with the upcoming Pokertini. I was able to spend some quality time with Pokertini during our meeting, and let’s just say I had a pretty hard time giving them their iPad back. Pokertini looks like your average 3-hand video poker on the surface, with brightly colored visuals, a clean interface, and some jazzy background music. Video poker games aren’t anything new on the App Store, so initially it might be hard to see what all the fuss is about with Pokertini.

This is where the twists come in. There is a list off to the side of the screen that is filled with various types of powerups and game augmenters. Using coins you earn from playing, or by purchasing more through an in-game store, you can use these twists to change up some of the aspects in the game. Things like multiplying your bet amounts because you drew a great initial hand, or blocking high cards from being drawn from the deck because you’re trying to go for that low straight. The twist menu adds all sorts of crazy strategy to how you go about playing each hand, and is a really fun way to mix up the tried and true video poker gameplay.

The other big addition is a badge system that works almost like the mini-missions in Jetpack Joyride. At any time you can click the icons in the upper right of the screen to check which badge you’re currently on and what types of things you need to fulfill before advancing to the next badge. These can be tied to things like getting certain hands, winning certain bets, and more. This is the real carrot on the string for Pokertini, and I can already tell I’ll be spending an unhealthy amount of time chasing missions to upgrade my badge status.

Pokertini was a lot of fun during the time I spent with it, and it looks like it’s very near completion so keep your eyes out for it to hit the App Store soon.

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Brad Nicholson said it best in our preview of Dungeon Crawlers [$1.99]: “It’s the video game equivalent of a mullet, reserved and business-like, yet fun-loving and goofy.” I’d add “A little bit awkward in any situation,” for both the mullet and the game. It’s a quirky strategy RPG that invests heavily in tropes of old, glorifies the Ghostbusters, and isn’t quite ready for prime-time.

Don’t get me wrong; fans of traditional SRPGs will find a lot to love if they give Dungeon Crawlers a chance. It’s a funny, charming, and mostly well-crafted game. You’ll run into a few glaring omissions, and you might have trouble with the game’s high memory footprint, but rest assured that Ayopa Games and Drowning Monkeys plan to address all of that soon. No matter how much I enjoy myself, though, I keep coming back to the same problem: Dungeon Crawlers is just way too ponderous.

The mix of dungeon crawling and strategic combat works well. Basically, you poke around a dungeon floor by floor, fighting baddies, finding secrets, and occasionally solving puzzles. The game slips into turn-based combat mode the moment you enter an area with enemies. A movement grid is laid out on the floor. Enemies take their turns, one by one, and then the heroes take theirs. It’s a good formula, but every bit of it is too slow.

Enemy turns take too long, and can’t really be sped up. Every movement and attack feels a bit slower than it should, and everything has to happen in turn. Sometimes it feels like no one has any idea how to land a hit. In combat that already feels too slow, a whole round spent with weapons missing harmlessly (or landing glancing blows, a common problem) is dull, dull, dull. It would shorten the game, but combat would be a lot more fun if the developers cut out the weak hits, lowered everyone’s miss rates and let you fast-forward through enemy turns.

If only they could apply that sort of trimming to the rest of the experience. For example, you start with only three of your four heroes: Payter, Aegon and Roy (if you’re thinking Ghostbusters already, those should sound familiar), and each gets just one ability initially. For the first few levels combat is mindless. Payter walks up to an enemy and slashes it. Aegon casts Magic Missile from further back. Roy heals whoever is wounded. Rinse. Repeat. It’s a fine way to start, but the game takes far too long to start filling your arsenal with new friends and abilities.

It’s a shame, because I doubt many mobile gamers are going to wait the hour or two it takes for things to start getting interesting. Try to be the exception, because it’s worth it. Even though Dungeon Crawlers has a limited roster of characters, its encounters get both challenging and strategic. Much of the strategy is in learning to carefully position your party members. Payter, for instance, eventually learns to stun the enemies that surround him. Predicting where the enemies will move, you can put him in just the right place to get surrounded. Then you can line up Aegon to hit the grouped up baddies with an AOE, and keep Failston blocking the way back to Roy. Mana isn’t a consideration, but action limits are, so healing is a once-per-turn affair. If a character falls, they’re out of the game until the next floor.

Failing isn’t a a huge deal, since you can always restart from the beginning of a level or an encounter. But that decision really hurts when encounters start lasting for half an hour or longer. You should be able to offset this by using the coins you collect to buy potions in a tight spot, but you can’t. A shop is coming, as are IAP coins for the poor adventurer with a wealthy player. The game can already be completed without the store, though, so the IAP will be optional in the extreme.

Unless, that is, you try to plow straight through. Dungeon Crawler’s loot system rewards the explorer. You won’t find much if you just stomp around killing enemies and opening chests, and your equipment will quickly fall out of date. If, on the other hand, you manage to find the levers that hide secrets in nearly every level, you’ll be at the tip-top of your game. The game could use a balance tweak or two to keep less-curious players geared enough to fight, though. The loot is all pre-determined, and it really hurts your chances if you miss a few secrets.

Even with all the frustrations and issues, I really dig Dungeon Crawlers. If you’re a sucker for references, this game plays with a ton of them – from the blatant and encompassing Ghostbusters theme to jokes about things the younger crowd might still understand. That’s on top of an engaging adventure tale that does its best to keep you interested in slogging through fight after fight. The characters, the music, the level design and environments – all great. You get the idea: the game would be fantastic if only it were pared down, cleaned up and sent out much more streamlined.

Until then, a cautious recommendation will have to do. If you’re looking for an old-school strategic romp through some very traditional dungeons, you’re in the right place. But these aren’t play sessions you can cram into five minute smoke breaks. Dungeon Crawlers is built to last – for better or worse, you’ll get hours out of it. If you’re a sit-back-and-be-patient sort, you’ll be just fine.

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Check this: footage of Oceanhorn, the Cornfox & Brothers adventure game joint that seems to resemble the best Zelda ever in both style and tone, is now available. We’ve embedded the video just below for your viewing pleasure and aren’t worried in the slightest that it will be pulled despite being labeled as a “secret” video. This is a PR stunt for a title that made waves when first announced, and hasn’t seen substantial coverage since.

We’re not complaining, by the way. We want to see more and realize that Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas could be a big deal when it hits later this 2012. Not only is it fascinatingly gorgeous, but it’s also mechanically and functionally inspired by Zelda. The world desperately needs more of these kinds of games, and if these cats can pull it off, a lot of people are going to be very happy.

Also, in entirely unrelated but sort of related news: If you’re into Wind Waker, check out this fan-made imaginary Wii U sequel trailer that just hit YouTube and is blowing up all over Twitter. Bananas!

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Did you know that penguins spend up to 75% of their time underwater, looking for food in the ocean? Or, if Chillingo’s recent Greedy Penguins [99¢/Lite] is to be believed, they spend 85% of their time on ice floes, waiting for you to feed them, 10% of their time playing guitar and burping, and 5% of their time getting eaten by ravenous Orcas.

Greedy Penguins is a bird-centric physics puzzler (what a concept!) that revolves around you finding ways to get incredibly stressed-out fish in the mouths of the correspondingly-colored penguins. You tap the fish to drop it from its hook and get it rolling, then through a combination of timing and obstacle-clearing, get it to the right-colored penguin. Once your penguin is successfully fed, he coughs up ice cream, which you tap to feed each level’s companion and get bonus points when completing the level, garnering a one, two, or three-fish rating.

The concept isn’t new, but the execution feels good. I found myself really enjoying this game, as much for the cute graphics and theme as for the well-designed puzzles. While the earlier puzzles seem easy (don’t they always?), once I really got going it became quite challenging to make sure I got the fish moving in order to clear obstacles. I found myself failing some levels multiple times. Since each level is short, I didn’t mind too much, but it did remind me of how bad my timing is (I still get night terrors regarding the Cave of Wonders level from Aladdin for the Sega Genesis).

Another challenge, though one not personally experienced, is that the colors chosen for each penguin and their food make the game exceptionally trying for color blind people. As mentioned in the forum thread, those who can’t see colors will have a heck of a time getting through this game. If you’re persistent and don’t mind some trial-and-error, you might still enjoy it, but as a person who had enough trouble being able to clearly see everything, I would probably recommend skipping it until a color blind option is added.

The other thing that I personally didn’t like was the in-app purchase option. I’m generally of the conservative “in-app purchase?! Not in my paid app!” mindset (I am a bit of an old person, after all), and my thoughts on Greedy Penguins are no different. Simply beating every level in a world isn’t enough to unlock the next set of levels. In order to unlock the second and third igloos (worlds of 12 puzzles each), you need to have either collected thirty fish (out of only thirty-six) or pay 99¢.

The game also encourages you to waste time in levels by tapping the penguins and their companions to make them do “funny animations,” making it unlikely that you’ll get a perfect score of three fish on your first try. Crafty, no? I don’t know about you, but I don’t really like replaying levels of games just to gain points (or fish) in order to unlock content that I feel entitled to, having already purchased the app.

All things considered, Greedy Penguins is a well-crafted – though hardly groundbreaking – puzzle game. It’s fun and extremely well-executed, with enough challenging puzzles to keep you occupied. If you’ve got a dollar or two burning a hole in your pocket, I’d definitely recommend giving it a spin, especially since it’s Universal. If not, well, you can always get your penguin fix from this video!

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