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Today Apple held its media event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and unveiled its work in significantly evolving a number of its mobile and media products. I had a chance to see it all first hand and spend some hands-on time with the fruits of the company's recent labor.

The announcement that is likely of the most interest to our readers is the arrival of the new iPod touch, thinner than ever and featuring the same razor-sharp Retina display used in the iPhone 4. (And, holding the new device in my hand, I can confirm that the screen is every bit as sharp as that of the iPhone 4.) The upgraded device is, indeed, basically "an iPhone 4 — without the phone," with a few exceptions. It utilizes the same A4 processor used in the iPhone 4 and the iPad, and features integrated gyroscopes for added in-game control precision. It has front- and back-facing cameras, as well, allowing FaceTime video chats. But the rear-facing camera offers a relatively low 960×720 pixel resolution, as compared to 2592×1936 pixels on the iPhone 4. That means it produces photos that are only 14% the size of those taken with big brother iPhone 4.

But, we're gamers here! And in that capacity, the new iPod touch is a golden mobile gaming device. During today's event, Steve Jobs indicated that the iPod touch is presently the #1 selling mobile game device, outselling Sony and Nintendo's devices, combined. He revealed that 1.5 billion entertainment and game app downloads have passed out of the App Store. With the dramatic enhancements on most every front that the new iPod touch puts in the hands of gamers, we don't expect the touch to give up the crown anytime soon.

Another big announcement that Steve had in store is the reinvented Apple TV. No longer a scolding-hot slab of metal and plastic with the footprint of a Mac mini, the new Apple TV is a quarter the size of its predecessor, shrouded in black plastic, and cool to the touch.

This time around, Apple dispensed with local media storage and has positioned the new unit as a video streaming device, built on a video rental model. First-run HD movies can be rented at $4.99 per, with HD TV shows available at $.99 an episode — all HD. Netflix streaming is integrated, as well. And all of the local media sharing capabilities of the original device (tying to computers in your home for media display on TV) are preserved, with the notable addition of media streaming from an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. And all that, which I can confirm fits comfortably in the palm of your hand, can be had for just $99.

The new Apple TV should be of particular interest to our readers for another reason — it's based on Apple's A4 processor. Intel is not inside, this time around. Given that, it's clear that the new device is based on some form of OS X for the ARM processor. Apple isn't calling it iOS but, if it's not iOS proper, it's something extremely close. But, likely, it actually is iOS under the hood. Daring Fireball's John Gruber recently lent strong confirmation of that, as well.

And if, indeed, the new Apple TV is an iOS device, is there an App Store in its future? Let's hope so…

Apple also showed a new iPod shuffle which, happily, brings back the buttons of the previous versions and also demonstrated the new iPod nano. The nano is about the size of the shuffle, but features a multitouch display and a user interface styled after iOS (though it's not iOS-based). It's a pretty amazing device to play with, extremely light, small, and functional. It's not improvements all around with this one, though; the new nano lacks video recording as well as playback capabilities. It seems Apple's decided that's functionality to be found only in the iPhone and iPod touch.

On the software front, Apple has released iTunes 10 (available now), which offers several interface improvements as well as Ping, a new social network of sorts that allows iTunes users to follow one another and share news of what they're listening to online. Facebook integration is in place as well. iOS 4.1 will be released next week and will include a number of new features including the launch of Game Center — Apple's leaderboard network. Other improvements include bug fixes, and performance enhancements for 3G owners. iOS 4.2 was also previewed which will finally bring OS 4 to the iPad and is due in November.

It's clear from today's event that Apple has been keeping a laser focus on the areas that have become its clear domain: media and mobile.

written by Blake Patterson

As part of today's keynote, Epic Games showed a brief tech demo of the Unreal Engine 3 running on an iPhone. In a surprise twist of events, this very same tech demo just appeared on the App Store mere moments ago as a free universal app. If you've got an iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, 3rd Generation iPod touch, or iPad, feast your eyes on Epic Citadel [Free].

The 82.2MB tech demo includes a medieval town to explore, complete with a bizarre and a "mysterious cathedral". If you've been waiting to see just what the latest-generation iOS lineup of devices is capable of, you really need to check this out. Epic Citadel is a fantastic display of the potential of future gaming on the platform, as it has been developed using the exact same tools and technology that developers are using now to create high-end console games.

written by Eli Hodapp

Apple's press event starts in just a few moments, which is currently being streamed live on apple.com. The catch is, you either need to be using an iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or Safari on a Mac. As mentioned in our previous post, new iPods are expected, as well as some potential news regarding the Apple TV and even some changes to the iTunes store. In just a bit we'll find out just how accurate the rumor community really was this time around.

If you're at work, or can't get the stream to work, this post will be constantly updated with events that transpire at the keynote that pertain to things that App Store gamers would be interested in. For complete coverage, swing over to MacRumors.

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Our own Blake Patterson is currently in the convention center, and will be providing us with awesome photos of the event for those of you who can't get on the stream.. The broadcast of the event so far is holding up quite well, and has amazing video quality. We'll see if it holds up as the press conference starts in a minute.

At 12:00 on the dot, Steve Jobs takes the stage and points out Woz who is in the audience. Jobs starts out with an update on their new retail locations in France, China, and Great Britain, all beautifully engineered with Apple's standard store design in three iconic locations. Moving on, Steve gets right in to iOS. He describes it as a "revolution in touch and apps," boasting over 120 million iOS devices shipped so far and 230,000 iOS activations per day. New activations. 6.5 billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store, or, 200 apps every second.

Steve jumps right in to iOS 4.1, citing tons and tons of bug fixes including the proximity sensor, Bluetooth, and performance boosts on the iPhone 3G. Non-destructive HDR photos and the ability to upload HD video via WiFi is being thrown in along with the debut of Game Center.

Game Center is "all about multi-player games". We've already heard about the features of Game Center, but Steve is going over how you can challenge friends, match up games, and compare scores with others. Games spotted as demo games include Angry Birds and others.

After that, he invited Mike Capps of epic games on stage to further demonstrate Game Center and reveal their first game for iOS devices which is just codenamed Project Sword. The graphics look absolutely phenomenal, and the framerate good as well. They move on to show how inviting players to other games work, along with a live multiplayer game with two players dueling with swords.

Jobs takes the stage again, and mentions that 4.1 will be available next week for the iPhone and iPod touch and will be a completely free download. Steve also offers a sneak peek at iOS 4.2 which is going to be "all about iPad" and will include Game Center as well along with several other new features. 4.2 also includes something called "AirPlay" which allows for media to be streamed from iTunes directly to the iPad. 4.2 will be released in November and will also be a free update for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

Moving on to iPods, Steve mentions this is a "music event" and quotes a staggering figure of 275 million iPods sold to date. Ramping up to the new iPod reveal, Jobs mentions that they release new iPods every year and this year is no different with new designs for every model. "The biggest change in the iPod lineup ever." The iPod Shuffle goes back to something that looks closer to the 2nd generation iPod shuffle with buttons, while maintaining the voiceover and playlist functionality of the previous iPod Shuffle.

The iPod Nano has shrunk even further, now has a multitouch screen, and looks exactly like we thought it would from the leaked cases that made the rounds on rumor sites earlier. Unfortunately, it seems that the widescreen display and camera have been axed. The touch interface looks just like the iPod touch, only down-sized for the smaller display. Of course the iPod touch is next, and since its release has become the most popular iPod.

According to Steve, the iPod touch has become the #1 portable game player in the world. It outsells the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP combined, Currently the iPod touch holds over 50% of the marketshare for portable gaming, and has seen 1.5 billion downloads of games and entertainment apps just to the iPod touch. The new iPod touch is even thinner, surprisingly so.

The new iPod touch has the same Retina Display of the iPhone, the A4 chip, the 3-axis Gyro, iOS 4.1, and FaceTime with a front facing camera along with a rear camera capable of HD video. (As an aside, I just found what I'm getting everyone in my family for Christmas.) iMovie now works with the new iPod touch, and FaceTime works between both iPod touch users and iPhone 4 users. 3 models are offered, 8 GB, 32GB, and 64GB for $229, $299, and $399 respectively.

All of these new iPods will be available next week, and will be available for pre-order today.

Once again moving along, Steve starts citing statistics from iTunes such as nearly crossing the 12 billion song download threshold and 160 million accounts with credit cards and one click shopping enabled. iTunes is expected to surpass sales of CD's in the US next year, so they decided to ditch the CD in the logo with a new logo for iTunes 10 along with other refinements. Interestingly enough, Apple is taking on Last.FM with a new service called "Ping" which is a social network of sorts to see what your friends are listening to inside of the program.

And here comes the inevitable one more thing… Apple TV. Introduced four years ago, it's never been a huge hit, but people who use them love them. The second generation Apple TV is being introduced today, and it's a fourth the size of the old unit with emphasis on renting streamed content instead of syncing, downloading, and storing content. The new Apple TV also supports Netflix streaming, YouTube, Flickr, and MobileMe for content sources as well as streaming media from your computer. The new Apple TV will sell for $99, is available for preorder today, and ships in 4 weeks.

And that's it! Hopefully we'll be able to get some hands-on time after the event to check out the new iPod touch and we'll be doing everything we can to get more details on Project Sword as soon as possible.

written by Eli Hodapp

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.

written by Eli Hodapp

Cut the Rope – Already drawing comparisons to the incredibly popular Angry Birds [99¢/Lite/HD], Cut the Rope is a new physics puzzle game developed by Zeptolab and being published by Chillingo. In the game, you're tasked with feeding candy to a hungry little creature named Om Nom. For whatever reason, the candy is tied up by ropes, and you must cut each rope strategically in order to let it swing and fall (or sometimes rise) into Om Nom's mouth. Hazards like spikes and spiders look to make feeding Om Nom even more difficult than just swinging the candy to his mouth, and bubbles can grab a hold of your candy and cause it to float away.

This game trailer gives a glimpse of the gameplay on offer in Cut the Rope:

There will be 100 levels in Cut the Rope, and each will be able to be played through quickly, but all the stars on each level must be collected if you intend to get the best score. Much like Angry Birds, it will be easy to keep retrying a level until you've achieved perfection. Expect a similar three star scoring system, as well as Chillingo's Crystal service for achievement and leaderboard tracking. You can join in on the discussion of the game in our forums, and expect Cut the Rope to be hitting the App Store in the coming weeks.

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Lost Company – Announced at the beginning of July, Lost Company is a new tactical turn-based strategy game from developer Tome Studios. It's an online multiplayer focused game, with a single player element that is designed to teach you how to play the game before battling it out online. The style is reminiscent of Team Fortress 2 meets Final Fantasy Tactics, and the art and character design is looking very nice so far. You'll choose a team of five from the available unit types, which include a sniper, flamethrower, engineer, melee expert, and more. Winning matches unlocks new weapons, perks, and abilities for your units as you evolve and level up your persistent online profile. Matches will take place on various terrains that feature high grounds, half cover points, water, bridges, and other elements that add to the strategy of play.

This short video shows some of the tactics necessary in dealing with the terrain, and other gameplay videos can be found on the Tome Studios YouTube page:

One of the coolest things about Lost Company is that game data will be stored on the server side. The game will be universal for iPhone and iPad, and available on Mac OSX as well. So, if you start a game on your iPhone, you can then pick up in the same game where you left off later on your iPad or Mac. Lost Company is shooting for an October beta, with release to follow sometime thereafter. Once the server is up and running, you will be able to log in and create an account even before the game is available, earning an undisclosed in-game bonus for doing so. The developer is actively discussing the game with members in our forums, so be sure to check out the thread for a ton of concept art as well as details on how to log into the server when it goes live.

written by Jared Nelson \\ tags: iPad Games, iPhone Games, iPod touch games, Upcoming Games

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 several 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.

written by Blake Patterson \\ tags: iPhone Games, iPod touch games, Shooter, Upcoming Games

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.

written by Blake Patterson \\ tags: iPhone Games, iPod touch games, Shooter, Upcoming Games

Since Apple enabled peripheral support for iOS devices in iPhone OS 3, we've been watching closely to see what creative control peripherals hardware developers will bring to the platform. The latest is the PartyDock, a multiplayer remote control dock for the iPhone 4 and iPad.

As TUAW reports, the PartyDock is an iPad charging dock that also docks with four individual remote controls and features video out (component) for connection to a TV, thought it's unclear as to what output resolution will be supported. Griffin indicates that various party, family, and casual games that utilize the PartyDock will shortly be arriving in the App Store. Three mini-games and one full featured game will be bundled with the device, in some fashion.

Have a look at Griffin's PartyDock PR shots:

While gaming is the obvious main thrust for this device, it's also a general media station of sorts. With the PartyDock nestled in your entertainment center, watching videos, photos, and listening to music on your hi-fi rig will be a thing of relative ease.

We're anxious to get our hands on the PartyDock and put it through its paces. It's encouraging that Griffin has a developer contact mechanism on their product site for those wanting to support the device in their apps. Hopefully iOS control accessories will become a plentiful and well supported option.

written by Blake Patterson \\ tags: iPad Games, iPhone Games, Upcoming Games

My favorite game that I played at the Glu iPhone Games event was Gun Bros. Gun Bros. is a top-down dual-stick shooter with a completely over the top style in just about every way. You play as one of two brothers, Percy or Frances Gun, as you destroy wave after wave of increasingly difficult enemies. The game is set on a series of planets in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world, and each planet has 10 levels (called revolutions) with 50 waves of enemies per revolution. You'll earn XP with every enemy that you kill, which goes towards leveling up your character. You will also earn something called Xplodium, which is an unstable ore that can be refined after each level and sold for gold to buy new weapons, armor, and equipment.

The greatest thing about Gun Bros. is the huge arsenal of crazy weaponry. Sure, we've all played games with a shotgun or a spread gun, but what about a triple barrel shotgun or a gun that spreads in seven directions? If you fancy gatling guns, why not up the ante and add three together for a triple gatling gun. Don't even get me started on the Shuricannon (cannon that shoots shurikens) or the Machete Mayhem (a dual pistol that shoots – you guessed it – machetes). These are all realities in Gun Bros., and it makes mowing down enemies a ton of fun. In all, there will be 30 different weapons across 6 different weapon classes, and your character can carry two weapons at a time and switch freely between them.

Besides the regular weapons in Gun Bros., there's also a number of special items and tons of different armors. The special items can be pulled up in a small window during play and give you benefits like health refills, increased damage for a short time, or powerful full screen attacks. The armor in the game is almost as cool as the amazing weapons, and give you many options for enhancing your attributes and customizing the look your character. There will be over 40 different pieces of armor, each capable of upgrading your character in areas like defense, strength, and speed. With the right combination of armor pieces you can choose which areas you are most effective in, and look bad ass while doing so.

Another key element to Gun Bros. is the social aspect of the game. Since you are a pair of brothers, there is always an AI controlled partner blasting away at baddies with you while you play. You'll have the ability to add friends in the game, and then import their specific character to play as your AI companion in your own game. If your friend happens to have some seriously upgraded gear compared to yours, you'll get the benefit of his extra firepower on your computer controlled character. You will also both keep all the XP you earn, which will transfer back to your friend's game when you're done playing. There is extra incentive to play with your friends as you can earn daily bonus items by doing so. Perusing the in-game friend list allows you to check out what bonus items are available for each friend, as well as how their various characters are equipped.

Much like Glu's other game Magic Life, Gun Bros. will launch fully featured for free, but of course there is a way to spend money on the game if you wish. You can purchase additional types of chambers for refining your Xplodium at the end of levels, thus earning more cash per unit and getting to buy weapons and armor much more quickly. This isn't necessary, however, and those who don't want to pay and have patience can still see everything the game has to offer. Gun Bros. was the game I played the most at Glu, thoroughly enjoying every minute of it, and I'll be impatiently waiting for its late October release.

written by Jared Nelson \\ tags: Arcade, Free, iPhone Games, iPod touch games, Shooter, Upcoming Games