UPDATE: included pricing for World in War.

Pan Vision is bringing their military and political strategy title, World in War, to the iPhone and iPad. Developed by Fabrication Games, the game is a single- and multi-player turn-based war game set in World War II. You’ll be able to play through several campaigns from history and take control of your forces on land, sea and air. You have the option of allying with other players, or turning on them, and your politics will have a large impact on how your military strategies play out. World in War is due to hit the App Store on December 16th, and will go for $2.99 iPhone, $6.99 iPad.

Elves Inc: Christmas Mission HD has been released by G5 Entertainment. A line-drawing game, the player must direct the elves of Christmas Town to deliver gifts to Santa’s sleigh and search for secrets. There are four types of elves to manage through 30 levels in three different locations. The game is available now on the App Store for $1.99…an iPhone version will be forthcoming shortly.

And finally, Appular has released Invaders World Tour 3. It’s an upgraded version of Space Invaders with retro graphics. You must defend countries around the world from a slew of alien invaders as they enter Earth through an intergalactic portal. Features include allowing you to create your own in-game sound effects and share them with friends via Bluetooth, and the ability to switch between retro and more modern sound effects before each game starts. The iPhone version is available for US $0.99, while the iPad version is US $1.99

We knew it was coming. There were signs. And now, from the clutches of devastating Indie game developer claws comes….

THE HUMBLE INDIE BUNDLE 2: THE BUNDLE REBORN

Brought to you by Wolfire Games, The Humble Indie Bundle 2 features five of the most awesome games the indie world has to offer, all available for Mac, Linux, and Windows platforms.

Braid: manipulate time to move our lovelost hero to certain…well, we’re not certain what happens to this dude, to be sure. But it’s an awesome game!

Cortex Command: Manipulate forces above ground with a disembodied brain. Ewwwwww.

Machinarium: A robot seeks his girlfriend that has been taken from him. Not a WALL-E remake.

Osmos: The mote in God’s eye…no, wait, let’s try that again. Little mote eats smaller motes, gets bigger. Becomes god. Yeah, that’s it.

Revenge of the Titans: Zeus, Kraken, you get the idea. Wait, no? It’s an RTS tower defense strategy game? You mean, NO KRAKEN??

And these Indie Game Developers…they seek to fool you. They rope you in with the belief that you can pay whatever you want to purchase these games, and choose how much of your payment will go to the developers and how much will go to the charities Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child’s Play Charity.

But once you’ve paid, then…THEN…

BWAHAHAHA!!!!

Then you will be forced to…um…well, play awesome cool games, and, uh, feel good about helping out Indie developers and charities and…uh…

Wait, what was the point of this, again?

The AP reports about a controversy involving Capcom’s latest iPhone game, The Smurfs’ Village. Though the game is free, there are in-app purchases that can be made. Unfortunately, some loopholes have found little ones purchasing things without even realizing that they are racking up charges on mom’s and dad’s credit cards.

The Smurfs’ Village allows players to build a Smurf village, which is powered by Smurfberries. You can play through the game gathering Smurfberries, which as you can imagine take time. Or you can go the quick and easy way and make in-app purchases. These can range from getting a bucket of Smurfberries for $4.99 all the way up to a wagon of the berries for a whopping $99.99. One might question the mental competence of someone who’d pay a hundred bucks for a video game of this type, but there it is.

The problem is that there seems to be a loophole (or several, from what the AP article states) in purchasing. First off, when you download the app, you have to enter in your password. There is then a 15 minute window when you don’t have to enter your password again for anything app related…including in-app purchases. So, parents apparently gave the game to their kids right after downloading the game and the kids were able to make in-app purchases without needing to enter the password. But some parents claimed that they had waited out the 15 minute period (as much as several hours or a day), and still these in-app purchases occurred.

Apple has stepped up to the plate to remedy the situation. They have refunded the erroneous charges to parents who have complained. They have also reminded parents that anyone can restrict in-app purchases from within their iOS device by going into the preferences panel and changing the settings. However, while this is true, this would be a global change to all in-app purchases, and would need to be manually reset each time one wanted to play a game where in-app purchases are desired.

Capcom has also attempted some fixes, both by altering the notes on the App Store page for the game reminding parents that this game “charges real money for additional in-app content” and giving them information about how to restrict in-app purchasing. They’ve also placed these warnings within the game itself.

This has really highlighted a much more general issue with freemium games using in-app purchases for monetization. Free games that make their money off of in-app purchases all risk this type of issue. Regardless of whether the highest purchase that can be made is $0.99 or $99.99, the charges can quickly rack up, especially from the hands of a little one who doesn’t understand that tapping the button will take money out of mommy’s or daddy’s pocket.

And this article is not the only one that claims that the window that allows in-app purchases without the use of a password is longer than 15 minutes. This forum discussion from the Apple.com website from back in August also highlights this problem, with developers claiming that they, too, confirmed this issue exists. To see for myself, I downloaded a free game that uses in-app purchases and tested out the password issue, but I was unable to duplicate the problem on either my iPhone or iPad.

Is this an issue that Apple needs to resolve by changing the way that they require passwords when making in-app purchases, or are parents not fulfilling their parental duties? Perhaps parents do need to have a more hands on approach when it comes to safeguarding their wallet when handing over the iOS device for the kids to play on. Then again, one never needed to hide the wallet in the past when the game was purchased from the retail store. This is a new and recent issue that has parents, developers, and Apple wondering how far to go and who to blame.

Regardless of what we might think it is, though, Apple is finding itself having to refund money to parents who feel unable to control the spending habits of their tots playing games on their parents’ iOS devices. In the end, it may not matter who’s responsibility society believes it is. In the end, Apple may make changes just to preserve its bottom line.

Each month, a new set of top quality apps are inducted into the App Hall of Fame. December’s list shows that games remain a very important part of the App Store culture…almost 60% of the apps inducted were games.

Included in the list are popular games that are probably on most gamer’s iPhones or iPads, such as N.O.V.A. – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance by Gameloft, Peggle by PopCap Games, and Space Invaders Infinity Gene by TAITO Corporation. But the App Hall of Fame gives you a chance to look at games you might not have heard of before and give them a chance as well.

For example, Canabalt, by Semi Secret Software, is a simple, yet surprisingly addictive, platformer. You run your character through black and white pixelated graphics, trying to see how far you can get. There are a few obstacles in your path, such as boxes, chairs, and the occasional bomb that falls from above. And your speed increases over time, but decreases as you hit objects. The flow is magical, and can really cause you to forget how long you’ve been playing.

You can see the entire list of inductees for December, as well as inductees for earlier months, at the App Hall of Fame site.

Appular has released Neo Defender 2, which was announced earlier in the month. A modernized Asteroids set in deep space, your craft must be defended at all costs. As the sole defender of the last surviving craft, you must avoid defeat by blasting away illuminated geometric space enemies that multiply and disperse!

Freeverse has released a new freemium game, Flick Winter Carnival. In keeping with their flick franchise, Flick Winter Carnival allows you to play all of those carnival games of old with a flick of the finger. Included are Bottle Smash, Old West Shooting Gallery, Ring Toss, and Fortune Teller…where you can get your fortune told by Voltare the Wise. Or you can get your photo taken at the photo booth. Freeverse is touting the physics within the game, delivered by the NVIDIA PhysX engine, and console-quality graphics. The game also includes in-app purchases, like the Bling pack and the Adventure pack. The game is free for download from the App Store, and includes both an iPhone and iPad version.

Entering the App Store with some totally new IP, PopCap Games has released Escape Rosecliff Island, a hidden object game for both iPhone and iPad. After an unexpected storm, your left shipwrecked on a mysterious private island. Solving puzzles through 25 scenes is your only way out. PopCap has included three game modes, Island Mode, Unlimited Seek & Find, and a mystery bonus game mode that is unlockable within the game. On-demand hints and five different types of mini-games round out the game. Escape Rosecliff Island is available on the App Store for $4.99 for the iPad version, $2.99 for the iPhone version.

Macworld Magazine has released their 2010 Macworld Editors’ Choice Awards for software and hardware, and amongst the winners are a few game-related gems. Steam and Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty made the software category, and the iPod Touch and iPad hit the hardware list.

From the site:

Steam

The Steam online gaming service is more than just an iTunes Store-like place for games; the free service from Valve offers exemplary social functions and demos of many of the games. Steam has become the go-to place for gamers to shop for and try out everything from blockbuster releases to indie hits, find new friends to frag with, and stay up to date with the latest patches. A Steam buddy list lets you see which of your friends are online. It’s an exciting time to be a Mac gamer thanks to not only Steam’s impressive list of games now available on the platform, but also because the promise of future titles making their way to a MacBook, iMac, or Mac Pro near you. (Free)

To read the rest of the article about both the software winners, you can go to 2010 Macworld Editors’ Choice Awards for software. The hardware list is located at 2010 Macworld Editors’ Choice Awards for hardware.

 

What’s inside this episode:

• A review of Clock Blocks, by 80dGames. A port of a popular Flash game. You can grasp the gameplay of Clock Blocks in a minute, and spend forever playing a game that can end in seconds. And woe be to the teller who interrupts you in the middle of an 80 level run.
  
• Also, a review of Supermarket Management HD, by G5 Entertainment. Even with some silly graphics, sound, and touchscreen issues, Supermarket Management HD will keep you on your toes as you run around the store attending to everyone’s needs.
  
• Plus, a review of Tap Disc, by Legal Radiation. A merge of 90’s grunge with 80’s arcade and timeless strategy to create a successful and fun game of forethought and speed. An anything-goes capture the flag where only one color wins.

• Clock Blocks
• Tap Disc
• Supermarket Management HD

Topware Interactive has announced that the release date for their MMORPG, Two Worlds II, has been pushed back to January 25th in the UK, Ireland, and North America. The game has been released already in Europe.

Though South Peak Games, publishing partner to Topware Interactive, relinquished control of the UK and Irish market, they will still be publishing the game in North America. The game continues the story of the original game in Antaloor, where the game’s hero must defeat the evil Gandohar to free his sister. Two Worlds II has been built on top of the new GRACE game engine, which the developer promises will reduce loading times, improve general game performance, and enable full gameplay with only moderate hardware requirements.

The minimum system requirements may bear that out:
Mac 10.6 or later
Intel single-core CPU, 2.0 GHz or better
1 GB RAM
Radeon HD series, Geforce 8800 GT (Shader 3.0 and 512 MB RAM)
8GB of free hard drive space
Mouse, Keyboard, DVD-drive
Internet connection (required for Multiplayer)

Two Worlds II will be released for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Mac.

Tripwire Interactive has announced a special Killing Floor celebration for the holidays. Dubbed “Twisted Christmas”, the event will feature Christmas themed versions of enemies, Santa’s Evil Lair, holiday-themed achievements, and more.

Running from December 14th through January 4th, Twisted Christmas features an unlockable playable character called Baddest Santa (don’t know whether the chick attached to his hip is part of his gear or not). A new difficulty level beyond suicidal is introduced…Hell on Earth. Over 130 total achievements have been added, including 13 Christmas ones. And a new level, Santa’s Evil Lair, is there for the taking.

Tripwire has also teamed up with Valve to provide a Team Fortress 2/Killing Floor crossover as well. Everyone who owns both Killing Floor and Team Fortress 2 will get a playable red or blue “The Pyro” character from TF2 recreated in Killing Floor art style during the promotion. Further, everyone that owns both TF2 and Killing Floor before the event ends will receive a special item in Team Fortress 2: Mr Fosters Gasmask and Tie equippable on the Pyro.

Tactile Entertainment’s Pirates vs Ninjas vs Zombies vs Pandas, has released today on schedule complete with a new gameplay trailer that gives a better understanding of the game’s mechanic. We are looking at an Angry Bird’s style mechanic, but it seems that the four characters each have unique properties that can be used during gameplay, including a panda that can be blown up big and bowled over the enemy. The game goes for US $0.99 for iPhone, with an iPad version promised in one week for US $4.99.

Icelandic Studio Gogogic has released a puzzle game for iPhone and iPod Touch called Symbol6 Redux. In this family friendly edutainment game, players must match shapes coming onto the screen with the shapes on the Symbol6 Machine. Shapes can be swapped when incoming shapes don’t match. The developer claims that the game will help young ones with their shape and color matching, as well as spatial learning. Symbol6 Redux has Game Center support and is available on the App store for US $0.99. The developer claims that an iPad version is available for US $2.99, but that does not yet appear on the App Store.

Oh, and I wouldn’t be much of a game reporter if I didn’t mention this little gem. Epic Game’s Infinity Blade hopped onto the App Store yesterday, seeking the top spot. And so far it’s toppled Angry Birds in both Top Paid and Top Grossing. Infinity Blade is an action RPG that seeks to redefine the iOS platform as merely for casual games. Powered by Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 Technology, this game brings full 3D visuals, single-player campaigns, DLC, and easy, touchscreen navigation as players direct a knight to save civilization…or at least kick ass. If this game don’t end up in Hall of Fames across the net, I dunno what won’t. You can get the game as iPhone or iPad at US $5.99.