Good Old Games is running a $4.99 sale on multiple Sierra titles including Space Quest and Kings Quest. The games come in packages of three and are compatible with Windows (sorry, Mac users, but here’s a consolation prize).

Each package includes three parts of each series, including Police Quest, Space Quest, and King’s Quest. This includes such hits as the original King’s Quest: Quest for the Crown rendered in beautiful 16-color CGA, a game that literally made my jaw drop when I saw it boot up on my friend’s XT computer in about 1985. That, my friends, was true gaming, before the days of rail shooters and endless RPGs.

Product Page via The Verge

Six months ago, Brass Monkey had built and released some well-developed software development kits (SDKs) for Android, iOS, and beyond that, simply put, enabled gamers to turn their mobile devices into remote controllers — with support for Flash, Unity3D, and desktop games and apps. The Brass Monkey team, CEO Chris Allen tells us, believed that bringing the functionality of a Wii controller to smart devices was something gamers could get excited about. But, at the time, they were missing one important piece: Support that would allow gamers to play on the browser. So they went about acq-hiring Emotely and its Founder and CEO Francois Laberge, bringing him on as CTO.

Laberge, through Emotely, had developed the necessary tech to convert smartphones into controllers and run games on the browser using HTML5 for both interface and communication layer (with HTTP and WebSockets), all of which brought an essential component to Brass Monkey’s existing products.

Fast forward to today, and Brass Monkey has a free app for iOS that allows you to run one of seven killer games through your browser. In other words, Brass Monkey converts Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or your browser of choice, into your video game console/display, while the mobile app turns your iPhone into your motion-sensitive controller. (Really, any screen with a web browser is your display.)

And again, for developers, Brass Monkey offers SDKs that enable them to create games for the browser that have features similar to Xbox, PS3, Wii, etc. using familiar tools for web games, like HTML5, Unity, and/or Flash.

Yes, it may sound a bit complicated — and this is the one problem these guys are going to run up against, the “huh?” factor — but it’s really not. Just launch your app, the browser recognizes your phone, and then choose from seven games, like Monkey Golf (move your phone back and forth to putt), Monkey Volleyball, or from racing games, zombie shooters, etc. The app takes you through the setup, and you can be playing in a couple of minutes with a good WiFi connection.

I’ve messed around with it a bit, and a few of the games are still pretty glitchy, but granted my graphics card isn’t exactly high caliber. If you’re having problems, close all your tabs and other applications if you have to, and the games should work more smoothly. And, hey, one of the games, Gnop Gnop (a 3-D Pong), even has support for multiplayer — with more on the way.

Brass Monkey also added a virtual currency model into the app with its latest release, which came out while the team was showing off their wares at CES. This allows users to purchase a whole mess of Brass Coins via in-app purchases, which they can then use to buy games on the site, purchasing single-servings, or buying the game outright.

The startup has also recently begun to ramp up their effort to bring on third-party developers to build games for its web console, and is offering a rev share for all in-app purchases from their games.

All in all, this is an extremely appealing concept. I’m not exactly the world’s most avid gamer, but this is something I can get addicted to, especially as I’m usually only feet away from my smartphone and a web-connected apparatus or doohickey of some kind. (I have a sneaking suspicion I’m not the only one.) Yes, it’s still a work in progress, so don’t go in with a rigid frame of mind, but this is awesome stuff. Just ask Joypad, who are onto the same idea, with more of a focus on the iPad.

Converting smartphones into controllers for browser games is an idea that has intrigued investors as well, as Brass Monkey is today announcing that it has raised $750K in seed financing from a host of angel investors, including Co-founder of Kima Ventures, Jeremie Berrebi, David Beyer, CEO of Chart.io, Founder and Managing Director of Boston Seed Capital Nicole Stata, and more. (See the full roster on AngelList.) The CEO tells me that the team has already begun raising its series A, too, and is already in talks with some big venture firms.

The Boston-based Brass Monkey was also a 2010 finalist in MassChallenge, a competition and networking organization for startups. The startup has an Android app in development, which should be ready by March.

For more, check out Brass Monkey at home here, or watch the video below. Let us know what you think.

It appears the iPad gamepad of our dreams has finally arrived. The 60beat is a full-sized gamepad designed for iOS devices and it connects to iPads and iPhones via the headphone jack. While there aren’t many games that support the technology (yet), the concept is fairly simple. The controller works by sending signals through the devices’ microphone jack.

Because it is portable it won’t bog down your baggage like the iCade accessory and it should be trivial for games makers to add support in future titles. $50 is a little pricey, but it might mean the difference between fun and failure when it comes to run and jump classics like Mega Man on the iPad.

Product Page

Once upon a time, Facebook game companies like Zynga fattened up their user counts thanks to viral distribution to non-gamers through the news feed. Facebook later curtailed this channel, forcing developers to concentrate on paid marketing and true word of mouth to grow. A new boom period could be coming, this time for mobile developers, as Facebook announced today that it is testing game stories in the mobile news feed. This could attract devs to its recently launched HTML5 mobile gaming platform with bait of reaching hundreds of millions of daily active Facebook mobile users.

Facebook learned a lot about balancing developer success with user experience during that first boom period, often called the wild west days. Game spam such as users asking all their friends to install and give them virtual good overran the news feed, making it a bore to non-gamers. Facebook will surely be monitoring the volume of mobile news feed game stories to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Rather than pepper the feed with individual stories, Facebook is using aggregated stories that read like “Rose Yao and 9 other people recently played games”. Below users see a few friends names and links to the games they played, and can tap to expand to see the whole list. Tapping a game will launch its HTML5 version, or that native app if already installed. The aggregated stories give users control, so those that want to discover something to play can, while those uninterested can breeze by.

Earned viral channels also democratize the Facebook platform, as they provide exposure to small developers without big marketing budgets. Facebook launched the HTML5 platform to make sure Apple and Google weren’t the only ones making money off mobile games. Developer adoption of the channel has been a bit sluggish so far, though. The opening of this viral channel could convince developers to experiment with Facebook mobile.

Facebook also made a few other announcements to the benefit of web Facebook game developers. Users will now see 6 bookmarks instead of 4 while playing games, which should boost retention and re-engagement. Home page bookmark notifications will now clear when clicked, making the arrival of new alerts more noticeable.  The separate Games & Apps dashboards have been combined so users don’t have to check two places, and game categories have been refined so Facebook can more accurately feature high quality developers. Finally, the company launched a Games Tutorial to ease the path to developing games for its platform.

Editor’s note: Contributor Brad Spirrison is the managing editor of mobile app discovery services Appolicious, AndroidApps.com and AppVee. Here are the Appolicious editorial team’s picks for the best iPhone and iPad games of the year.

In our previous post, we listed the top 20 iPhone and iPad apps of the year. But games are in a class by themselves, often pushing the limits of the hardware, software, and graphics capabilities of Apple’s iOS devices.

Instead of combining the platform’s great games with all of the other apps you should know about, here are our picks for the top 20 iOS games of the year:

1. Infinity Blade II (full Appolicious review)

Using state-of-the-art graphics and technology developed by ChAIR Entertainment, Infinity Blade II builds upon its plot-challenged predecessor and is the best game to come out in 2011. The sequel preserves all the coolness of the original including amazing Unreal Engine 3 graphics, tight, touch-based swordplay and a weird, beautiful world. Infinity Blade II showcases like never before what game developers can create on iOS devices.

2. Jetpack Joyride (full Appolicious review)

The art style and effects in this running game are simply gorgeous. It’s full of tongue-in-cheek humor and references to other iOS titles, including main character Barry Steakfires who was introduced in last year’s shooter game Monster Dash. The soundtrack to Jetpack Joyride is also fantastic. Developed by Halfbrick Studios, creator of Fruit Ninja, Jetpack Joyride is a game that is nearly impossible to put down.

3. World of Goo (full Appolicious review)

This popular PC and Mac game transitioned beautifully to iOS devices, including a separate iPad-specific version. World of Goo has a delightful art style and a haunting bit of story going on in the background, but it’s really about well-designed puzzle levels and tight controls that make it a blast to play.

4. Dead Space (full Appolicious review)

This prequel to the hit console game Dead Space 2, Dead Space is as engaging on the iPhone and iPad as it is on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC versions. Dead Space is a pretty gory third-person shooter, so it’s not for kids. It also manages to be scarier than just about anything else on the platform. The controls work well with the spot-on graphics and terrifying soundtrack.

5. StarFront: Collision (full Appolicious review)

Similar to the popular PC title Starcraft II, this real-time strategy title from Gameloft has players sending marines, tanks, robots and all kinds of other units to fight off the armies of their enemies. The game’s robust online multiplayer mode lets you take on as many as three other players in a big battle royale, or team up in a two-on-two skirmish. A separate iPad version is also available.

6. Scribblenauts Remix (full Appolicious review)

Warner Brothers did a nice job converting this hit Nintendo DS puzzle game to iOS devices. Players help the main character Maxwell solve puzzles by drawing or typing in tools like blocks or bridges to help them get from one frame to the next. Scribblenauts includes 40 levels, including 10 that are exclusive to iOS devices.

7. Tiny Tower (full Appolicious review)

The main point of this resource-management game is to build a tower, complete with floors of apartments, entertainment, eateries, retail shops, and so on. The addicting gameplay blends well with the retro 8-bit graphics and a quirky elevator music-style soundtrack. Game Center integration helps players find new “Bitizens” to face off against in this freemium title.

8. Hanging With Friends (full Appolicious review)

Zynga’s social and silly adaptation of the classic game hangman has some innovative wrinkles to please the Facebook and iOS generations. Players can use the Instant Replay function, for instance, to see your opponents fail or succeed at solving your word. Turn-based gameplay also lets players tap into the casual title on their own time.

9. Cut The Rope: Experiments (full Appolicious review)

This game isn’t just a rehash of Cut the Rope, one of the most commercially successful games to ever debut on the iOS platform. Experiments introduces new tools and items to use in the game’s 75 levels, adding a great new challenge to the title while keeping it easy enough for seasoned rope-cutters to pick up quickly.

10. Asphalt 6 (full Appolicious review)

In the mold of Real Racing 2 and Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, this title from Gameloft delivers a fresh spin to the racing game genre. Arcade style graphics, comprehensive gameplay elements to choose from, and exotic locations help speed freaks pass the time until Real Racing 3 eventually arrives.

11. Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP (full Appolicious review)

Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP is the sort of title that tries to blur the line between game and art, and it succeeds beautifully. From indie developer Craig Adams with a soundtrack produced by singer/songwriter Jim Guthrie, Sword and Sworcery has players taking on the role of an adventurer and questing for a legendary book.

12. Dark Meadow (full Appolicious review)

A first person horror title from Phosphor Games, Dark Meadow shares many qualities as our favorite game Infinity Blade II. The graphics and soundtrack of this combat title are state-of-the-art, particularly when leveraging the A5 chip inside the iPhone 4S. An interesting story and solid gameplay make up the core of Dark Meadow, and it brings a lot of spooky atmosphere along with it.

13. iOOTP Baseball 2011 (full Appolicious review)

An iOS version of the Out of the Park PC game, this manage-only baseball simulator drew rave reviews from iOOTP veterans and newcomers alike. Whereas Bill James Baseball IQ invites armchair general managers, this game will have you in the virtual dugout and test your skills as a baseball skipper.

14. Angry Birds Seasons (full Appolicious review)

While it’s been two years since Rovio released its household name application, the company continues to bank on updating Angry Birds Seasons around significant holidays. The 25 new levels in the most recent Christmas edition aptly titled “Wreck The Halls”— also available for iPads — is the gift that keeps on giving to Angry addicts.

15. Asteroids: GUNNER (full Appolicious review)

Atari re-imagined the classic Asteroids game for iOS devices with surprising and pleasing success. Compared to its predecessor, Asteroids Gunner has graphics that are out of this world. Nostalgia junkies yearning for the arcade era and fickle mobile gamers alike have reason to tap into this one.

16. League of Evil (full Appolicious review)

Based on the classic NES series, League of Evil actually has more in common with Mega Man. It is also arguably the most addictive and challenging side-scrolling game you will find on any mobile device. The game has all kinds of obstacles waiting to kill your character in each of its short, quick levels, and requires a lot of skill and precision in its controls to get past them all.

17. Shadowgun (full Appolicious review)

A third-person shooter built on the beautiful Unity engine, SHADOWGUN brings a console gaming feel to the small screen much in the same way as other big name titles, such as Infinity Blade. It also packs some great production values, with some quality voice acting, sharp controls and lots of stuff to shoot.

18. Temple Run (full Appolicious review)

Temples with booby traps and curses are what you’ll find in Temple Run, the best running game available for under a buck. The music and graphics are all good, and the game is very addicting. It’s definitely one of those games that you play “just one more time” over and over again.

19. W.E.L.D.E.R. (full Appolicious review)

Part Boggle, part Bejeweled with a bit of Scrabble thrown in, W.E.L.D.E.R. might become your new vocabulary-infused addiction. The tricky word-puzzler offers a game board full of letters and free tiles, and tasks players with rearranging the tiles one at a time in order to form words that clear the tiles off the board.

20. Tiny Wings (full Appolicious review)

In addition to being the game that officially dethroned Angry Birds as the No. 1 paid app in the iTunes App Store, Tiny Wings is a simple and addictive arcade game that is well worth the 99-cent download cost. Players assume the role of a tiny bird with tiny wings that really wants to fly. The goal is to see just how far the bird can fly until the sun goes down.

Mobile games network PapayaMobile is launching a new accelerator for mobile, social game developers called “The Games Academy,” which will kick off in Q1 2012. Like most accelerators, Papaya will be providing developers with office space, support from a team of industry veterans, legal advice and an opportunity to pitch VC’s.

However, there won’t be any seed capital provided, nor is the company taking an equity stake in the startups who join. Instead, Papaya only requires the teams use its Social Game Engine in their game’s development. Then at the end of the program, a “winning” team will be awarded with a grand prize of 100,000 guaranteed downloads.

That’s right – this isn’t your typical accelerator, The Games Academy is also a competition. While everyone benefits from the mentorship, training, the Academy’s QA lab, office space (in the Parisoma Innovations Loft located in SOMA), as well as access to legal and VC’s, only one company gets the big, big boost: 100,000 downloads.

PapayaMobile’s Justin Mauldin says that the company feels comfortable that it can push that much traffic to the winning app with its promotions, but if need be, it can buy incentivized installs from someone like TapJoy to fulfill the promise.

As for the instructors, PapayaMobile has lined up some notable experts to start: David “dc” Collier, President of Tokyo-based Pikkle and formerly the Business Creator for Namco Web&Mobile in Tokyo; Joel Breton; producer of Bomberman Live, Unreal, Duke Nukem, and Pirates of the Caribbean; John Szeder, VP of Engineering at hi5, previously from Digital Chocolate; Mark Wallace, lecturer in the Games Dept. at the Academy of Art University and formerly Conversation Manager for Second Life; and Charlie Huenergardt, also from the Academy of Art Univ., a 15-year veteran who has worked at Sega, Sony, 3DO, EA, Pirate Games, Crystal Dynamics, Shaba Games, and Page 44.

The program will run for four months and will include both classroom-style training and individual attention.

Says PapayaMobile CEO Si Shen, The Games Academy is a move made in direct response to a market that has been over-saturated by game investment funds.

“At the end of the day, money is only half of the equation,” she says. “Creating, marketing, and distributing successful social games that monetize well on mobile involves many different approaches. We intend to share our knowledge and bring about a shift in the industry.”

Partnering in the launch is Patrick Chung, Managing Director at SK Telecom Ventures, who will be advising teams on funding and how to launch their games in various markets. Game development community Design3 will offer The Games Academy’s syllabus and materials online for teams who wish to participate virtually.  And non-profit Applications for Good will be seeding one of the development teams to create apps that serve a public purpose.

Applications are open now for interested developers and will be up year-round. Going forward, The Games Academy expects to host three cycles per year.

WowWee, not content with creating singing Elvis heads, is branching out into AppGear Appcessories – apps that require AR-based accessories, allowing you to interact with real environments using an iPhone or iPod Touch. These games, arriving in stores in April, include a zombie game where you’re the zombies fighting off upset homeowners (What a twist!) and an air battle game that actually uses tiny foam planes attached to the front of your phone to simulate flying in three-dimensional space.

The games will cost $9.99 and include various collectable parts. For example, the zombie game, Zombie Burbz, includes four collectable figurines. Of of the figurines has a set of conductive pads on the bottom and, using the iPad’s multi-touch screen, you control the action by moving the figurine across the virtual board.

All of these concepts are quite cute. Mixing AR and gaming is a tough sell but I think WowWee has gotten it mostly right. One game, for, example, allows you to build a ray gun in real life and mix and match parts, resulting in odd weapons that do different things inside the game. It’s an interesting way to connect collectables with games.

Will it succeed? Meh. Kids are notoriously fickle and these sorts of things require an investment of time and effort that many casual gamers might now have. Why install a foam airplane when you can just fire up Angry Birds. That said, it’s a start and it can only get better. And the zombie game, in which the zombies eat garbage instead of brains, is pretty funny.
Click to view slideshow.

Do you hate your Facebook friends? Do you want to blow them all up in fiery blasts of laser light? Sure, we all do.

FaceInvaders allows you to shoot down your social graph. The game is a simple Space Invaders clone with a twist – each alien is a face randomly selected from your Facebook account. You shoot down friends hither and yon, allowing you to passive-aggressively destroy the people who you pretend to love.

Once you’ve beaten all of the waves, you fight off the boss friend (also chosen at random). Interaction with the Facebook API allows you to post high scores on your wall.

Built by start-up Appek, the game costs $1.99 and is available now. While it’s nothing new, it’s definitely clever and it might be a nice way to see how your friends have update their profile pictures. It also allows you to destroy them in secret, finding sweet release in the blaze of energy emitted as they explode into space. In some ways, it’s better than a relationship status update.

Product Page

Aces Hangout is a new, in development product from the team at Hettema&Bergsten, which you may remember as the makers of the Twitter trend tracker, StrawberryJ.am. The online application brings a unique twist to online gambling, thanks to its integration with Google+’s multi-person video chat feature, Google+ Hangouts.

Unlike other video poker games, where users often play as online avatars, Aces Hangout feels more like a real world card game. You can watch live video feeds of the other players in Google+’s Hangouts, allowing to you to guess at who’s bluffing and who’s not – something that’s key to the offline poker experience.

The project is still being built, so you can’t try a full-on multi-person chat session right now, unfortunately. There is, however, a one-on-one test version using the Google+ Hangouts API developer preview, which you can monkey around with by signing up here (click the +1 button and then fill in the form). The problem with this “testing mode,” though, is that it requires the company to manually add users to their project in order for the system to allow more testers. The team says it’s willing to do so, but there’s a good chance they’ll get overwhelmed by the traffic sent, which would delay your invitiation.

So why bother even posting about the app, right? Well, there are a couple of reasons. One, this is definitely one of the more clever and appealing use cases for Google+’s Hangouts, which is, to date, still the main selling point for Google’s new social network.

The second reason is a bit more complex. According to Hettema&Bergsten, the only thing holding them back from launching is the fact that the Google+ Hangouts API isn’t ready yet. In fact, the company says it has reached out directly to the Google+ API team to try to get more information, and hasn’t heard back. It’s precisely this sort of situation that highlights one of the problems with Google+ in general: Google built a a social networking product before it built the Google+ platform.

Given Google’s previous experience in social (Buzz, Wave, Knol, etc.), it’s not entirely surprising that it decided to wait to see how Google+ adoption went before building all the underpinnings. But it was the wrong course of action. If the APIs were functional, Google wouldn’t have to be manufacturing user adoption with carefully timed feature releases (YouTube integration! Google Apps support! Better buttons! Extensions! Google Reader! Trends! Chat! Blogger integration! Etc.) It could have allowed the developer community to create dozens upon dozens of interesting apps, perhaps even some outside of Google’s own thoughts as to “what users want,” that would have led to more organic adoption.

Poker playing via Google+ Hangouts is just one example of that.

Anyway, in case you’re wondering, Aces Hangout is backed by the large, publicly-traded online gambling company Bwin.Party, which specializes in sports betting. One of their biggest and most popular properties is Party Poker. That means the Hangouts game isn’t on shaky financial ground, at least.

You know, if they ever get to launch the darned thing.

The launch of Sony’s new handheld console Vita in Japan is just two months away (December 17), so it’s about time big S made some official announcements regarding software prices. In a nut shell, the first batch of titles will not be sold for cheap.

To be more concrete, the prices for a total of four launch games are now fixed, namely:

• Uncharted: Golden Abyss: 5,980 Yen/US$78 for the cartridge vs. ¥4,900/US$64 for the download version
• Hot Shots Golf: 4,980 Yen/US$65 vs. 3,980 Yen/US$52
• Ridge Racer (pictured): 3,980 Yen/US$52 vs. 3,580 Yen/US$47*
• Katamari: 4,980 Yen/US65$ vs. 4,480 Yen/US$58*

*Ridge Racer’s download version will, between December 17 and March 31 next year, cost just 2,980 Yen/US$39. Katamari’s downloaded version will be discounted to 3,980 Yen/US$52 in the same time frame.

Prices for games to be sold outside Japan are not yet fixed, but keep in mind the retail prices listed up above are usually undercut by 10-15% (especially by big Japanese electronics discounters) once the games are actually ready to hit stores. Another thing worth mentioning is that the dollar amounts appear to be high partly because of the crazy exchange rate between the dollar and the yen currently (1US$=76.73 yen).

The console itself will be sold in Japan for 25,000 Yen/US$326 (its price will be US$250 in the US).

It’s hard out there for a goat. You’re relegated to the background in many RPG games, chewing morosely while adventurers and soldiers light out for the darkened corners of the World, fighting dragons, the hellborn, and coprophagic demons. But now the goats are taking on the world’s vilest enemy – the Nazis – and they mean business.

GOATS vs NAZIS is an indie NES game by Jim Welch that should take about a year to finish. Welch is asking for $14,000 to help feed and clothe him while he works on the game (where the heck does he live?) and he’s offering the game for free once he’s done.

The game is a top-down shooter with seven levels and a password progress system. You can eat enemy weapons to shoot them back at them and it includes some delightful chiptune songs including the boss theme. The minimum pledge is $10 and that gets you the game ten days early along with a link to the soundtrack.

I think this is interesting for a few reasons. First, it’s a goofy take on such jingoistic titles like Bionic Commando (Spoiler Alert) and Rush’n Attack and, more important, it’s actually built for the NES, forcing folks to rethink that platform’s current viability. Second, it’s a great way for Jim Welch to support his gaming habit and, since he’s giving the game away, it’s the only way he’ll see a penny from this while he builds it. Indie game devs need all the help they can get and this is a great way to get it.

Third, goats fighting Nazis is pretty bad-ass.

The project has hit about $200 now but I suspect it will get funded once people discover its magical storyline. It’s also a great example of how Kickstarter can keep independent art of all stripes alive.

Project Page

Mobile users acquired through “incentivized” installs can be valuable, according to a new study, if managed properly. The term refers to users who download a mobile application in exchange for something else – usually in-game virtual currency or goods. Traditionally, these sorts of users are thought of as somewhat disposable, simply serving as a way to boost an app’s rankings in iTunes…at least until Apple cracked down on the now-banned practice.

But a new study of mobile app traffic shows that, in certain cases, incentivized traffic can outperform organic traffic. Unfortunately, given the report’s source, it still leaves us with quite a bit of doubt.

The study was performed by W3i, an application distribution and monetization network. And what does W3i engage in? Yes, incentivized installs. Well, sort of. Given Apple’s ban, W3i now focuses on promoting free-to-play applications through its mobile ad platform. It’s a kinder, gentler way to encourage installs that’s quite different from how its original incentivized installs program worked.

That said, to claim that W3i doesn’t have the world to gain by promoting the benefits of incentivized installs would be naive.

But let’s look at the data.

Between December 2010 and April 2011, W3i looked at the 30-day retention rates per traffic source for one of its burst campaigns for a popular game. It also calculated the volume per traffic source (see below chart, each color designates a different app).

The top paid volume source (77,541 installs) produced the second best 30-day retention rate (6.22%). But the second-top volume source (64,497 installs) performed the worst (2.16%).

Why the difference?

Both were incentivized traffic sources, but both had dramatically different retention rates. Clearly, not every traffic source is the same. In this case, the traffic sources were individual applications where the game was being promoted. One app led to higher retention rates after a month than the other.

Revenue, too, saw similar trends. (The letters refer to apps, whose names can’t be listed).

In addition, there were even cases where the organic traffic performed worse than the incentivized traffic, in terms of ARPU (average revenue per user).

Unfortunately, while this (far too narrow) slice of data does seem to show that incentivized installs aren’t necessarily the monster that Apple makes them out to be in all cases, the source of this data is suspect. It would be interesting to see a broader study from a less-biased company.

In the meantime, the big takeaway from these findings is that incentivized installs, can, in fact, deliver valuable new users for some when implemented correctly. But how regularly does that happen? In what apps? What’s the general trend here? Were these findings a fluke or par for the course? These are all questions W3i fails to answer with this study, instead showcasing trends for a single game. Not good enough to prove Apple wrong, we’d say.

On the heels of Apple’s decision to phase out developer access to the UDID (unique device identifier) on iOS devices, mobile social gaming network OpenFeint is offering up a an alternative solution. The company announced today that it’s launching a single sign-on system for social game developers that will replace UDIDs on iOS.

The system will become available later this fall.

The change to UDID access was noted in the latest set of iOS5 release notes, where it was listed as “deprecated.” The UDID, an alphanumeric string unique to each Apple device, is currently used by mobile ad networks, game networks, analytics providers, developers and app testing systems, like TestFlight, for example. In some cases, developers are even using the UDID to verify whether users are accessing their app from a new device.

In other words, this sort of change is a very, very big deal.

However, with OpenFeint’s new system, the gaming developer community, at least, will have another option. Users will opt-in to OpenFeint’s new single-sign on system, which then gives the developer access to OpenFeint’s OFUID, a universal account system for the gaming network’s cross-platform users.

Using the OFUID, developers can examine and analyze users’ behavior across games in order to better understand what’s working within their apps and what needs to be fixed. It will also help game developers’ with their ad targeting efforts. All data accessed will be anonymized to protect user privacy, says OpenFeint.

Unfortunately, unlike Apple’s UDID, OFUID only works when the user chooses to sign in to OpenFeint. And clearly, it’s not a universal replacement for the UDID, since OpenFeint is focused only on mobile gaming.

In addition, OpenFeint announced an accompanying “install trade program” for developers to promote the new system. OpenFeint says it will guarantee developers 1.5 new app installs for every new install of its “Game Channel,” a new app that’s needed for the single sign-on system to work.

Developers interested in early access can sign up to participate in the new program here.

OpenFeint has now over 6,900 games on its network and over 115 million registered users. It was acquired by Japanese mobile gaming company GREE in April for $104 million.

Nextpeer is a newly launched mobile developer toolkit that lets game developers quickly and easily add multi-player gaming to their single-player games. With Nextpeer’s tournament and social SDK (software development kit), developers can add customizable features that enable their game’s users join real-time, social tournaments where they compete against other users for top scores or achievements.

The idea is so simple, it’s surprising it hasn’t been done before. People like mobile games and they like playing games together, but until now, the only way developers can build a multi-player gaming experience is by building a multi-player game from scratch. With Nextpeer, however, any game can become a multi-player game.

How It Works

For users, Nextpeer is easy to use, too. Gamers launch the app, tap the “online tournaments/multi-player” button and sign in using Facebook Connect. This takes them to a screen displaying which live tournaments are available to join – an experience similar to joining a table on Zynga’s Texas HoldEm, for example.

The player then places a bet to join the tournament. (This part is optional, and will depend on the game).

When the tournament starts, the gamers aren’t playing alongside each other in the sense that all their characters are on the screen together. Instead, the user plays the game as usual, but receives real-time notifications regarding their status, e.g. “You’re in 3rd place! Hurry up!” or “Daniel is about to win!” Depending on the game, the goal may be to be the first to reach a certain number of points, earn an achievement, complete a task, etc.

When the session time completes, the players re-join the table, the winner is announced, and if a wager was involved, the winner takes all the other players’ virtual money, in the form of Nextpeer currency.

A Standalone App for Finding Nextpeer Games is Next

Nextpeer currency will be available for purchase in the accompanying Nextpeer mobile application (not out yet), which will also feature the games that use the Nextpeer technology. Company Co-founder and CEO Shai Magzimof admits that the details for how the revenue share will work haven’t been worked out yet, but it could be something like 90/10 (developer/Nextpeer).

But revenue share isn’t the main reason why developers would use Nextpeer technology, Magzimof says. More importantly, Nextpeer will allow developers another avenue for distribution and opportunities for marketing, both within the Nextpeer standalone app and its website. Access to more players, especially more engaged, regular players, means an increased opportunity for generating revenue through the game’s own monetization mechanisms, whether that’s a virtual economy, advertising or paid downloads. And Nextpeer promises to stay out of whatever that in-game revenue stream may be.

Join the Beta!

The Nextpeer SDK is initially available for iOS only (Android will come later), and the company already has a few games in testing. It’s also in talks with other developers, both big and small/indie. (And by “big” we mean really, really, really big.) Interested developers can sign up now to join the private beta here. The Nextpeer app will go live in a couple of weeks.

Magzimof previously participated in the Y-Combinator program on the startup that later became Greplin. Co-founder and CTO Daniel Shir was formerly a developer at Fring and Co-founder and VP Itamar Mula also co-founded mobile game studio Social Expeditions. Nextpeer is the pivot from Android app Innobell, which made phone calls social. The company has raised $300,000 from angel investor Morris Wolfson.

Monetization and distribution network for app developers, W3i, is today announcing a program specifically for iOS Game Developers. The new service, now in beta, is simply being called “Games Platform,” the company says. And its goal will be to solve the challenges facing game developers such as server set-up, maintenance, security, storefronts and analytics.

The idea for the service was sparked by a number of interviews with mobile game developers, conducted by W3i over recent weeks. The most common headaches, especially for small-time or hobbyist developers, was dealing with the setup of the infrastructure needed to support their applications, the company found. Most developers would rather focus on actually developing their game – not server set up and maintenance.

In addition, the new service will also help freemium developers create and maintain a virtual goods storefront which is easily re-usable across multiple games. Plus, the included analytics service will detail the breakdown of revenue by item within this storefront, which is a feature several competing analytics services don’t currently offer.

W3i is now inviting interested developers to sign up for the beta service and give feedback. In return for testing the service, those developers will receive access at no charge. There will be a limited number of spots available during the beta period. No official public launch date or pricing information has been announced at this time.

You can learn more about the new program here.

While many would call buyers of the 3DS who picked up their console prior to the $80 price cut expected on August 12 “suckers,” Nintendo is calling them “Ambassadors” and they’e offering them special updates to upcoming downloadable titles. These updates will include multi-player support and improved gameplay.

While no one is quite clear on everything Ambassadors will get, Nintendo has said that early adopters will receive certain perks including updated versions of the games they downloaded after August 12. Which games? Well, in conjunction with the price cut, early adopters would get twenty free NES and GBA games, arguably cold comfort for those who would rather have four Hamiltons in their pocket.

Here’s a quote from the press release:

Once the paid versions of the games are posted to the Nintendo eShop later in the year, the updated versions will be available to Ambassadors for download at no cost.

If this sounds confusing, fear not: even IGN had no idea what was up and they’re paid to write about gaming all day long.

At first blush a game called “Creationary” may sound a bit anti-science but it is, in fact, just Pictionary with Legos. It costs $34 and is for ages 7-12 and apparently you can build your own die and then pick cards to tell each player what to build. You can make vehicles, buildings, or items from nature (there’s also a nebulous “things” category) and it’s for 3 to 8 players.

UPDATED Lego bricks are included so you won’t have to go scrounging under the couch for the big green board and pull all the small two stud pieces out of the vacuum cleaner if you really intend to get into some serious competition.

Product Page via DaddyTypes

Arkadium Co-founder and President Jessica Rovello told me that few gaming companies have yet explored this method of “wall play”, so through the Arkadium Stadium, the company hopes to begin setting the groundwork for people to be able to enjoy and share games like they would videos, photos, and links.

Arkadium has been making casual games for the last 10 years, but has only moved into creating games for Facebook in the last year. With the growth in popularity of Facebook games (back in September Zuckerberg said that 200 million people are playing games on Facebook), the company’s transition made sense, Rovello said. And, while most Facebook games are currently played in-app, this functionality might signal a growing trend in social gaming, especially on Facebook. It’s a logical next-step, and will only make sharing and playing that much easier.

The Arkadium games suite, which includes puzzles like Sudoku, a Tetris-like dice game, 52-card pickup, and other simple (and addicting), casual games. In fact, in writing this post, I was distracted at least once by the ability to post a game to my Facebook profile, play the game embedded-as-is in my wall, then pause and stalk a few ex-girlfriends.

I have a feeling this functionality is only going to increase the potential of virality, which is of course exactly what Arkadium is hoping. Of course, if you’re not a fan or are a little sensitive to multimedia Wall posts, this is a great way to be bombarded by game-spam at any turn on Facebook. Though I think people are starting to let down their guard a little bit in terms of how willing they are to have content shared on their walls. And, hey, if it gets annoying, you can just remove the post, or play the game in-app.

Whether or not it’s needed, this adds another layer to “Social”, considering I can now pop over to friends’ profiles to see if anyone else has taken the bait and is enjoying a little Sudoku during work hours. And if they’ve posted a game I happen to enjoy, but am a little hesitant to add the game to my own wall (I’m careful like that), then I can just roll a few dice right on their Facebook wall. Then leave them a message on their wall reminding them how much better I am at the game.

At any rate, it’s kind of a neat feature, and I’ll be interested to see whether or not its embraced by fellow Facebook gamers. (And how well Flash holds up across browsers — in Chrome, it works like a charm.) I have a feeling it will be, if Zynga isn’t already planning to roll out similar functionality for their lineup.

Check it out.

Super Mega Worm, the best game about worms that eat people and jewels and dirt, is now free on the Mac App store. It’s only available for a limited time and it’s not quite appropriate for the littlest members of the gaming community but if you like to destroy cows, birds, airplanes, and trucks painted like the General Lee, this is the game for you.

Product Page

The original Dragon Age was a pretty good game — lots of free roaming, but also precise timelines. It wasn’t uncommon to spend 90+ hours in the main story, but at least the story had substance, just a bit long. Today, Dragon Age 2 released, and continuing on the steam from the first, BioWare has released the game for PC, Xbox 360, PS 3 and Mac OS X simultaneously.

Mac gamers now have a really good game to look forward to, and on day one too. But you’ll need a pretty powerful machine. Dragon Age II needs at least a Intel Core 2 Duo 1.86Ghz or faster chip, Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later, 2GB of RAM or more and a minimum ATI HD2600 or NVidia 9400 or better video card (at least 256MB VRAM).

Gamers can grab the game for $60.

[via MacNN]