Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner is a terrific first-person space-shooter that has just hit the Apple App Store for iPhone. If you have ever wished you could blast away incoming TIE Fighters (and eventually the Death Star) anywhere and any time you please, then this game is certainly for you. The objective is simple: defeat wave after wave of oncoming TIE’s from the cockpit of the Millenium Falcon.

The controls are simple. Rotate your iPhone left, right, up and down to move the Falcon; use your left thumb-stick to aim your blaster, hold down the right thumb to blast away (but keep in mind, your gun can over heat). While the controls are simple and responsive, it will take a few waves to get used to them, but once you do, you’ll be blowing TIE Fighters out of the sky as well – if not better – than Han or Luke. As you play through the game you earn credits that you can use to upgrade the Millenium Falcon for better armor, stronger, faster blasters, and add missiles and tractor beams to your arsenal to make disposing of the enemy even better. If you don’t want to simply play the game to earn credits, you can upgrade any of these options via in-app purchases for $.99. But honestly, save yourself the couple bucks and  just play the game, you’ll earn enough credits to upgrade the Falcon in due time.

One of the big and fun aspects of Falcon Gunner though is the Augmented Reality version of the game. Simply turn on that function on the homescreen and the space background is replaced by your actual surroundings via the iPhone’s camera. Take out TIE Fighters as they invade your backyard, place of work, or even just your living room. I actually found the controls in this mode to be a bit more user-friendly. Instead of tilting the iPhone to aim, you literally just point your iPhone where the radar tells you the TIE’s are coming from and fire away; word to the wise you, you’ll need to be standing to play this mode as it utilizes a full 360 degree environment – so if they are flanking you from behind you are going to have to turn yourself around to do battle. This is probably one of the more fun augmented reality games I have ever picked up for the iPhone – it’s pretty fun watching TIE Fighters fly over the roof of your house trying to kill you. You can also utilize the augmented reality setting you let off some steam by pretending to take shots at your nagging wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/husband – but I’ve found that a distracted gunner is a dead gunner, so it’s best to stay focused on the mission at hand and take out those oncoming enemy Fighters.

Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner is bit more expensive than your standard game in the ap store, and is currently gonig to set you back $4.99. Honestly, I have rarely spent more than $.99 on any app for my iPhone, but I felt like I had the five bucks to spend on this game, and I haven’t felt ripped off in the slightest. iPhone users know though, wait long enough and almost every app goes on sale in the app store eventually. Even at it’s current price though, Falcon Gunner would make a fine edition to any iPhone users game library, whether you are a fan of just a fun first-person space-shooter game, or someone longing to channel that inner Han Solo and do some work against the Empire.

Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner is available now in the App Store for iPhone.

I’ve got another selection of news-worthy, but not full article-worthy, tidbits about the world of video games (particularly PS3).

Ubisoft has announced they expect to release a new Assassin’s Creed title in the next fiscal year (April 1, 2011-March 31, 2012). No further information is available. I would not say it’s safe to assume this is the next console sequel. It wouldn’t surprise me if they have another handheld title coming to fill the gap while they develop the next major title for a trilogy.

Marvel Vs Capcom 3 has released another trailer. Continuing the trend, two more characters are included. This time it’s Zero from the Mega Man universe and She-Hulk. Both of these seem odd choices to me but I thought X-23 was pretty strange to include as well. I’m really curious they’ve got Tron Bonne and Zero but Mega Man himself hasn’t been announced. If he’s not in it they’ve really missed point.

Same game, different story. No title of MvC3 scope can get by without a special edition. Gamestop has the exclusive deal on this edition for $69.99. If you follow special editions, that’s not a bad price, especially considering what you get. It will be packaged in a steel case and includes exclusive art, a comic book, a downloadable character pack (Shuma Gorath and Jill Valentine) and a month’s subscription to Marvel digital comics. The side note to this story is that Capcom hasn’t announced a firm release date, but Gamestop has this item listed for February 15.

Like God of War, Sly Cooper and the Team ICO collection before it, the PS2-era Prince of Persia trilogy is getting a blu-ray upgrade. But not for the U.S. What? Apparently Ubisoft is releasing the disc in Europe on Friday, but North America is going to have to wait an undisclosed amount of time to get the series as three separate downloadable games. No word on pricing for the downloadable versions. But, remember that PS3 is region-free. If it’s competitively priced you can always import the disc from Europe. Now I just have to wonder if Gamefly will get it…

The Diablo team at Blizzard apparently had a few job listings on their site looking for console developers. Blizzard’s response is that they are just looking into a Diablo console project. It is not necessarily happening, and if it is happening it is not necessarily Diablo III.

ZEN Studios (makers of ZEN Pinball) have announced Marvel Pinball for PSN. No prices announced yet but it should be out by year’s end. The first three tables are Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Blade. Extra tables will be available as DLC.

Finally, the recently delayed DC Universe Online has three new trailers showcasing the different opportunities that can arise based on your character build. One of the videos features a magic character on a mission to rescue Zatanna. The other two show a player-created Batman-style character (acrobatic and gadget-y) and “heroic” armor (i.e. Hera armor or the Shroud of Anubis).

Hope that hits your game news fix for now. Some of it excites me.

UPDATE: If anyone was curious to LoLo’s reaction for being featured, she sent us this message:

omg im famous… if only neone looked at that poopoo .u should jump off a shallow cliff and fall into a pile of dung beetle skin

The future of America has spoken.

ROBOTtyson and LoLo2545 are featured in this clip

As usual, this is a pretty hit or miss week. But it is exciting because of the big release, more Renaissance-era assassinations!

11/15/10
NBA Jam (PS3)“He’s on fire.” If that didn’t make sense to you then you are too young and don’t know your video game history. If you never played basketball as a big-headed Beastie Boy or Bill Clinton then you have no idea why this game exists. For shame.

11/16/10
Marvel Super Hero Squad The Infinity GauntletI may not have cared much for issue 11 of the comic book, but this kid’s title is just too cute to pass. It’s in my GameQ.

National Geographic Quiz! Wild LifeI’m not sure how this game flew under my radar until now. I’m a trivia buff, a gamer, and I’ve always liked National Geographic. The fact that I didn’t know it existed does not bode well. Clearly a $30 trivia game is not going to be as hyped as many of the top tier games, but I would think I would have at least heard the name. I’ve had more exposure to some of the obscure anime-based games.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
If you played the first two Assassin’s Creed games (the awful PSP version doesn’t count) then you’ve probably been anticipating this one. The player continues as Ezio, building an army of Assassins in the war against the Templars. Further into the future, the game promises to reveal more of Desmond and his rebels. It also adds multiplayer for the first time in the franchise. That concept has me smiling hesitantly. I’m not sure how well that will work in this series but the previews I’ve seen hold promise.

Apache: Air AssaultThis is another game that went under my radar (which is punny because it’s about helicopters). I’ve never been a flight sim player and I have no idea if that’s actually what this is or not. I hated Tiger Heli as a kid too. If this is your cup of tea, please enjoy it.

Dance Dance RevolutionThis week seems tailor-made to make me feel old. First the NBA Jam thing, then a game that makes me think of Tiger Heli, now a game that I know I’m simply incapable of playing because of my ancient body’s decrepitude. I’ve tried these games once or twice in arcades and literally fell off the platform. If you’ve been itching for this series on your PS3 I hope you enjoy it before you get old and feeble like me. Then again, I’ve got to give a little credit to XBox just because it’s due. If your choices are jumping around on yet another peripheral while waving your arms holding glowing lollipop dildos, or just hooking up a camera and playing Dance Central from a proven developer like Harmonix, I think I know where I’d go (assuming I actually had a 360).

EA Sports Active 2I didn’t even know there was a first game in this series; I’m guessing it was for Wii and now EA is jumping onto the MOVE and Kinect availability for this iteration. Personally I don’t understand the “fitness gaming” concept. I have a gym membership so my PS3 is used for actual games and movies.

Need for Speed Hot PursuitThis is a pretty tried and true racing series. If you’re even kind of interested in racing games I’d suggest you at least put this one in the GameQ. It’s no Gran Turismo 5 I’m sure, but at least this one actually comes out.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1I have a confession to make: I’ve never read a Harry Potter book. I’m planning to read them after all the movies are done. Everyone keeps telling me how the movies ruined it but I’m enjoying them. I figure this is a good way to like the movies, but still be able to enjoy the more expansive story once I do read the books. In the meantime, the only game I’ve played is the LEGO version. I keep looking at these games with each movie and consider playing them and never do. Now they’ve turned it into a first-person shooter with the varied spells filling in as weapon selection. Not being a fan of FPS, I’m not sure if I even want to play this game.

CreateI’ve seen bits and pieces about this game occasionally but haven’t learned much about it. Just reading about it now it seems intriguing. I’ve enjoyed Little Big Planet and ModNation Racers because of the user-created features. This looks to be a puzzle game with the same concept. Definitely seems worth playing if not buying. Into the Q.

11/18/10
Zumba FitnessI think I’ve already editorialized enough on fitness gaming. I could go off on trendy exercise concepts with this one but why bother? If you buy it, have fun. If you don’t, you’ll probably have more fun.

I knew there was an easier way to pass physics, turns out all I needed was the mega buster, and a place to stash the body and I wouldn’t have retaken it so many times.

I ran across a few stories in the video game world today that I thought bore mentioning. None of them seemed worthy of an entire article though so I’ll just list a few items of importance instead.

1. If you’ve been looking forward to Bodycount from Codemasters, be patient. Already delayed to 2011, it’s now been delayed until late 2011. The game looked good, but these delays don’t bode well.

2. Following the corporate rebranding plans of companies like Energy Solutions (Envirocare) and XFinity (Comcast), Artificial Mind & Movement is changing to Behaviour. Or actually changing back to it. That was their original name in the 1990s. Why the comparison to two companies that changed their identities after bad press and/or reputation? That’s because this is the company that made Wet and Naughty Bear, two of the worst games that actually looked good enough to buy that have come out in recent years.

3. In other delay news, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, the story of what happened to Raiden between his starring role in MGS2 and his reappearance in MGS4, likely won’t be out until 2012. This isn’t technically a delay as it hadn’t had a release date announced. But it was predicted, in most circles, for a mid-2011 release.

4. If you haven’t heard of Mass Effect, you don’t follow gaming news. If you haven’t played it, or it’s blockbuster sequel, you must be on PS3 (like me). It was announced a while back that Mass Effect 2 would be coming to Sony’s console, but it raised the question of how do you bring the new players up to speed. ME2 had a feature allowing it to read your original save file to load up the decisions you made into your character and universe. Since the first one was published by Microsoft it’s certainly not coming to Playstation. So how are they fixing it? Rumors are that Dark Horse will be making an interactive digital comic, in the Choose Your Own Adventure vein, that will get new players up to speed and still give them the chance to make all the critical decisions for Shepard. The choices you make in the comic will be included in your play of ME2, just like the game save on 360 or PC.

5. I have to include New Vegas news just to make up for the hate it got on the latest BSR! vidcast. Turns out Zombietron and Arse-bot are the only people in the world that don’t like it. Since release, Fallout: New Vegas has sold over five million copies worldwide (including $300million in digital sales) and the strategy guide has become an Amazon best seller. At 60 hours in, and not even touching a single end-game mission yet, I’ve more than gotten my money’s worth. Now if I could just get my companions to stop running full bore into a pack of Deathclaws….

It seems like it’s been a while since we’ve gotten more than one top shelf game in a single week. Really, this should be happening more often as we close the year and build up to the holidays. Unfortunately, so many games have been delayed to 2011 it might not happen. Hopefully the publishers will see fit to release those delayed games at a steady trickle of awesomeness instead of holding them all for the summer glut. In the meantime, here’s what we get for now:

Call of Duty: Black OpsIf you’re having deathmatch withdrawals you’re about to get your fix. One of the most anticipated shooters of the year, you’ve probably already pre-ordered this game if you were planning to buy it. There’s been speculation about which FPS is the game to beat this year, Call of Duty or Medal of Honor’s recent reboot. I guess we’ll know soon.

SingStar Dance Party PackIf you’re into the home console version of karaoke, and you need to justify all that money you blew on your MOVE controller, this is the game for you. There really isn’t much more to say about it. Please send us videos of the foolish behavior this game will cause.

The Fight: Lights OutYou know how you always wanted to learn to fight when you were a kid so the bullies would leave you alone but your parents wouldn’t sign you up for boxing or karate lessons? (Me) You know how you think you’re good at fighting games because you can mash buttons really fast? (Not me) Well now you can suck at both things at the same time with the new MOVE-enabled boxing game. I’m guessing there must be a market for this or they wouldn’t have made it, but I don’t know anyone buying it.

The Sly CollectionIf you can think of something better to do with $40 than buy three awesome platformers then by all means do it. Otherwise, this might be my favorite game of November. Yes, I’m well aware that Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and NBA Jam are both out next week and both could potentially take that title. But it’s Sly freakin’ Cooper. These games are awesome!

P.S. It’s November 8th. Happy Birthday, Mom.

I know, I know. Everyone’s burned out on election news and politics. Yesterday was election day after all. Did you vote?

But, while the political junkies were holding their tea parties and NOT smoking legal weed in California, the Supreme Court was still hard at work. Or, at least working as hard as needed when they’re just now hearing arguments on a law that was originally passed in 2005 and has had an injunction from day one.

Long story short, California’s law prevents minors from buying or renting video games that allow for the “killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being.” It also allows for criminal penalties to retailers and clerks who violate the law. Basically, that means legislators in California consider Mortal Kombat as harmful as cigarettes. The law is almost deliberately vague, in some sections even referring to activities directed to a “humanoid.” It also makes no discernment between a five year old minor, or a 17 year old minor.

If I may be allowed my rant – This is absolutely ludicrous! I find it appaling that these legislators, many of them well-educated, are too ignorant to look at history closely enough to see that this is stupid. Some of our readers may remember a thing called the Comics Code Authority. That’s the older version of this that came about when the government was convinced comic books were degrading the souls of America and that children should be protected from it. We might have a few readers that remember when rock music was being banned from the airwaves. Later it was rap music. We’ve done it with movies too. While all of these things may have destroyed our intelligence, I doubt it has affected our moral fiber. If the violence in God of War is so heinous, wouldn’t the fact that it’s already been made and sold millions of copies mean this effort is too little too late?

There’s a huge discussion on this topic based on whether video games are considered an art form and if they’re protected under the First Amendment. Frankly, that’s irrelevant. We already have the ESRB that rates games in a manner similar to the MPAA. Oddly enough, we also have another enforcement structure in place to prevent kids from playing inappropriate games, viewing pornography on the internet, watching R-rated movies or reading the MAX line of Marvel Comics. They’re called parents.

Don’t get me wrong. I know being a parent is not an easy task. I know there are plenty of decisions you have to make everyday between work, housework, meal planning, dressing your child for school, helping them with homework, etc. The last thing you want is to have to control their media intake as well. Too bad. This is the job you volunteered to do.

Many of the Supreme Court justices have already made their concerns known. Everything from enforcement, to the First Amendment, to comparison with pornography and concerns about the interactive nature of games has been broached. It will be next year at the earliest before we see a decision from this nation’s highest court. I have been, and will be, following the progress of this case. I will try to parse most of my ranting any follow-ups and be more objective.

According to a report (and a pretty stunning demo video) from Gizmodo, THQ will be bringing us an augmented reality game for the most recent iPhone platforms.

Called “Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner” the interface uses the camera on your iPhone to take in the surrounding landscape and you repel a TIE fighter attack in your own surroundings. It looks ridiculously cool and I’ll certainly be picking it up.

You will be able to play against classic backgrounds from the saga, or with your phone.

It’s supposed to be out later this month.

When it comes out, I’ll be sure to let you know.

And seriously, be sure to check out the footage. This looks like the perfect application of augmented reality.

The first week of November is here. That means the holiday shopping games should be making their way to shelves. But apparently we’ve got to wait at least another week. There’s very little to recommend for now.

11/2/10:
Power Gig: Rise of the SixString Band Bundle
I’m actually intrigued by this only because I think it takes balls to come out the week after Rock Band 3 and be this expensive. The music genre is in sore need of a refresh.

Blood Drive
As I expected last week, I made a mistake in listing it. Looks like it actually comes out this week. And it still doesn’t look very good.

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2
I’ve said before that I’m not into anime so I know nothing of these games. One thing I’d like to know, why all the stupid hair? If the hair wasn’t so distracting I might actually try to pay attention.

Megamind: Ultimate Showdown
This the licensed game that goes along with the new animated movie. I’m sure the game is terrible like most movie games. But the movie actually has my attention. Will Ferrell and Brad Pitt as voices I believe.

Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage
In a market already glutted with fighting games (and awaiting MvC3), do we need this game?

James Bond 007: Blood Stone
I’m a little ashamed to admit that I’ve never been a Bond fan. But watching a few minutes of Casino Royale last week made me realize Daniel Craig is a pretty cool Bond. This game isn’t based on any new movie, but it does have Craig’s likeness. The fact that I’ve heard next to nothing about it makes me nervous. It either means it’s not worth hyping or it’s going to be a sleeper hit.