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New games flood App Store before impending holiday release freeze
The App Store is in constant danger of new release bombardments, sure, but many companies adhere to a regular, weekly bombing run beginning each Wednesday, through the wee hours of the night (UTC), dropping their new iPhone and iPad games on Apple's marketplace while many of us are snoozing. Last night was no exception -- actually, scratch that. It was exceptional! Pending the start of the "iTunes Connect Holiday Shutdown" next Thursday -- a six-day lockout period when developers will be unable to release or update apps, including games -- an army of companies, armed with their big holiday releases (for little iDevices), launched a massive attack on the App Store last night. What began as a few warning shots yesterday grew into a full-on assault, led by Gameloft's crisp clones, NOVA 2 and Shadow Guardian, and Square Enix's surprise (and apparently rushed) port of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. Even Sega couldn't resist launching a few more classics in Altered Beast and Sonic Spinball. And what's this ... Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3? Hey, if Street Fighter IV worked ... Pursue our complete list of new release highlights after the break, and then make double-sure "Santa" knows you've been good enough for an iTunes gift card this year.
TUAW's Daily App: Space Miner: Space Ore Bust
Space Miner: Space Ore Bust is a terrific game for the iPhone -- it's an arcade game that's basically a one-stick shooter, where you move a ship around a 2D field (rendered in colorful 3D), collecting asteroid ore and taking down alien robots. But though the basic premise of the game is quite simple, there's actually a lot of depth that builds up over time, as you navigate around various zones, and upgrade your ship, your ore collector, and all of the other various parts of your space ore business. And while the gameplay is tight and fun, the best part of Space Miner (in my humble opinion) is the brilliant and hilarious script. Not only does the story of the game give you great reasons to keep going out there and blasting ore, but it's legitimately creative and funny. Chicago poet and performer Robbie Q. Telfer is listed in the credits as story editor, and that really paid off for the game -- some of the dialogue is just perfect. So yes, the game is worth a buy even at the normal $4.99 price -- but wait, there's more. Starting tomorrow, Space Miner: Space Ore Bust is going on sale for just 99 cents for a limited time to help promote the Venan Arcade's upcoming second game, the strangely titled Ninjatown: Trees of Doom. At that price, it's worth a purchase just to play through the tutorial. Definitely be sure to grab it.
