I recall a friend of mine getting a copy of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective for Christmas. Well, that Capcom title for the Nintendo DS is taking a leap onto the iOS platform and is now available on the App Store for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch in North America and Europe.

Previously released on Nintendo DS to critical acclaim, the beloved mystery adventure game jumps to iOS. The game features intuitive touch screen controls for easy play and enhanced graphics in a wider viewing area for more immersive puzzle solving and is fully localized in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian.

Created by Shu Takumi, the father of the critically acclaimed Ace Attorney series, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective combines his signature style of quirky humor, logic puzzles and an intriguing story wrapped in a unique art style. Players take on the role of Sissel, the ghost of a murder victim who has lost his memory and must solve the mystery of his suspicious demise.

Gamers guide his blue-flamed soul through dynamic environments, possessing and manipulating inanimate objects found in the world to solve the captivating puzzles he encounters.

The Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective App is available for free from the App Store on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. The first two chapters are free with the download of the game. Subsequent chapters will be available in three different packs for $4.99/£2.99/€3.99 each or $9.99/£6.99/€7.99 for all chapters through In-App Purchase. Check it out over here: http://itunes.apple.com/app/ghost-trick-phantom-detective/id489113377?mt=8

Sometimes, some folks have nothing better to do then to carve two fictional video game characters into a mountain. I don’t know what do you guys think about this publicity stunt by Namco Bandai commemorating the launch of Soulcalibur V, but read on and sound off in the comments section.

To celebrate the release of the game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Katana-wielding  Mitsurugi and sword-fighting Pyrrha have been engraved in granite on a mountain in Tanum, Sweden, where they will remain until the end of time. The game makers describe Soulcalibur V as tougher than anything that has gone before it – and have cut the two characters into the Earth to prove it.

“Everyone knows the Soulcalibur characters are among the hardest fighters in gaming – so we’ve decided to immortalise them in granite for thousands of years” says Lee Kirton, marketing director, Namco Bandai. “These characters have only ever existed digitally, so it’s brilliant to record them permanently in a format which remain visible until the end of time.”

Master Stone Engraver Göran Andersson from nearby Hunnebostrand performed the engraving. He is the last remaining stone engraver on the Swedish west coast who performs engravings out in nature and has done engravings for notabilities such as movie star Ingrid Berman and the kings of Norway and Sweden.

“This is the by far most complex and detailed engraving I have ever performed”, Göran Andersson. “But it was very fun to do.” Namco Bandai enlisted the help of SavedInStone, who have engraved the characters on their mountain close to a UNESCO World Heritage Site filled with Bronze Age stone carvings.

Soulcalibur V is available for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 from tomorrow.

Leading mobile games publisher and developer GAMEVIL® announced Cartoon Wars is now available on the Android Market. Cartoon Wars gained countless fans around the globe upon its initial release by developer BLUE GNC, reaching the number 1 spot on game charts in over 22 countries. Now the hit defense strategy game that has been downloaded over 5 million times finally arrives on the Android Market, published via GAMEVIL’s Partner Fund.

With classic “stickman” cartoon graphics and a simple interface, Cartoon Wars can be enjoyed by the most casual fan as well as the hardcore gamer. Numerous units including gunners, wizards, ninjas, and weapons can be upgraded to defend the tower and crush endless waves of enemy troops. Tilt controls, time-limit stages, booster systems and more keep the gameplay fresh and exciting.

“As a publisher we’re very excited to bring an original hit that’s been there from the beginning, finally to Android users worldwide,” said Kyu Lee, VP and Head of GAMEVIL USA. “Our fans have made Cartoon Wars one of the most popular mobile game series in recent years, and more can enjoy it now for free from the Android Market.”

Today’s release of Cartoon Wars joins GAMEVIL’s Cartoon Wars: Gunner+ already available on the Android Market for free. Cartoon Wars is available now for FREE from the Android Market, or at https://market.android.com/details?id=com.gamevil.cartoonwars.one.global.

Canadian indie game developer, Big Blue Bubble Inc. is excited to announce the newest version of the epic side-scroller, Dark Incursion, now with iCade and Joypad support! The new update is now live on iTunes, and along with that, a price drop to 99 cents!

Dark Incursion is a side scrolling “Metroidvania” style game with a vivid steam punk art style using eye-popping pixel art combined with the stereoscopic 3D that will literally make the action jump off the screen. It takes place in an alternate reality in the late 1800′s, amidst an industrial revolution and a world war. Play as Anya, one of the few who knows about a secret bunker where scientists have been attempting to bioengineer their own soldiers, hoping to turn the tide in war!

In Dark Incursion, players have a multitude of bio-engineered weapons at their disposal with which to eradicate the abominations from the city. Weapon and ability upgrades will get more powerful the deeper players get and the more advanced the monsters become.

Can Anya complete her mission before the allied forces enter the city and mistakenly allow these creatures to escape? Check out the game right over here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dark-incursion/id468067324

The Humble Bundle has released its most cross-platform bundle yet and for the first time, it’s entering the mobile space with games that run on Android, Mac, Linux and Windows. As with previous Humble Bundles, buyers can choose to pay how much for a bundle of indie games and part of the amount goes to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child’s Play Charity.

The Humble Bundle for Android (And Linux. And Mac. And Windows) is not only a mouthful to mention, but it contains three great games: Anomaly Warzone Earth, OSMOS and Edge. Customers who are willing to fork out more than the average (at press time, it’s sitting pretty at USD 5.80) will get World of Goo as well.

Other goodies included in this bundle is that you’ll get all the soundtracks to the games! And from experience I’m betting that the organizers of the bundle would include more games (most likely from previous bundles) into the mix as well. What are you waiting for? Check out the Humble Bundle for Android over here: http://www.humblebundle.com/

I took the opportunity to check out two, well, old games, on the iPad 2, one of them being the original Infinity Blade and Rage HD. And you know what? I actually like these two games when played on the iPad 2, compared to playing them on the iPhone. In the case of Infinity Blade, the extra screen space allowed me to execute moves better, whereas in Rage HD, Mutant Bash TV looked way clearer than on the iPhone.

I guess the new A5 processor and upgraded GPU have a hand in delivering an awesome looking experience on the device as well for both games.

So, like the title suggests, what games have you enjoyed more on the iPad or iPad 2, compared to playing them on the iPhone? Not all titles can get the same treatment, some games do not benefit from the extra screen space or the processing power. Sound off in the comments section below while I go back to reviewing some exciting new iOS titles.

Arizona-based Toy Chest Games has just released its newest iOS title, Death Call, and the game has been successfully featured in Apple’s New and Noteworthy Games section. Just getting into the segment is an achievement most developers would be envious of. Death Call is a shooter set in a steam punk version of the Wild West.

Players take on the role of Jelediah Wolfe, a Federal Marshall on a mission to hunt down and destroy the dangerous weapons smuggler known as Saul Ramone. Blast your way through Saul’s personal army of depraved outlaws using your arsenal of weapons and government-issued upgrades, staying one step ahead of your insane foe.

Not only that, you’ll need to use your wits to decode secret messages and reveal more of the mystery surrounding your mission as you fight towards the final showdown. Do you have the skill to face down bandits, assassins, and mechanical monstrosities?

Death Call 1.0 is Free and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category. Check it out over here: http://itunes.apple.com/app/death-call/id466584039

It’s out! It’s out! After a year of intensive development, the small indie team of Red Wasp Design have announced that their anticipated title, Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land has launched on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The game is a turn-based strategy RPG inspired by the works of cult horror writer H.P. Lovecraft and developed in co-operation with Chaosium, the publishers of the cult horror role playing game, Call of Cthulhu.

The game is now out on iTunes and is a universal iOS app so the same game works for iPhone and iPod Touch both SD & HD and for iPad, and carries graphics optimised for each of those platforms. It is priced $4.99, £2.99 & €3.99 for the full universal app. The game’s designer, Tomas Rawlings said, “We’ve put a vast amount of our time, energy and ideas into this game over the last year. It’s been a long journey for us because we want to get it right. We’re not a huge studio, but I hope that fellow gamers will appreciate what we’ve achieved with The Wasted Land.”

The game features nine 3D levels set in the trenches of World War One. The player controls a team of up to six investigators charged with uncovering a deadly inhuman conspiracy underlying the clash of empires of the Great War. Barbed wire, mustard gas and machines guns will prove to be the least dangerous thing that the investigators will encounter as they venture out into no-man’s land to solve the mystery of the Wasted Land.

As the game progresses, the player can build up the skills, weapons and equipment of the team to suit their playing style. As well as the physical danger, the investigators must guard their sanity against the myriad horrors that threaten to destroy it. Check out the game over at the iTunes App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/call-cthulhu-the-wasted-land/id481609861?ls=1&mt=8

A friend and I stumbled onto a little known fact (well, at least to us) when we were reading a Wikipedia entry on the classic hit Super Mario Bros. Apparently there are not one, not two, not three but four different ways to getting extra lives. The first three, grabbing green or orange mushrooms or collecting 100 coins, should be pretty familiar to most players, but the last one, defeating several enemies in a row with a Koopa shell…that’s a new one to me.

So the next time you fire up Super Mario Bros on a NES, or an emulator, or even on the Virtual Console, don’t forget to check out the last technique mentioned above. I leave you with a YouTube video highlighting the infinite 1-up techniques in Super Mario Bros 3. Look out for the Koopa shell example .

Yay, fans of Sam & Max rejoice as once again, Telltale Games is bringing the dynamic duo onto iOS devices. This time, the first episode of the classic Telltale saga, Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space, titled “Ice Station Santa” is now available on the iTunes App Store as a universal app.

As an extra incentive to gamers, Telltale has included an explosive mini-game and witty soundboard that can only be found in the iOS version! A fun and frenetic Sam & Max ‘Whack da Ratz’ mini-game lets players compete for the top spot in the Freelance Police Hall of Fame. Sam & Max buffs can also spend their free time creating new and deranged quotes uttered by their favorite characters with the all new soundboard.

Here’s a quick description of what you can expect in Episode 1 – ‘Ice Station Santa’:

He’s the most ancient and powerful opponent they’ve ever faced, a hairy, bloated, pagan God – Santa Claus! Can the Freelance Police make sense of this Christmas conundrum in time to save the world’s children from a holiday tainted by tears, turmoil, and Torture-Me-Elmer?

Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space – Episode 1 for iPad and iPhone is now available for $6.99 as a universal app!  You won’t have to wait too long to get the rest of your Beyond Time and Space fix, episodes 2-5 are coming soon.  So grab your iPad or iPhone and jump into the DeSoto with Sam & Max as they face every murderous robot, insidious goldfish, foul mouthed rat and gothic, German vampire that is thrown their way.

Check out the app over here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sam-max-beyond-time-space/id474013188?mt=8