Posting a "happy new years" message on Mistwalker's site, Sakaguchi says Mistwalker "are also working on a project for iPhone", and that it "should be released soon". Blue Dragon iPhone, perhaps?

[mistwalker]

The first has the ten top-selling games, and is dominated by established franchises and intellectual property. Indeed, only a single title - Firemint's Flight Control - crashing the party.

The other list highlights the ten games with the highest user ratings, and on this one, things are a little more interesting. Real Racing makes the cut, as does Zemonia, and even Canabalt warrants a mention.

Sadly, my pick for the year's best - Rolando 2 - was nowhere to be seen.

Now, on its own, that doesn't count for much. While a project involving such things could be for games, it could easily be for something else, like, say, an avatar-driven contacts list. After all, there's no specific mention of video games in there at all.

But then consider this: Apple's App Store is becoming almost unworkable as it grows in size. And games are the biggest thing on the store. Then factor in Apple's recent hiring of ex-Ensemble lead designer Graeme Devine, and suddenly, we're seeing a lot of seemingly unrelated things moving in the same general direction...

Fancy a shot in the dark? Here's my take: having taken a good look at how video game consoles operate (in terms of UI) over the past few years, Apple are working on a gaming "front" for the iPhone, complete with avatar mingling space (ala Home) and a marketplace for both games and add-ons, free of the current App Store.

Apple Wants Video Game Artist for 3D Characters and Environments [Gizmodo]

Published by Sony, Voltron: Defender of the Universe will be out later this month, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the series.

It's based on the original Voltron (am I the only person in the world who preferred the one with the vehicles?), with the kids and the lions, and is a combination of isometric exploration and 2D combat. It's due not only for the iPhone but other mobiles as well, with pricing expected to be between $3 and $10, depending on your carrier/phone.

Sounds alright, but we're still waiting on a developer to make the dream Voltron project (see below).

Voltron Announced for iPhone [IGN]

In making the move to Apple's handheld, the game is now a side-scroller, though with 3D graphics and the full range of Faith's moves like slides, runs, wall-runs and jumps.

It'll be 14 levels long, and as of now, no word on price or a more exact release date.

Through Waze's "Road Goodies" program, cherries will be scattered across the map for you to find, then gobble up as your little yellow car icon passes over it. These cherries are placed in areas Waze's data is spotty, so a user driving over them helps improve the service. Everybody wins.

Sadly - and we're guessing this is for safety reasons - it's a Pac-Lite experience, as there are no ghosts forcing you to take handbrake corners and do 90 in a 40 zone. Ah well. There's still time to improve the thing.

Waze Turn-By-Turn App Lets You Play Pac-Man With Your Car [Gizmodo]

There will be two bundles available, each with five games included on the system. One includes a white DSi with three Brain Age Express titles, Clubhouse Games and Photo Clock. The other has a blue DSi with Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, WarioWare: Snapped, Dr. Mario Express, Mario Calculator and Mario Clock.

Both are advertised at $169.99. It's unclear whether it's an offer that will be extended beyond Black Friday; we've contacted Nintendo, and will update if we hear back.

Nintendo DSi Preloaded With DSiWare Games Coming On Black Friday [Siliconera]

R-Type, which is being ported by DotEmu, will be out "sometime in the next few months", while Ghosts N' Goblins was released in Japan on Sunday. So...take two games requiring fast, precise controls, then port them to a system capable of neither. What a great idea.

Exclusive: 'R-Type' Coming to the iPhone [touchArcade]
iPhoneについに『魔界村』、いまなら350円[税込] [Famitsu]

Take iPhone game developer Storm8, for example. A class action lawsuit filed in San Francisco alleges that the company, who are behind iPhone games like World War, iMobsters and Vampires Live, "has written the software for all its games in such a way that it automatically accesses, collects, and transmits the wireless telephone number of each iPhone user who downloads any Storm8 game".

Apparently this number-farming went unannounced until August, when Storm8 finally fessed up, saying it was a"bug". Michael Turner, the man filing the suit, says "poppycock" to that, and is after damages.

iPhone game dev accused of stealing players' phone numbers [boing boing]

It includes five "classic" games (though "classic" might be a bit of a stretch), those being Dragons Den, Le Mans, Jupiter Lander, Arctic Shipwreck and Jack Attack. What, no International Karate? Even though it's in the demo video below? Hopefully that's coming later.

[C64 @ manomio]

And we're not talking music or ringtones or other non-gaming stuff, here. We're talking items "purchased and exchanged online in games, virtual worlds, and social networks". So that's everything from gamerpics to themes to MMO items to tweens buying crap for their Habbo's room.

The survey polled 1,927 people, both men and women, across a range of ethnicities and ages (12-64). Of those 1.927, 51% couldn't remember how much they spent, and those who could said, on average, they spent around $30.

Study: 12% Of Americans Purchasing Virtual Goods [Gamasutra]

Yeah. You read that right. Somebody is remaking the original Beneath a Steel Sky - one of the greatest adventure games of all time - and it's going to feature new animated sequences drawn by Dave Gibbons.

It's due initially for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but the developers say it will later be "rolling out across other handheld formats". Aside from the new animated sequences, the game will also have a revamped audio score and sound effects, and will be out sometime in the Fall.

Buried at the foot of a press release for the iPhone's "Spore Origins" is mention that both FIFA 10 and Madden 10 are "coming soon" to Apple handheld.

Wonder how they'll swing this? Obvious answer is some awful attempt at actual versions of the respective games. A pleasing answer would be that, via your EA account, both handheld titles are accompaniments to your console experience, and let you mess with management, tactics, player signings, etc. while on the road.

FIFA 10 and Madden NFL 10 are coming to App Store 'soon' [PocketGamer]

As you can see, in visual terms it's not a bad downgrade of the gorgeous PC/360 version. As far as gameplay goes...I haven't played it (come on, I only just finished the PC version!), but it looks fairly straight-forward: finger moves cursor, and the buttons down the button handle interaction and inventory.

If you're interested, it'll cost you $8.

Of course it also has "Crystal Chronicles" in it, which tends to make many a Final Fantasy fan cringe, but we won't hold that against Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord for WiiWare (1,000 points). It's a different kind of tower defense game, in which the player places monsters and traps throughout his or her tower, in order to keep heroes from getting to the Dark Crystal on the top floor. Hopefully no Gelflings show up. Damn Gelflings.

Along with the game itself, Square Enix has also released two packs of downloadable content for My Life as a Darklord, getting an early jump on a little extra-added revenue. 400 points scores you the Darklord Armory, adding four destructive spells and one healing spell to your arsenal, each useable once per battle. For 200 points you can purchase the Vile Ribbon, an accessory for the game's protagonist Mira that adds 50 NP to your pool before every battle. And no, I don't know what NP are either, but 50 of them are worth $2.

My Life as a Darklord is joined on WiiWare by Battle Poker (800 points), which is standard poker with a card grabbing twist, and 5 Spots Party (500 points), a game that challenges players to find five differences between a pair of similar pictures. 5 Spots Party also wins the least intriguing game name of the year award.

A lone DSiWare title rounds out this week's list. Art Style: Zengage (500 DSi points) is a sliding square matching puzzle with more than 100 stages taking place in a surreal world, and at this point I'm not sure the description even matters. The Art Style series has slipped into collectible status for me on the DSi, with any title prefaced by those words an automatic download. Let's hope Nintendo doesn't abuse this power. Art Style: Barbie Princess? Noooooo!

WiiWare

FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a Darklord
Publisher: SQUARE ENIX
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) - Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes
Price: 1,000 Wii Points™
Description: Step into the royal shoes of the Darklord's daughter as she installs traps and monsters inside her tower to fight back the endless waves of invading adventurers in this world-conquest RPG. Known as Artifacts, these monsters and traps are your only hope in keeping the adventurers from destroying the Dark Crystal on the top floor. Fly your tower across the land and conquer every stage on your way to dominating the entire world.

Battle Poker
Publisher: Left Field Productions
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Battle Poker is a family-friendly card game with up to four players battling against the clock to make the best five-card hand possible. Battles are played across multiple rounds, and points are scored for each round based on the quality of the hand. Each player uses a Wii Remote™ controller to point and click on a standard deck of cards on the screen. The first click flips the card over, at which point it can be grabbed by anyone else. You've got to have fast fingers and eyes to grab the cards you need before someone else snatches them.

5 Spots Party
Publisher: Cosmonaut Games
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Have fun with the entire family and compete in three different play modes. 5 Spots Party is a game of skill for all ages based on the popular game of finding five differences. The goal is to find the greatest number of differences in the pictures shown. In the party modes, you must compete with other players and find as many mistakes as possible. In the 1-Player mode, you must find the differences before time runs out in order to beat the game's highest scores. How far do you think you can go?

Nintendo DSiWare

Art Style: ZENGAGE™
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: Do you dream of relaxing with a great puzzle game? Art Style: ZENGAGE revolves around sliding cells (squares) to match colors with cores (beads) located on the board. Clear each stage by matching all of the cores and cells. As you progress through the game's 100-plus stages, you'll encounter cells with special characteristics, such as immovability, which further add to the challenge. To truly master ZENGAGE, you must keep your mind sharp and employ careful strategy to complete stages in as few moves as possible. Combining wistful graphics and mesmerizing sound, ZENGAGE creates a surreal world that should be experienced by all puzzle gaming fans.

The game was released on Friday, and is going for $5 on the App Store. As is standard policy with these things, I'm not touching it until somebody braver than I spends $5 and can tell me the controls can't be convicted of hate crimes against a Genesis pad.

But it certainly looks like other iPhone ports - less stuff and clunky controls - so if it is fake, at least they got that part right.

The Cake May Be a Lie, But This Video Exists [touch Arcade]

The game will be out on the Japanese App Store towards the end of this month, with the "rest of world to follow shortly thereafter". No details were provided on pricing, or just how much of the console game has made the jump to Apple's handheld. Sorry.

[Capcom @ Twitter]

With the new PSPgo taking pages out of Apple's books in terms of digital delivery and apps, then, it's little surprise that the PSP will also take a page out of Apple's gaming books and get a version of Fieldrunners.

It's been announced that Subatomic Studios, the developers of the iPhone title, are working on this newer version, which will be exclusive to the PSP. No further details than that are available at the moment, but that's about all you should need.

The news comes courtesy of a report on Develop, which also reveals that Sony's PSPgo will be taking big steps towards making the platform more accessible to developers, by shortening quality assurance testing and making dev kits less costly.

Exclusive: Sony's new development strategy for PSP [Develop]