Currently the only way you can lock out the ability to download specific games on the portables is to lock out the ability to download any of them.

That doesn't seem right to the Entertainment Software Rating Board which rates all video games sold in stores in the U.S.

"ESRB ratings empower parents to do their job," said ESRB president Patricia Vance. "Considering the fact that the vast majority of parents are already aware of and regularly using ESRB ratings, Apple's adoption of them for iPhone games seems like a no-brainer. Apple just announced that the parental controls for the new version of the iPhone will block movie and TV content based on their respective ratings. Adding ESRB ratings to the controls they already plan to offer would give parents the ability to exert control over the games their children play as well."

Apple has not yet responded to requests for comment on Vance's statement or ESA president Michael Gallagher's comments on the same issue.

The seal, called App Treasures, will direct users who bought a game carrying the seal to other games listed under it. It wasn't immediately clear if the games' pages within the App Store would carry a graphic branding, or if they would be linked together by keyword.

Selection criteria were not specified, only that additional devs will be "carefully considered and hand-picked."

"This is our way of combining resources to become a bigger player, while retaining our independence and without any of the drawbacks and strings attached that come from working with a publisher," said Keith Shepherd, the CEO of Imangi Studios, which has published three games to the store.

The charter devs, in addition to Imangi, are The Blimp Pilots, Snappy Touch, Streaming Colour Studios, and Veiled Games. The move was announced June 4, and the developers will be in attendance at Apple's World Wide Developer's Conference, where iPhone/iPod gaming is expected to dominate the news.

App Treasures [Site]

Devine was the lead designer and lead writer on Halo Wars before Microsoft decided to shut Ensemble Studios down. Earlier this week Devine confirmed that he is working at Apple in the iPhone group.

While he has declined to say what he is doing, he mentions coding and preparing for Monday's World Wide Developers Conference on his Twitter page.

Last year, Devine was named one of the hot 100 game developers by Edge, ranking at number 36.

Devine is likely best known for his work on The 7th Guest and 11th Hour at Trilobyte, which he formed in 1990. He later went on to work at id and then Ensemble Studios, where he worked on Age of Empires III and Halo Wars.

While no one has said he is working on games at Apple's iPhone group, it stands to reason that such a prominent and talented game developer wouldn't leave his area of expertise.

Fortunately we only have until Monday to find out. Here's hoping we get to see something developed in-house by Devine for the iPhone at the WWDC.

Earlier this week we reported on a rumor that Apple was gearing up for a much stronger gaming presence, hiring game in-house game developers, preparing their microtransactions-friendly firmware update, and getting ready to announce a new iPhone with improved 3D graphics for gaming that will hit in July.

At the very least, I'm sure we will be once more catching a glimpse of some upcoming, and increasingly impressive examples of games heading to the iPhone.

Make sure to check out Kotaku Monday and park your browser here for full coverage of all gaming news coming out of the event.

Of course, we also have a wealth of E3 interviews, impressions and news to report on for the week as well.