In this week's bonus edition of The TouchArcade Show, Eli and I speak with Simogo's Simon Flesser. You already know Simogo � it's the studio behind one of the more artfully designed touch-exclusive games, Bumpy Road [$2.99]. At the top, we drill Flesser about how Simogo operates, what informs its work, and how it got rolling. We also, somehow, end up talking about Dallas, the A-Team, and critical user reviews of Bumpy Road.

As usual, this was a super fun recording. You'll notice quite a bit more banter than normal for our interview-y type shows, but I think you'll like the overall product. Speaking of that, actually, you can download this latest podcast via the links below. Additionally, you can subscribe to us on iTunes and Zune Marketplace in order to get all of our content the second they're uploaded onto the Internet!

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Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-Bonus-021.mp3, 25MB

We'll be back at you with another episode this Friday. Thanks for all the kind words and the flurry of e-mails. We're loving this and glad you are, too.

Fruit Ninja [$.99 / HD / Lite] developer Halfbrick is expanding, apparently. Gamasutra recently spotted a job listing from the Australian outfit indicating that it's looking for full-time design, art, and programmer types to start "its exciting new Sydney office" and develop social, mobile, and digital games. Halbrick proper, which is also home to Phil Larsen's School For The Marketing Gifted, is located in Brisbane.

Since it's founding in 2001, Halbrick has churned out a lot of hits with us. Fruit Ninja is certainly one of those, but we're also pretty big fans of Monster Dash [$.99], Jetpack Joyride [$.99], and Age of Zombies [$2.99 / Lite]. Soon, it'll roll out a special version of Fruit Ninja with a Puss in Boots tie-in that we're pretty sure will rock despite its licensed-ness.

It's a pretty tumultuous time in the industry in general right now, so it's refreshing to finally hear about studio growing instead of shuttering. We'll definitely be keeping our eyes on Halfbrick and its studios' new projects. Undoubtedly, its going to be busy in the near future.

[Via Gamasutra]

Fruit Ninja [$.99 / HD / Lite] developer Halfbrick is expanding, apparently. Gamasutra recently spotted a job listing from the Australian outfit indicating that it's looking for full-time design, art, and programmer types to start "its exciting new Sydney office" and develop social, mobile, and digital games. Halbrick proper, which is also home to Phil Larsen's School For The Marketing Gifted, is located in Brisbane.

Since it's founding in 2001, Halbrick has churned out a lot of hits with us. Fruit Ninja is certainly one of those, but we're also pretty big fans of Monster Dash [$.99], Jetpack Joyride [$.99], and Age of Zombies [$2.99 / Lite]. Soon, it'll roll out a special version of Fruit Ninja with a Puss in Boots tie-in that we're pretty sure will rock despite its licensed-ness.

It's a pretty tumultuous time in the industry in general right now, so it's refreshing to finally hear about studio growing instead of shuttering. We'll definitely be keeping our eyes on Halfbrick and its studios' new projects. Undoubtedly, its going to be busy in the near future.

[Via Gamasutra]

TechCrunch is reporting that Nintendo's exclusivity with the Professor Layton series is ending and one of the first things developer Level-5 will be doing is releasing a new iOS game called Layton Brothers: Mystery Room. Unfortunately, details further than that are non-existent at this point. We'll just have to wait and see on pricing and availability, as well as how the content of Mystery Room will compare to previous installments in the Layton franchise.

What has me leaning back in my chair and contemplatively puffing my proverbial pipe with this news is the fact that the Professor Layton games are by far the DS's most successful series� Both critically and commercially. If you follow TouchArcade, you no doubt remember the various pieces we've done on Nintendo such as "Nintendo Facing Investor Pressure to Bring Games to iPhone" analyzing the puzzling future of the gaming giant.

I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that the Professor Layton series brought a bunch of players to the Nintendo DS, and while I'm sure the DS still would have been a successful platform without it, it's definitely not a good sign to see developers anxious to jump off the exclusivity ship with the big N.

These are interesting times, indeed. *puffs pipe*

Update: Here's the (non-English) trailer-

Last week, we told you the (somewhat) surprising news that Rockstar would be bringing the classic�Grand Theft Auto III to iOS and Android platforms to celebrate the franchise's 10 year anniversary of entering the world of 3D, and thus changing the open-world sandbox genre forever. At the time, Rockstar noted that the game was only planned for dual-core processor-based devices, due to the strain that running a huge open-world game would have on lesser mobile hardware. On the iOS side of things, that meant that only the iPad 2 and the brand new iPhone 4S would be able to run GTA III thanks to their dual-core A5 chips.

Of course, there are far, far more GTA fans than there are A5 device owners, and there was quite a backlash from gamers with older devices who were understandably upset that they wouldn't be able to get their carjack-on without upgrading their kit. However, over the weekend Rockstar has been showing off GTA III for mobile devices in playable form at the New York Comic-Con, and in fact they have confirmed to Kotaku that the dual-core processor requirement will only be a limitation at first, and that they're planning on having the game be compatible with single-core iOS devices sometime after launch.

Now, before you go getting too excited, they don't specifically state which single-core devices they intend to target. It may just be the iPhone 4, since it's the only other device with 512 mb of RAM, which could be a deal breaker for the iPhone 3GS and 3rd and 4th generation iPod touch. We really don't know at this point, but at least the compatible device listing will be increasing in some capacity, which is a good thing.

Speaking of GTA III at NYCC, one adventurous attendee decided to muster up some courage and take a little video of himself playing the game on an iPad 2 demo unit. So far, it looks like the GTA III that we all know and love from 10 years ago:

Chances are pretty good that this video was not taken with the permission of the Rockstar reps on hand at the convention, so don't be surprised if the video ends up disappearing sooner rather than later. But for now, it's a nice glimpse into what GTA III will be like on mobile. Also, though it's hard to tell from this shaky video, various other outlets' hands-on impressions of the demo build so far all state that the visuals have been given the high-res treatment, or at least as high a resolution as a 10 year old game can have. This leads me to believe that the GTA III we end up getting on iOS is based off of the superior Xbox version, though that's just a bit of speculation on my part.

GTA III is scheduled for a Fall release, and if it's anything like their launch of Chinatown Wars on iOS, we may be seeing the game incredibly soon, as that title popped up just a few short days after they were showing off preview builds to the media. That's more speculation on my part, but I remain hopeful. Until the game actually does launch, feel free to check out our forums where GTA III: 10th Anniversary Edition is getting a healthy amount of discussion.

[Via Kotaku and our forums]

Aiko Island [$0.99 / HD] is, at first glance, just another physics puzzler in an endless procession. Is there anything we haven't seen from the vast selection of games where you balance one item while poking away at everything beneath it? Apparently, yes. IceFlame's opus may draw inspiration from sources both within its genre and beyond, but it has more than a few surprises left to share.

If you were to create a "best of" mix for physics puzzlers, it would probably end up looking a lot like Aiko Island. There are elements of most of the big names here. Let's not get hung up on calling it a knock-off of this or that, though. Instead, consider this: if I could play just one game in this genre, I'd seriously consider choosing this one.

Here's the scoop: the red Aiko have stolen all the cookies from the blue Aiko. As a result, you need to ruthlessly destroy every living red Aiko while carefully preserving all the blues. Let's hope peace talks were already attempted. As if your mission weren't going to be difficult enough already, the blue Aiko are hopelessly intermixed with their red fellows, so if you make one wrong move you'll probably end up toppling the whole mess of them to their deaths.

Initially, your influence is limited to one command: tap to pop. You can pop some of the red Aiko, some of the platforms they sit on, and so on. You'll need to make strategic decisions about the order you should pop them in, because you need to drop the reds and not the blues. You've probably played one of many variations on this theme already if you've spent much time in the App Store.

Aiko Island makes great use of this basic formula. The levels are designed with a great deal of imagination. Some don't go any further than requiring you to pop a few reds to carefully drop a blue. But others are vastly more complex. Eventually you're managing levels that span several screens, panning around while you work out the logic behind set ups with scattered Aikos, multiple machines, and carefully timed and tuned interactions.

There is a depth to Aiko Island's level design that often surprised me. Deep into the game's hefty list of 125 levels, some levels have a huge number of movable parts. You end up controlling cannons, sliding gates, explosives and more, while dealing with environmental factors like slippery ground and variable gravity. Such complexity could get overwhelming, but not here. Levels get quite challenging, but working through them with trial and error wins out eventually every time.

Slow and steady won't win this race, though. Each level has three cookies to be earned: one for completion, one for finishing under a set number of taps, and one for finishing under a time limit. Earning the extra two cookies can be difficult, but a quick time earns you more than a snack � the game's Game Center leaderboard tracks total completion time, so faster is always better. Meanwhile, collecting the cookies is good for more than feeling good about yourself. You'll need them to navigate the world.

Aiko Island takes place in four areas, each with its own distinct look, feel, and special features. Your journey through them is non-linear. A complex overworld leads you from level to level, but it's filled with branching paths and locked doors that take you from one area to the next, and back again later. The areas unlock as you complete levels, and paths within them unlock as you earn cookies.

This serves three purposes. You rarely bore of one area before you can start poking around the next. You can occasionally skip a level and certainly don't need to master them all to get by. You do, however, have a good reason to go back and improve your results at times, but you can pick and choose your battles. Thanks to the overworld, I always felt like I had a choice of where to go next. It's a great motivator.

On my first glimpse of Aiko Island, I thought it looked bland, and so very similar to all the other physics puzzlers out there. But not only does it look and sound far better than I expected, it's also strikingly imaginative. Not always original, but always fun, and often surprising. Even if you think you've already enjoyed everything this genre has to offer, you should give Aiko Island a look. And pop by our discussion thread with your impressions when you do.

If we've learned one thing from the current generation of home consoles (and Nintendo's newest handheld the 3DS) it's that people love avatars. Of course, gaming avatars themselves are nothing new, but having a persistent online profile associated with your console of choice and a decked-out avatar to go along with it has really been one of those sleeper hit features in gaming these past several years.

As�Joystiq notes, the folks over at AppleInsider have gone digging around and discovered some patent filings that hint that Apple may also be interested in jumping into the avatar game for their own Game Center service. This thought has certainly been tossed around plenty of times between our staff and people in our forums, but seeing concrete evidence that it's actually a blip on Apple's radar is pretty cool, even if it's something that never ends up materializing.

The patent filings go on to detail how players could create their own personalized avatars by adjusting features and characteristics using the unique capabilities of the touch screen, and of course adorning them with items and accessories. What's the point of an avatar if it doesn't have a fancy hat, right? There is also mention of making these avatars available to developers for inclusion into games and apps. It doesn't sound too different than what's already been going on in the console space for years, but still sounds pretty cool nonetheless.

These patents were filed back in April, and there's really no telling when or if something like this will ever actually be included into the iOS feature set. But it's sure a neat prospect, and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that we see it on our devices sometime in the future.

[Via Joystiq, AppleInsider]

Com2uS is making some pretty solid games these days. I had nothing less than a blast with their FarmVille clone Tiny Farm, and we took a real shine to Inotia 3: Children of Carnia as well. In other words, I trust them to deliver a solid gaming experience, so I really looked forward to sitting down with the cute looking, colorful puzzler Piggy Adventure [99�/HD].

I don't personally mind whether puzzlers provide me with a backstory or not as I'm old school and liked games the best when all that stood between me and actual playtime was a title screen, but Piggy Adventure does give you a little detail to fill in the gaps before you begin. You are a pig (surprise) named Steezy who shares a cool job with your friends Haden the chick and Moochew the cow � painting pictures every day to fill the world with beauty. Sure beats getting milked and turning into ham, I suppose. But when an unnamed evil force sweeps all the color out of your universe, you have to go on a puzzle solving quest to collect paint to get things back in proper shape.

To do so, you'll play your way through 40 levels (or islands), solving a small puzzle to get through each one. You can choose to use a small, non-obtrusive control pad at the bottom to move your characters and make them jump, or you can choose gravity sensitive mode, which means you'll tilt the phone to move your guys and tap them to jump. I thought it was really cool that these options were both featured and could be swapped in and out of at any time, even within a level. I personally found the gravity sensitive mode a bit awkward in comparison to the regular controls, but I'm sure some players will prefer it.

Piggy Adventure is simple, but there's something really pleasing about the way solving a level works. For each puzzle, you'll see the pig, cow and chick on screen, and you'll see a button on the bottom right that allows you to switch between them at anytime. You'll need to use them all to solve each island, and you'll get better scores depending on if you collect all the paint drops in each level and how your animals cross the finish line.

Another cool feature available is the ability to record levels in real time as you play the game. Since there are multiple ways to solve each level, you have a way of keeping track of them. This is especially handy as you get into the later islands where puzzles become much more challenging. Of course, you also have leaderboards at your disposal via Gamecenter and 44 achievements to knock out, so suffice to say this one could keep you busy for a while. Another nice touch is in the form of a question mark at the top of your screen during play, which you can tap to see your next move outlined on the screen. In other words, you can figure it out if you want, but if you simply can't get it, you can peek to figure it out, erasing that roadblock that can make many a player quit playing a game out of frustration.

Everything about Piggy Adventure just reeks of quality. It's well-illustrated, has a cute sense of humor, is a ton of fun to play, and provides a really smooth and enjoyable experience. Puzzle fans ought to get a lot out of this one. I could pick a bone with the fact that this "colorless" world they are in actually has vividly colored levels and is quite beautiful, but you know, why take the wind out of their sails?

Infinity Blade [$5.99] is coming to bigger screens later this fall. Adrenaline Amusements, Epic Games, and garbage-food chain Dave & Buster's have all teamed up to put a special, 46-inch arcade version of the hack-and-slash joint in every Dave & Buster's location nationwide by the end of this October. These Infinity Blade "FX" machines will feature single-player and two-screen multiplayer modes and presumably play a lot like the touch-screen versions we're already pretty familiar with � if this video is any good indication, at least.

If you're hankering for some hands-on time with the extra large�Infinity Blade FX experience, the arcade cabinet appeared at the�GEEX Consumer Expo this past October 14-15 in Salt Lake City, Utah and should now be rolling into some select Dave & Buster's either already or at least very soon. If you're lucky, you might just bump into the pre-existing Fruit Ninja FX and soon-to-be existing�Flight Control FX machines making the rounds.

We really want one or two of these things in TouchArcade Tower. All the fun and none of the pressure to eat the cheese fries. Win-win, guys.

Everything about Helium Boy [$1.99] seems like it should make for a highly appealing, adorable platforming experience, and I admit I had high hopes for it when I pulled it off the App store. The 3D look reminded me of games from past consoles, but in that fuzzy, fond way that makes you nostalgic to go back and play 'em again. And hey, I like cute stuff. So why wouldn't a game about a boy and his balloons fill all my portable gaming needs?

Helium Boy doesn't bother with too much backstory, which I actually appreciate in a platformer � I don't care why I'm there. I just want to jump on stuff. All you need to know here is that you're a boy who slightly resembles a frog, and you just so happen to have some balloons and a pump at your disposal. You will be able to use these balloons to float your way through many treacherous levels, and you can also burst them when you need to do some walking. Let's not forget that there are enemies out to get you too, so you'll need to avoid them using the tools you have at your disposal.

When it comes to any type of controls where floating is a key mechanic, you need said controls to work. And here is where the first flaw kicks in for Helium Boy, because it simply doesn't do what it's supposed to sometimes. The best way to describe the problem is a depth of perception issue. For instance, in the very first level, if you hesitate for even a second, the boy sort of ends up behind the directional pad, which is in the bottom left of your screen. Since the screen scrolls from left to right for you as you play, as you can imagine, this is a problem. You also have to be very careful about gauging the depth perception of the level when you are trying to make the boy land. He does cast a shadow, so that is helpful, but all in all these details detract from the experience of losing yourself in the gameplay.

The worlds you guide the boy through are actually lovely. Vivid colors, adorable cottages and cute enemies give the game a memorable look. As you�maneuver�your way through collecting stars and avoiding baddies, you'll likely find yourself having a fair bit of fun if you can adjust to the challenges of the control scheme. The levels are also well-designed and challenge you to use or not use the balloons depending on what's ahead (for instance, some areas will be cramped and you'll need to deflate the balloons, but will need them again the moment you emerge.) There's some challenge to it here, which is nice as I feel all too many iOS games these days are a bit too easy. Like all good platformers, there are ice levels waiting for you later on in the game, and they are none too easy!

I wanted to love Helium Boy. That being said, I pushed through the awkwardness because I felt as if the game had fun to offer beyond it, and I was right. I'm not sure most gamers will have the same sense of tenacity, however � for the most part it seems as if people have an even shorter attention span for iOS than they do for high ticket console game purchases. If you only spent a buck or two on a game, you can't consider it too much of a waste if you don't love it. That being said, I'd advise that if you do pick up Helium Boy, you go into it knowing the controls will give you a mildly hard time. A brand new update tries to address some of these issues by offering a beginner control mode and various other gameplay tweaks, which do help somewhat.

The awkward depth perception and control issues, as well as the overall brevity of the game, aren't enough to completely mar the experience of Helium Boy, and it can actually be pretty fun as long as you have a bit of patience and aren't expecting too much from it.