A new studio founded by a duo of veterans responsible for titles like XCOM as well as a smattering of other originals like BioShock, Fallout: Tactics, and Freedom Force, have announced its first game, Epoch. It's an arena-based, gesture-controlled cover shooter built with Unreal 3 for iOS devices. As you'd imagine, it looks beautiful � in that weird, post-apocalyptic desolate kind of way.

The premise of Epoch revolves around the mystery of civilization's demise. You play as a robot soldier who reboots to find its world in shambles and, of course, patrolled by other robots who'd like nothing more than dig into your metallic innards. The official site for the game describes the combat as a mix of "intuitive finger swipes" and fast decision-making. I'm not sure how either of those things will translate to what we're seeing so far, so I've gotten in touch. Regardless, Epoch doesn't appear as if it'll come off as anymore casual than Infinity Blade [$5.99].

The game is set for a release later this year and, apparently, precise information on that is coming down the pipe. We'll be keeping our eyes out for that information, as well the IP as a whole, as development continues.

As of yesterday, the App Store has been online for three years. Crazy, right? I remember downloading my first apps on my O. G. iPhone standing in line outside of the Apple Store in line for the iPhone 3G which launched the following day. I'm not entirely sure what the first thing I downloaded was, but I'm pretty sure it was a solitaire game� Mind blowing, I know.

Anyway, as I've mentioned on our podcast, iOS developers seem to use any holiday, anniversary, of vaguely related event to hold a sale. Pangea Software is using the third anniversary of the App Store to… give away all their games for free. They've got an awesome catalog, and this seems substantially more appropriate than say, Father's Day sales.

The best thing to do is to head over to the Pangea Software listing on iTunes. I'd say it's safe to just download everything but be sure to grab Enigmo 2 as it's my favorite game of theirs. After 8:00 PM Central tonight all of these games are going to go up to 99�, which is a good deal, but obviously not as good of a deal as free.

It feels like a long shot, but there's a chance we could see Octodad 2 on the iPad. The Young Horses, an incorporated branch of the original Depaul Game Experience crew, has revealed that it's working on a follow-up to the original, and depending on how the funding fairs, we could see �additional projects like a motion-controlled console port, a booth for gaming conventions like PAX, and a possible iPad port.

Octodad is a curious third-person PC and Mac adventure game that has you, as the eponymous character, masquerading as a human and constructing a mannequin so you can avoid having dinner with your wife. The overall goal is to never be suspected as anything less than a loving, human husband, which is harder than it sounds. Movement in particular is abstract. You use a combination of thrusts and button presses with the mouse in order to plant on foot in front of the other recreating, somewhat, the gait of a human.

I'm… cautiously optimistic about how the movement mechanics in particular will translate to the iPad, but I'd love to see it despite the questions that I have. The Kickstarter page for Octodad 2 features the following video that teases some of what you'll see in the sequel.

No firm release date for Octodad 2 has been noted. You can bide your time with the original, for free, at the game's official web site.

Back in March, I felt luckier than a meltdown survivor when I was among the first to see Fruit Ninja [$.99 / HD] creator Halfbrick's latest side-scrolling title, Machinegun Jetpack. It's a mix of infinite runner and shooter like Monster Dash [$.99 / HD]. Heck, it even stars that game's hero, Barry Streakfries. Where it departs is where it draws its namesake: during the entirety of the experience, you'll be strapped to a jetpack that spews bullets.

Back at the event in San Francisco that March, I was told that the game should have been out about… well, right now. I have an update on that: Halfbrick says that the target is now late August, and it'll definitely hit within the next two months. The team inside Halfbrick on the game is doing a final critical pass, adding in features and tweaking the existing ones for the best possible experience.

I've also been told � and you'll hear this later in the podcast this afternoon, if you're into our audio � that Machinegun Jetpack will support IAP. As you play, you'll receive coins that you can exchange in "The Stash," which is a place that operates as an item and upgrade shop. With IAP, you'll be able to buy more coins with real cash or, if you want a little bit more of a challenge, buy a machine that doubles the coins you collect organically.

Before you jump out of your seat, Halfbrick realizes that IAP can shred game balance, so it's designing the game for people who aren't going to purchase coins from The Stash. The IAP is just a way people can earn and use faster. Think of it like a cheat code of sorts � a cheat code that costs money.

Anyway, Machinegun Jetpack will still debut as a Universal app with Game Center at 99 cents. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do with myself until it hits.