File this one into the Things I Never Thought I'd See On An iPad list: the real Hitchhiker's Guide. Like, the actual one. Hothead Games, the creators of several small downloadable titles like DeathSpank and the Penny Arcade series, as well as iOS titles like Kickin' Momma [$.99 /�UHD], Chormanoids [$.99], and Kard Combat [Free], have confirmed its intentions to bring a visual version of Douglas Adams' fantasy guide to the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch this fall. The price will be $0, and it appears as if future entires will be paid downloads.

The app is being described as an "authentic experience," which means it's being shaped to be the actual device Adams described in his original radio series. It isn't so much a game, but I think there's a bunch of wiggle room here. No-one is saying that select entries won't have game-like mechanics or gameification in them, so the door is open at the moment.

"We really focused on taking existing Guide entries and presenting them in a new, interactive way," Hothead Producer, Joel DeYoung said in a statement.

"We have so much respect for the original that we had to stay true to the style of Douglas Adams, and deliver an app that feels familiar to fans, but updated for today's devices," he continued.

I'm not the biggest fan of Hitchhiker out there, for sure, but I'd imagine that this is tickling a good portion of Adams' e-zealots. The question if this will actually be any good or not, or nearly as faithful as Hothead and fans will want it to be, won't be one we can answer until we see the end result. One thing I know for sure is that I'd hate to be a lead on this. The pressure has to be intense.

We'll keep our eyes out for this, and if the god's will it, we'll follow-up if its "interactive experiences" turn out to be something truly relevant to our interests.

[Via MTV Multiplayer, Kotaku]